The Fires of Creation (GM Reference)


Iron Gods

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I think the Technic Idea would be pretty hilariously awesome. I mean, the Technic League DOES have a monopoly on technological items - the players, trying to sell a major technological artifact (ok maybe not 'major', but an artifact regardless), WILL bring the League down on their heads, no question about it.


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captain yesterday wrote:

thats kind of harsh to do to your best friends, considering the 35 years they've been hanging out.

he's got a system for handling it, good for him:-)

Why harsh? In a Pen&Paper there are endless possibilities and endless consequences. I would consider this consequence only logical. Khonnir or anyone else from the council of Torch could warn them, that it is an unwise idea and that the Technic League is a serious threat, not only to them, but also to the town. If they then decide that it is acceptable to put themselves and a whole town in danger for silverdisks, than it is their own fault.


Yup my mistake:-) sorry!


Stonesnake wrote:
leo1925 wrote:
Stonesnake wrote:
leo1925 wrote:

@Stonesnake

Are your players new to RPGs?

No, each of my players has been playing for over 35 years, have played hundreds of sessions, and finished five other APs.

So I know these guys, they have managed to sell a piece of the Rod of Seven Parts and the Hand of Vecna in the past (when they did the Age of Worms AP). But in that AP they meet Tenser rather early in the adventure and he was able to use those artifacts, so there was a method within the AP to "remove" those artifacts and reward the players.

I just don't see any way to easily "remove" the Power Relay from the game without issues. I was just curious on how other handle this sort of issue within their game and looking for suggestions.

Then why wouldn't they understand the simple "it's an artifact you can't sell it"? what's so difficult about it?

Simple, because "why can't they sell it? Who cares if it's an artifact? That should only make it MORE valuable, not less. We are going to sell it and if that means going halfway across the planet, so be it."

Guys how have been playing for 35 years you aren't used to hearing the word "no". If anything that's a challenge to turn that "no" into a "yes". It's just easier to put up roadblocks (i.e. too heavy, too large, etc.) than to just say "you can't sell an artifact" as that will be seen as a challenge.

Yeah, yeah, "DMing word is law, you make the game, etc." that's not really how they roll. Basically there is one specific player who is a rules-layer/chaotic greedy player from hell. He's a fantastic player (and my best friend), but he will go to the ends of the earth to make a profit (he went into the Silverdisk Hall and is spending WAY too much time trying to figure out how to cheat at the gambling games and rob the place).

Anyhow, it should take care of itself, I forgot about the rule where it has a 50% chance to break, once it's broken it will become worthless anyhow.

OK then, simply tell them that the relay is destroyed when it's shut down. If you want, give them a power relay in book 3.

Liberty's Edge

You could also just have, say, the town council offer them a few thousand gold for it; if they refuse, then they're stuck with it until they can find a buyer. Have tthe council - Khonnir is ideal for this - explain that it's just not worth more than that to them, because of the risk involved in owning or trying to use it. The only organization who *can and might* pay what it's worth is the League, but they will probably just send a gearsman legion to kill the current owners and take it. And maybe wipe out Torch along the way.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
Gratz wrote:
Stonesnake wrote:

Simple, because "why can't they sell it? Who cares if it's an artifact? That should only make it MORE valuable, not less. We are going to sell it and if that means going halfway across the planet, so be it."

Guys how have been playing for 35 years you aren't used to hearing the word "no".

Sounds like a pain in the *ss. For being so annoying, I would teach them a lesson: Let them sell it in a bigger city, have the Technic find it out and let them be the buyer for an astronomical amount of gold, just to be caught and questioned by the League. Strip them of all their gold and equipment and send them on a boat towards the south and let them escape in Hajoth Hakdos or something like that.

I mean, if they want to blatantly ignore GM's advice, than make them feel the consequences.

Heh, funny you mention that as "GM Advice" is seen as "railroading them"! (this actually happened just last night! :) )

It's all cool, this was more of a general "what do you do with an artifact that can't be used" question.

In all my years of gaming 99% of the time when someone finds an artifact they will use it/keep it for the party. This is one of the only times I can remember -- pretty much ever -- where there was an artifact in the adventure that couldn't be used by the party (or in the case of the Rod of Seven parts they couldn't get rid of that fast enough once demons started to hunt then down!).

Hence, I can expect my PCs will try to sell it since they can't use it. Just curious to see how others might have handled this situation.

Any my PCs aren't as bad as I make them out (most of the time). They do amazing things and keep me on my toes ... I will say that.


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Making access cards, thanks to N'wah's goodies thread for the inspiration. Any thoughts on more elements to add?


