Aardvark's "Nothing Venture Captained, Nothing Gained" Shattered Star Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Troy Malovich

He's a human!

Ahh, okay, makes sense. It's one of those things I forget often. Just like the small size bonuses to AC and to hit.

I'll be looking at my halfling, and going "I don't get it. Where did this last +1 come from? I can't find it."

Sometimes I look at Dareon's skill bonuses and remember...

This guy's a fighter. He has seven, count 'em, seven, trained Knowledge skills.

House Rule Discussion Question

Okay, so I was skimming the magic items, and item creation rules for some reason and had an idea. I feel like it will be generally NOT well recieved for it's potential, but I'm going to ask anyways.

First, this stems from the houserule for skills. Since there is a chance to nat 1 a skill check to craft a magic item, the odds of getting cursed items has increased, but all the same there is no greater benefit on the return.

Normally, as a prewritten AP, there are only the cursed/Intelligent items as placed by the designers. I would like to return to the days of yore, where every item had a chance (albeit small) of being either cursed or Intelligent.

This means, for every magic item you find, I would roll percentile (actual ranges to be figured out/dicussed later, but looking at 5% cursed, 1% Intelligent) and determine whether the item was cursed or intelligent.

Now I know the concern is that as PC's you have a greater chance of having cursed items than the NPC's/enemies, but all the same cursed items are typically mostly minor in their curses, but when there is an Int item, it is a pretty big deal.

On top of this, maybe include a nat 1=cursed/nat 20=Int when crafting items, but this may need to be tweaked.

I just was fondly remembering the days where every time you found a magic item, there was so much paranoia and risk in just using it without knowing fully what it did, that often times it made magic feel more mysterious and dangerous. Thoughts?

I am perfectly okay with finding random intelligent items, so long as if the creator makes it via a natural 20, they get to choose what kind of intelligence they're working with. I would imagine that the creator would, in his moment of epic clarity, be the one to determine it's personality.

Pray to almighty god that I never make one. It would be eccentric as one. We're talking space-orb Portal 2 personalities, here.

I'm fine with that rule :) I think magic is a tad too predictable in its current form in PF anyway, so I'd appreciate the mystery.

I'm ok with it, too, as long as magic items found as NPC gear are cursed/intelligent for the bad guys, too.

If you want, you could reduce the odds further with a roll after the nat 1 or 20. Say, a 50% after that to be cursed, and 25% to be intelligent. The follow-up roll would also allow you to hide the results from us.

I'm fine with it but I'm not sure about the player picking the type of intelligence. I just think it should be something appropriately aligned. It wouldn't make sense that a LG character would, on a critical success, enchant a CE intelligence.

Sounds fine to me too, and Tanjvats' suggestion is a really good one as well.

Okay, looking at basing it off the numbers from the 3.5 DMG.

For every magic item you come across (or borne by the enemy), will have a percentile rolled for it.

Weapons:
1-5% means it's Intelligent
6-25% means it sheds light
96-00% means it is cursed

Armor, Shields, Rings, Rods, and (non-consumable) Wondrous Items:
01% means it's Intelligent
96-00% means it is cursed

All others (including consumables):
96-00% means it is cursed

Again, this looks like it is heavy on the cursed side, but most of the curses are either fairly easy to overcome, or are not that detrimental.

Also, considering a Nat 1 on a craft check could make an item cursed, but to make one intelligent costs A LOT, the odds are going to favor the curses.

When crafting, a Nat 1, will often by the rules make a cursed item (if you fail making an item by 5 or more it is cursed by RAW). SO in this instance, a nat 1 alone will make it cursed. Every item can be cursed.

As for making an Intelligent item, it will use the random tables in the CRB, except alignment will be at most 1 step away from that of the creator (like clerics and deities)

For Intelligence, first is a Nat 20. I'm a little off on my math, but thinking:
if it's a weapon, rolling 17-20 on a second d20 means it's Intelligent
if it's an Armor, Shield, Ring, Rod, or (non-consumable) Wondrous Item, rolling a 20 on a second d20 means it's Intelligent.
No other items can be intelligent.

I would also entertain the idea of heading to the docks for a day, but I'd very much like to spend one sharing spells with Faedrin and enjoying some conversation with both.

Oz, regarding sharing spells, beside Faedrin having filth fever and not being in any mood to talk, he also hasn't known anyone in the group nearly long enough to share his spellbook.

Fine enough by me, you can use mine then. How's that sound?

That sounds rather kind of you, but Fade would pass at that offer as well. Sick as he is, Faedrin wouldn't be in any mood to read or study and, honestly, I think even if he weren't sick he's probably still a little too proud to accept the gesture as he'd see it as a handout.

Does Oz write his spells and such in a manner similar to his speech pattern?

He does indeed. Part of me wants to make reading his spellbook an opposed linguistic's check. Haha. Oz isn't so much soft as he is child-like. His background is one of being in the slums and constantly starving while being remarkably stealthy for the wrong people by watching the wrong people. The lodge is just sort of a buffer, really.

But yeah, he's still shook up about not being there when the bad stuff did go down.

[rules on crafting intelligent items that don't include scrolls]

No other items can be intelligent.

Aww. I was looking forward to this...

Hmmm. Provided Faedrin survives his bout of filth fever and this turns into a brush with death instead of a full on meet-and-greet, this may prove to be quite a bonding event for him.

*crosses fingers and bribes dicebot*

Fade, if you want you can go ahead and roll two more Fort saves in the gameplay thread, and Tanjvats can roll the heal checks.

EDIT: Also, are there any issues with the cursed/Int items rules as I have them written? If not I will add them to the campaign tab.

I'm cool with the cursed/intelligent item rules as you presented, Aard. I like 'em!

It's hideously ironic I could have made an intelligent piece of paper just then, but yeah, I'm cool with it :D

Okay that's it. We're all broke for the most part, and I do not, at all, want Faedrin dying on us. Where is the most rinky dink place in all of Magnimar that sells Potions of Disease Removal, because I'm about to go steal one. I'm not kidding. Let's do this.

I'll help, if I can :D
Otherwise, I know that uh...Uriah has like 900gp.

... I know that uh...Uriah has like 900gp.

No you don't. ;)

Having just met everyone and feeling no depth of allegiance to any of them, Uriah isn't likely to pony up any coin.

That said, Uriah would be up for starting Path Finders Mutual, the first ever rpg insurance company. No co-pays, 100 GP/mo premiums, board members can vote to raise your premiums if you become too much of a liability.

Better yet, we could structure costs by profession.
Cost per month
Fighters/Rangers/