I did some work this morning to change Meyanda over to a Slayer 1 (a result of Unity's programming against the Androffan crew) / Warpriest 5 (to support her fervent support of Hellion and his aims). (FYI - This is an Evernote link.)

Not huge changes, but makes her a bit more focused on firing off the Inferno Pistol instead of as many spells. If you want the inferno pistol to be a more significant resource for the PCs, you may want to give her an extra Nanite Canister (or a partially depleted one) to make up for the extra shots that she'll take. The Studied Target (vs Humans) also lets her be a bit more of a threat to any party member, rather than just the humans (we only have one human in our party).

I made her Sacred Weapon the Spiked Gauntlet, to balance with the inferno pistol and give her some flexibility for melee combat. I made the inferno pistol her focus weapon, though, because she would still be interested in keeping herself at distance from foes.

Thoughts / edits? Let me know. I hope to redo a couple other folks as well (Ropefist Thugs = Brawlers, Vrilledt = Shaman, etc.)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I've done a bunch of reworks up through Lords of Rust so far. Some of that is necessitated by my own house rules, which condense most feat trees, boost skill points, and alter how some feats work, and some of it is my own peccadilloes, like rarely having monsters without class levels. Relatively mindless monsters, sure, and constructs and outsiders, even intelligent ones, I can see having their sills and role fully subsumed into their nature--but in the same way that there's no such thing as a classless human or orc in D&D, if the party encounters an Ogre, it will at least have a level of commoner.

Given that, and the general high-powered nature of the games I run, the specific write-ups may not be of as much interest, but some of the concepts in Fires of Creation:

Spoiler:

* Hetuath became a Two-Weapon Warrior for obvious reasons
* To emphasize Sanvil Trett's lazy, self-centered nature and previous addiction to Numerian fluids, I made him an Eldritch Scion Magus with the Abberant Bloodline--an intuitive, rather than studied grasp of magic, and somewhat mutated by his experimentation with Numerian Fluids. Since he needs to spend pool points to power his bloodline abilities now, I switched his Arcana to Close Range, expanding the spells he can use Spellstrike with.
* I gave Khonnir Baine's level of Rogue the Numerian Scavenger archetype. If Val becomes a cohort or it otherwise becomes relevant for her to have PC class levels instead of Expert levels, Numerian Scavenger seems especially apt for her as well
* Not only did I make the Ropefists into Snakebite Striker Brawlers, but I made Garmen Ulreth into a Daring Champion Cavalier of the Order of the Dragon--exceedingly good at directing his thugs and making them more dangerous, and capable of inflicting truly nasty wounds with his rapier.

I made signficantly more alterations in Lords of Rust, but that's another thread, isn't it?


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I put down some ideas in my PBP about gambling options in Silverdisk Hall. There's a reason I don't run a real life casino (my rewards are probably too generous), but if it gets out of hand, then they just get bounced from the building. Though I would be happy to have feedback on what you think each of the payouts should be.

You are granted 100 GP each for gambling in the hall you can cash them and walk away, or you can stay and gamble. There are four main gambling opportunities at Silverdisk Hall:

  • Desna's Wheel - A type of roulette, with a range of 1 to 38. Place a bet on a single number, a pair of adjacent numbers (i.e. 6-7), a range of 5 adjacent numbers (i.e. 4-9), all odd numbers, or all even numbers. Tell me your choice and the amount you bet on it. Returns are, respectively, 35-1, 17-1, 6-1, 2-1, and 2-1. I'll roll 1d38 using the dice roller here on the boards, and we'll determine winnings from there.
  • Aroden's Tumblers - A game of betting on three six-sided dice, representing a lock's tumblers. Wager and roll 3d6. If you match all three numbers, win 20 to 1. Get a run of three consecutive numbers, win 7 to 1. Match two numbers to win 4 to 1.
  • Cayden's Challenge - Less a game of chance and more a game of stamina. Go round for round in a drinking competition against local challengers by making opposed fortitude checks. Each round costs 3 GP to enter, winner takes home remainder after the loser pays for the mugs of local applejack that get consumed (1 GP/drink, 1 drink/round/challenger). The first to fail a fortitude save is out, and a draw is called after 5 rounds. I used the "Heave" rules from the Skull and Shackles AP.
  • The Cage - Melee combat to unconsciousness (not death, as a cleric is standing by to heal), with a variety of challengers and champions. Each match is no longer than 5 rounds, with a victor determined by points after that time if both are still standing (points here = total damage dealt). There look to be five matches lined up to start that evening.


  • Revan wrote:
    ** spoiler omitted **

    Nice - are your re-writes on Garmen and the thugs available?


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    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    I'll gladly post them, but keep in mind, I use a few house rules that mean you'll probably have to do some reverse engineering to use them yourself. Firstly, most classes besides the Witch and Wizard get a +2 bump to skill points, because I thin that 2 skill points is too low for anyone but the people who are guaranteed to have a sky-high intelligence. Secondly, my write-ups assume PCs with higher point-buys than in the book, and ability scores are boosted in turn. Most importantly many feats have been condensed from trees to scale instead, or had prerequisites altered or dropped. For example, the combat maneuver feats automatically upgrade from Improved to Greater when you meet the prerequisites, and no longer require Combat Expertise, and Outflank no longer has prerequisites--I always forget that it requires 4 BAB in any event, and it seems like the single most basic teamwork feat to me. A few feats have had their whole effects changed, most notable Weapon Finesse--now simply 'Finesse', it combines Agile Maneuvers with the ability to add your Intelligence modifier as precision damage with Finesse weapons--no feat is needed to use Dex for attack rolls with a Rapier.

    Spoiler:

    Garmen Ulreth
    Male Human Cavalier (Daring Champion) 4
    NE Medium Humanoid (Human)
    Initiative +5; Senses Perception +6
    Defense
    AC 19 (+4 Armor, +3 Dex, +1 Shield, +1 Dodge)
    Touch 14, Flat-Footed 15
    HP 28 (4d10+8)
    Fort +5 Reflex +4 Will +2
    Offense
    Speed 30 ft.
    Melee Mwk Rapier +9 (1d6+3/18-20 +1)
    Ranged Light Crossbow +7 (1d8/19-20)
    Special Challenge 2/day, Precise Strike +4, Tactician 1/day
    Statistics
    Str 10 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 13 Wis 8 Cha 16
    BAB +4 CMB +4 CMD 17
    Feats Finesse, Weapon Focus (Rapier), Fencing Grace, Outflank, Iron Will
    Skills Acrobatics +10, Bluff +10, Diplomacy +10, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (Local) +5, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6
    Languages Common, Hallit, Orc
    SQ Challenge 2/day (+4 damage, +1 bonus to hit for allies), Panache (3 points), Deeds (Dodging Panache, Opportune Parry and Riposte, Precise Strike, Swashbuckler Initiative), Order of the Dragon, Aid Allies
    Gear Potion of Invisibility x2, +1 Studded Leather, Buckler, Light Crossbow with 10 bolts, Mwk Rapier, 89 gp

    Ropefist Thugs
    Human Brawler (Snakebite Striker) 1
    CN Medium Humanoid (Human)
    Initiative +2; Senses Perception +3
    Defense
    AC 15 (+3 Armor +2 Dex)
    Touch 12, Flat-footed 13
    HP 14 (1d10+4)
    Fort +5 Reflex +4 Will -1
    Offense
    Speed 30 ft.
    Melee Unarmed Strike +4 (1d6+3)
    Ranged Sling +3 (1d4+3)
    Special Sneak Attack +1d6
    Statistics
    Str 16 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 12 Wis 8 Cha 10
    BAB +1 CMB +4 (+6 Trip) CMD 16 (18 Trip)
    Feats Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Trip
    Skills Acrobatics +6, Bluff +4, Climb +7, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (Local) +5, Perception +3, Sense Motive +3, Stealth +6
    Languages Common, Hallit, Orc
    Gear Potion of CLW, Mwk Studded Leather, Sling with 10 bullets, sunrod, 3d6 gp


    Near TPK at Hetuath.

    But first, a little back story:

    long post:
    As I mentioned a few months ago when I was first planning this campaign, I had my players roll up three characters, so when one died they could immediately bring in their next character. I heard this adventure was deadly, and the rumors were right.

    The first character, "Rock" is an android cryptic modeled after Megaman. He's all in blue, his Disrupt Pattern ability is flavored as a gun arm (in fact, he is missing a hand because of this), his character refuses to climb short walls preferring to jump up, and best of all: his other two characters are clones of his first. I made it so when his character died, the next model wakes up with all his memories (but no equipment). He took the "Local Ties" campaign trait, so all three of his models are in Khonnir's shop waiting to be woken up by the "spirit" of this one android.

    Next is a halfling rogue. Since rogues are so weak, I offered the player dex to damage and full BAB. He refused; he wants to experience the rogue as written, horribleness and all. I suspect he's a masochist. Then we have an elven alchemist, followed by an android psion shaper (modeled after Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and lastly an Elan Vitalist. The vitalist is played by my wife who spends half the game cooking or taking care of the kids, so most the time she can't pay attention to the game. I've remedied this by modelling her character after the Doctor from "Star Trek: Voyager." She's a hologram that appears and disappears at random intervals and can come in to heal the party, but unlike the Doctor she can get hit and take damage when she's around.

    I first had a problem with my party performing 15 minute adventure days. They would enter into the Black Hill caves, expend all their resources on one or two fights, and then leave. The first expedition they fought some fire beetles and the blindheim (which nearly TPK'd them, only the vitalist appearing saved them, keeping them alive long enough until the one summoned critter killed off the blindheim) and then they left and waited for the next day to reenter. On day two, they made a deal with the Skulks and then expended all their resources on the Gremlins (which almost killed the rogue). A half hour into the expedition and they were back out waiting another day.

    At this point, I started having Val and Dolga getting mad at them for not trying hard enough. Especially Val, as she was really missing her father adn was having some over-emotional teenage angst at not being able to help and them not trying hard enough. I really hammed it up, especially with Rock since he was also part of the family - "Don't you want to see Father again? Why don't you care, Rock?" she'd ask with tears falling down her cheeks. The rest of the town was still treating them like heroes, though.

    After this they started getting a bit more motivated to push further, especially Rock. They faced the Ghelarn, and though it was a bit scary, they finished it off with relative ease. Then came the skeletons, which I had one attack, then two show up each round after that until all seven appeared. Hetuath would take control of his skeletons, and when he did, their eyes glowed green and they gained the advanced template. Every time the one Hetuath was controlling died, he would scream in frustration and anger, and the scream would echo through the habitat. The skeletons managed to bring down the cryptic and nearly the rogue, but the alchemist's use of his only readied mutagen saved the day. They healed up to max and continued on. Following the footprints, they tracked the previous party across the desert and towards the science deck. They decided to not follow the footprints into the science deck itself, but rather to check out one of the other rooms. They picked the room with Hetuath. (If they hadn't, I was going to have Hetuath stealth out and attack them in the long curved hallway, hopefully taking out whoever was last in line before the rest of them noticed what was going on).

    Since Hetuath was ready for them, as soon as they opened the door he threw a javelin at the first one (the rogue), then moved behind the pillars for cover, forcing them to come in after him. They did, much to their detriment. Within five rounds, the rogue was unconscious and bleeding out, the alchemist was dead, and the last summoned monster was slaughtered. The psion shaper decided they weren't going to live, so he booked it. Just turned and ran. Lastly, the android cryptic decided to taunt Hetuath and force him out into the hallway (acrobatting back and firing, forcing Hetuath to move closer and only get one attack per round). Getting annoyed that the cryptic wouldn't stand still and wouldn't come to him, and finally charged and took the cryptic out with one final hit. Then he proceeded to rip the android body apart bit by bit in anger.

    Since the cryptic was set up like MegaMan, he had two lives left. His consciousness awakened Model II and he went running like a madman to get back into the caves to continue the fight. He ran into the Psion emerging from the lake, and then asked for volunteers from the crowd (aka, the alchemist's next character - a half-giant psychic warrior), and they immediately went back in to fight Hetuath again. I rolled to see if Hetuath had noticed them come back through the desert and he did, so he was ready for them the second time. This time, he stood in front of the door waiting for them to open it (thinking back, I should have placed him in front of the malfunctioning biolocks so the PCs would be stuck fighting in a room that discharged lightning every 1d6+1 rounds). As soon as the door opened, he got a full attack on the first person there - but some lucky rolls left him alive. The half-giant attacked back with a hard hit and managed to land the final blow to kill the alien. I made some checks to see if Hetuath ever noticed that the halfling rogue was technically still alive, and he didn't, so the rogue survived - albeit unconscious and beaten.

    The party decided to bring back the remains of the elven alchemist and the alien Hetuath back to town. As soon as the sun's rays touched Hetuath, the curse lifted, and his spirit thanked them as it floated towards his home planet.

    This AP is a blast. I am loving it.


    So I was rereading some of Fires or Creation, specifically the parts relating to Kasath and Kasatha creatures, and something occurred to me about the petromin. They're called "azure gliders" by local Numerians because of their camouflage sky-blue undersides. Their bellies are azure to blend with the sky and their backs are brown to blend with the desert terrain of Kasath. One thing though, Kasath doesn't have a blue sky, Golarion does, Kasath has a red sky, as described on page 27 of Fires of Creation. So it stands to reason that petromin would have red undersides rather than blue, and led be called something akin to "crimson gliders". I recognize that the local petromin could have evolved to have blue undersides to match the Golarion environment, but that dormant feel quite right.

    I also recognize that this is a rather trivial and fixable issue. :P

    Grand Lodge

    They are nocturnal creatures - they do most of their hunting at night to make the most of their Cloaked ability. While Kasatha has a red sky, at night their sky is just as black and star-lit as Golarion and Earth, except with three moons. Their underbellies are cloaked to night conditions, not day conditions. I am guessing the reference to azure colour is from moonlight, not the day sky.

    The Numerians shouldn't have a name for Petromin as the only Petromin would have been on the fake Kasathan habitat on the Divinity. Unless they escaped?

    Having said that, the flavour text makes it sound like a Petromin can adapt their coloration for any environment.

    Silver Crusade

    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
    KestlerGunner wrote:

    They are nocturnal creatures - they do most of their hunting at night to make the most of their Cloaked ability. While Kasatha has a red sky, at night their sky is just as black and star-lit as Golarion and Earth, except with three moons. Their underbellies are cloaked to night conditions, not day conditions. I am guessing the reference to azure colour is from moonlight, not the day sky.

    The Numerians shouldn't have a name for Petromin as the only Petromin would have been on the fake Kasathan habitat on the Divinity. Unless they escaped?

    Having said that, the flavour text makes it sound like a Petromin can adapt their coloration for any environment.

    It's been 9,000 years. Coloring that blends with Golarion habitats would be a useful genetic trait to pass on. Evolution!


    DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:
    KestlerGunner wrote:

    They are nocturnal creatures - they do most of their hunting at night to make the most of their Cloaked ability. While Kasatha has a red sky, at night their sky is just as black and star-lit as Golarion and Earth, except with three moons. Their underbellies are cloaked to night conditions, not day conditions. I am guessing the reference to azure colour is from moonlight, not the day sky.

    The Numerians shouldn't have a name for Petromin as the only Petromin would have been on the fake Kasathan habitat on the Divinity. Unless they escaped?

    Having said that, the flavour text makes it sound like a Petromin can adapt their coloration for any environment.

    It's been 9,000 years. Coloring that blends with Golarion habitats would be a useful genetic trait to pass on. Evolution!

    Yes, I mentioned that I supposed evolution could have had a say in this, but I didn't like the feel of that. Again, I also realize how trivial all of this is. :P

    On the whole thing of they match the night sky, though it does make some sense, that doesn't sit right with me. I suppose know this is just personal preference now. :P The way the petromin is described doesn't seem to fit this, for me. Oh, and yes, Fires of Creation mentioned that petromin escaped and formed small colonies, as did pilos and soricos.


    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    So, my players just had their first encounter with the Kasatha skeletons. Those four claw attacks did a number on them, especially when they came from one possessed by Hetuath, thus gaining the Advanced template. Believing the skeletons to be undead Androffans, they then took the remains of one of the Kasatha back to town with them -- disassembling the bones to carry back in their packs, and then hiding the bones under loose floorboards in the warpriest's basement. Here's hoping they manage to turn the habitat back on quickly when they go back in--otherwise, they're going to find a skeleton on a rampage next time they come back to town!


    Revan wrote:
    So, my players just had their first encounter with the Kasatha skeletons. Those four claw attacks did a number on them, especially when they came from one possessed by Hetuath, thus gaining the Advanced template. Believing the skeletons to be undead Androffans, they then took the remains of one of the Kasatha back to town with them -- disassembling the bones to carry back in their packs, and then hiding the bones under loose floorboards in the warpriest's basement. Here's hoping they manage to turn the habitat back on quickly when they go back in--otherwise, they're going to find a skeleton on a rampage next time they come back to town!

    I believe It's mentioned that if the light of day touches the bones, the curse is lifted and they turn to dust. So the skeleton wouldn't be running amok, it would be stuck in the basement. :P

    RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

    Acolyte of Mushu wrote:
    Revan wrote:
    So, my players just had their first encounter with the Kasatha skeletons. Those four claw attacks did a number on them, especially when they came from one possessed by Hetuath, thus gaining the Advanced template. Believing the skeletons to be undead Androffans, they then took the remains of one of the Kasatha back to town with them -- disassembling the bones to carry back in their packs, and then hiding the bones under loose floorboards in the warpriest's basement. Here's hoping they manage to turn the habitat back on quickly when they go back in--otherwise, they're going to find a skeleton on a rampage next time they come back to town!
    I believe It's mentioned that if the light of day touches the bones, the curse is lifted and they turn to dust. So the skeleton wouldn't be running amok, it would be stuck in the basement. :P

    Even in the basement, it would seek the sunlight - turning to dust anyway.


    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    It's specifically the light of the rising sun that does it, not just any natural sunlight. As it turned out, they got pretty drunk at Sikverdisk Hall that night, so the Warpriest ended up being home when the skeleton reanimated.


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    Since I have finished Fires of Creation now and almost done Lords of Rust I thought I'd share my 5e conversions and non-5e changes/ideas as well as a game log. I only did a little tinkering in Fires of Creation. A lot more "new" (tinkered) stuff for Lords of Rust.


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    My players just met Meyanda. Now that was a very fun encounter. At first, they were losing against the lieutenant (along with some fanatics and ratfolk); to the point where one of the androids was knocked unconscious and the rest of the party fled (leaving the unconscious android behind).

    Instead of killing the player, I had Meyanda capture him. I also roleplayed her to want to convert other androids to the cause, so she was sickly sweet towards the a doors, healing him, caressing his face, and sweet talking him to try to convert him to her cause.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the group rallied and regrouped, readying for a second assault and a rescue mission.

    They conversed philosophy, religion, her religion, her plans, why she was doing what she was doing, and he led her on making her beieve that she was converting him. Right up until the point where he heard battle outside the room and then fired his gun at a weak spot in the engine, attempting to blow the whole thing up. Unfortunately, the explosion wasn't as powerful as he'd hoped, and it only caused to make Meyanda angry. Meyanda - also aware that his friends were just outside - knocked him unconscious and left to "deal with his friends, so we can continue in private."

    This time around, they were victorious. They managed to knock Meyanda unconscious and put her in jail.

    Very fun encounter all around.


    I'd say you did that perfectly bookrat:-)

    Editor

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    You're kinder than I am. I'd have made his shot trigger the low-intensity radiation field as described in Meyanda's battle plans—bet he wasn't exactly expecting that!

    Falling unconscious next to that generator led to my first (and so far, only) PC death.

    Grand Lodge

    You are a cruel and terrible God, Joe Homes.

    RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

    bookrat wrote:

    My players just met Meyanda. Now that was a very fun encounter. At first, they were losing against the lieutenant (along with some fanatics and ratfolk); to the point where one of the androids was knocked unconscious and the rest of the party fled (leaving the unconscious android behind).

    Instead of killing the player, I had Meyanda capture him. I also roleplayed her to want to convert other androids to the cause, so she was sickly sweet towards the a doors, healing him, caressing his face, and sweet talking him to try to convert him to her cause.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the group rallied and regrouped, readying for a second assault and a rescue mission.

    They conversed philosophy, religion, her religion, her plans, why she was doing what she was doing, and he led her on making her beieve that she was converting him. Right up until the point where he heard battle outside the room and then fired his gun at a weak spot in the engine, attempting to blow the whole thing up. Unfortunately, the explosion wasn't as powerful as he'd hoped, and it only caused to make Meyanda angry. Meyanda - also aware that his friends were just outside - knocked him unconscious and left to "deal with his friends, so we can continue in private."

    This time around, they were victorious. They managed to knock Meyanda unconscious and put her in jail.

    Very fun encounter all around.

    The problem with this approach is that Androids are supposed to be emotionless. Not only would this approach have been unlikely to occur to her, she would also know that it would fail against another Android. (Emotionless is VERY hard to role-play.)

    She would have attempted the logical discussion of religion. Reason is the way that most Androids would try to communicate.


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    Lord Fyre wrote:
    bookrat wrote:

    My players just met Meyanda. Now that was a very fun encounter. At first, they were losing against the lieutenant (along with some fanatics and ratfolk); to the point where one of the androids was knocked unconscious and the rest of the party fled (leaving the unconscious android behind).

    Instead of killing the player, I had Meyanda capture him. I also roleplayed her to want to convert other androids to the cause, so she was sickly sweet towards the a doors, healing him, caressing his face, and sweet talking him to try to convert him to her cause.

    Meanwhile, the rest of the group rallied and regrouped, readying for a second assault and a rescue mission.

    They conversed philosophy, religion, her religion, her plans, why she was doing what she was doing, and he led her on making her beieve that she was converting him. Right up until the point where he heard battle outside the room and then fired his gun at a weak spot in the engine, attempting to blow the whole thing up. Unfortunately, the explosion wasn't as powerful as he'd hoped, and it only caused to make Meyanda angry. Meyanda - also aware that his friends were just outside - knocked him unconscious and left to "deal with his friends, so we can continue in private."

    This time around, they were victorious. They managed to knock Meyanda unconscious and put her in jail.

    Very fun encounter all around.

    The problem with this approach is that Androids are supposed to be emotionless. Not only would this approach have been unlikely to occur to her, she would also know that it would fail against another Android. (Emotionless is VERY hard to role-play.)

    She would have attempted the logical discussion of religion. Reason is the way that most Androids would try to communicate.

    True. But this way was so much more fun for my players. I wanted her to be more considerate towards androids and more dangerous towards humans. I'm setting up the religion to cater towards androids first, others races second, and humans last (which goes towards her favored enemy).

    Additionally, at one point she declared that he was too stubborn and he needed to open his mind to better accept her God, and she proceeded to cast Touch of Idiocy.

    My players laughed about the for a solid half hour.

    (I apologize to my religious friends, but she didn't have any other decent spells prepared).


    Joe Homes wrote:

    You're kinder than I am. I'd have made his shot trigger the low-intensity radiation field as described in Meyanda's battle plans—bet he wasn't exactly expecting that!

    Falling unconscious next to that generator led to my first (and so far, only) PC death.

    The *only* reason I didn't bring the radiation rules into play is because this particular session was played at one of my player's house and both the Numeria book and Tevhnology guide were left at my house (where we normally play). Basically, I couldn't remember them and didn't have them on hand. But I REALLY wanted to used them.

    As far as PC deaths go, we've had three so far, all to Hetuath.


    Ugh!
    been trying to post this here for 2 days but my kids kept interrupting every damn time i did!

    we'll see how it goes.....

    Anyway, Medical Drones

    my plan is to have one be calm and say reassuring things, the other will be loud and say alarming scary things. i also might have one able to emit a cone of gas that acts as Calm Emotions and the other a Bull Horn that emits of a sonic cone that acts as Ear Piercing Scream (or maybe Sound Burst?)

    ............ well its over the kids noticed me:) was gonna include what they say, oh well later, maybe:-)


    How meyanda is controlling her collector robot, is this implicity in somewhere in the book and i missed? Is not Unity who is making the AI crazy?


    Unity! He's not the only Iron God you know:-)

    I know a thing or two about controlling robots too you know


    Haha that was my theory!

    Dark Archive

    1 person marked this as a favorite.
    Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    Actually, I'd say that she prayed fervently to Hellion, and he remotely hacked the collector robot and gave Meyanda admin rights to it.


    Misroi wrote:
    Actually, I'd say that she prayed fervently to Hellion, and he remotely hacked the collector robot and gave Meyanda admin rights to it.

    Pretty much this.

    I don't remember if the robot came with her from scrapwall or she found it in the ruins below torch but the fact is that Hellion reprogrammed it and made a servant of Meyanda.


    Pretty sure the AP states that she brought it with her and that Hellion granted it to her as a servant.


    Meyanda is listed as having a Chain Shirt (4 AC) and casts Magic Vestment and Shield of Faith (CL 5th) before combat. Magic Vestment should be +2 AC starting at level 4 right? Her stat block says AC 19 (5 armor 2 dex 2 deflection).

    Should it be 6 armor or am I missing something?


    Derek345 wrote:

    Meyanda is listed as having a Chain Shirt (4 AC) and casts Magic Vestment and Shield of Faith (CL 5th) before combat. Magic Vestment should be +2 AC starting at level 4 right? Her stat block says AC 19 (5 armor 2 dex 2 deflection).

    Should it be 6 armor or am I missing something?

    Her AC is correct. Magic vestment grants +1 per four caster levels. Pathfinder rounds everything down unless otherwise stated, so that spell would grant a +2 bonus at CL 8th, no earlier.

    I rearranged Meyanda's spells a bit, and swapped her magic vestment for another spell (can't remember what). It was a close fight. Meyanda sat on the top level, plinking PCs with searing light and her gun and channeling the wrath of Hellion while her robot went after soft targets. That one-point difference in Meyanda's AC was responsible for three additional hits on her, and the PCs knocked her out. Then the barbarian critted the robot, and it was over.


    I see, thanks Naal. I might have her fight defensively, 19 AC is going to mean her hitpoints vanish pretty quickly and she probably will have enough to-hit between touch attacks and favored enemy (and possibly divine favor).

    Dark Archive

    OK... so a little confusion here...

    B6 has Ghelarn, which is large size. There is no area that is greater than 5x5.

    So, what gives?

    RPG Superstar 2009, Contributor

    Squeezing rules come into play...

    PRD wrote:
    Squeezing: In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn't as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to AC.

    Dark Archive

    Neil Spicer wrote:

    Squeezing rules come into play...

    PRD wrote:
    Squeezing: In some cases, you may have to squeeze into or through an area that isn't as wide as the space you take up. You can squeeze through or into a space that is at least half as wide as your normal space. Each move into or through a narrow space counts as if it were 2 squares, and while squeezed in a narrow space, you take a –4 penalty on attack rolls and a –4 penalty to AC.

    So it's squeezed in there? That seems kinda silly, but alright. Seems like it makes it real easy for the players.


    i put it at the mouth just before they head into the desert, it was quite a memorable fight, one person got dropped to 2 hit points and another into negative hit points:-)

    The Exchange

    3 people marked this as a favorite.
    captain yesterday wrote:
    i put it at the mouth just before they head into the desert, it was quite a memorable fight, one person got dropped to 2 hit points and another into negative hit points:-)

    Same here, I wanted them to immediately feel like they were entering an Alien Environment and fighting a creature that is unidentifiable seemed a good way to start that off.


    Codanous wrote:
    captain yesterday wrote:
    i put it at the mouth just before they head into the desert, it was quite a memorable fight, one person got dropped to 2 hit points and another into negative hit points:-)
    Same here, I wanted them to immediately feel like they were entering an Alien Environment and fighting a creature that is unidentifiable seemed a good way to start that off.

    Same. I thought that's where it was anyway to be honest :)

    Grand Lodge

    Hi All,

    I am about to Embark on GMing this adventure path and I was wondering how you all made torch feel more like a town instead of just one large tavern for the PCs to chill at between dungeon delves.

    I know Torch isn't the main focus of this part of the adventure but I always want it to feel more alive then just a place they spend each night in.

    Anyone have any thoughts?

    Silver Crusade

    Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

    Do your players come from the town, ask them to come up with an NPC friend from the town or ask them to integrate an already established NPC into their backstory.

    Have the NPC throw a party for the PCs the first time they return from the dungeon:

    A "Hooray you lived!" Party!

    That NPC should invite other cool NPCs from the town, and give players an opportunity to interact with other people and maybe pickup some sidequests.

    Sovereign Court

    I've been meaning to work on this too. I got a bit of a Deadwood vibe from the book.

    I think what it needs is some kind of interlude story set in Torch between Fires and Lords.

    And yeah, "hooray, you lived" parties are good. I think there needs to be more town life.

    ---

    My players just fought the drones guarding Khonnir and Hardness 10 gave them serious trouble. I kind of expect them to ask the townsfolk if there's any adamatine weapons on loan - this town is famous for smelting adamantine after all, and they are trying to save it.

    It doesn't make much sense to me to flatly refuse, but that'll make things a lot easier later on. Anyone have ideas for a spin I can put on it?

    Grand Lodge

    So we started our first session last night and it went well at least right up until the end, so Ill explain.

    Spoiler:

    The party consists of:

    Rendak, a goblin cavalier, who is trying to form his own clan, the only problem is he keeps getting his new clan members killed. He has local ties with Khonnir and has been around Torch enough that many people put up with him.

    Enfo, an android wizard who is suspiciously similar to Data from star trek. Emotionless he has added some comic relief to the store thus far with his matter of fact sentences. Enfo took the stargazer trait so he is out to find out more about the universe and his races' existence.

    Arg, the half-orc barbarian is almost what you would expect. Large, wields an earth breaker and isnt the brightest cookie. The technic league killed Arg's employer , Arg is a laborer, and so Arg is out to get revenge.

    Rodrigo, the human gunslinger is quite full of himself and very prideful. Once an owner of a gun shop in Torch, he was unable to keep it going due to the high taxes imposed by the technic league.

    So the night started out well, the group headed to the town hall, accepted the contract to find Khonnir, which Rendak was all for as Khonnir was his friend. After a few encounters with the locals the group headed to the Black hill cave.

    Two of them failed the fort save from the weeping pond so two were sickened for the fire beetle fight. Didn't really matter though as they made quick work of the vermin.

    Passing through the stalactite room none of them have knowledge local so they had no clue who the dead half-orc is and none passed the heal check so they aren't sure how she died either.

    Here is where thing get interesting. Three of the players were in range and site of the Blindhiem when moving into the next room. Two save yet the poor gunslinger did not. He still manages to fire his gun and hits the creature but barely wounds it (1 damage). Arg the barbarian changes the creature and crits with a power attack from the earthbreaker. 44 damage to the 22 hp blindhiem.

    Being prideful and quite annoyed that he is blinded, the gunslinger refuses help and uses the wall to guide him down the path. The group does not see the Skulk look out due to their watching over the party member.

    The group comes to the Skulk cave where Leupel steps forward and convinces the group to talk to their Chieften, She then leads Enfo and Rendak to Sef. Mid conversations about a possible truce, the Rodrigo and Arg have a ..."tif". Arg is standing in the Skulk cave holding Rodrigo up, Arg made a joke to Rodrigo says "well can you see yet?" Rodrigo offend, sets his pistol on Arg's shoulder and fires, attempting to deafen him. Rodrigo says "Can you hear yet?"

    And this is where we stopped for the night. Not sure whats going to happen because now they have spooked the Skulks. The party is split, there is some small infighting and the Skulks are about attack. The group is in a bad way. I cant wait to see what happens though!.

    Grand Lodge

    1 person marked this as a favorite.

    Has anyone else noticed how much gold is going out to the players? How has this effected your games?

    I wasn't worried until one of my players took a craft feat and now I fear they'll funnel all of their gold into crafting big 6 items instead of paying for "overpriced" tech items.

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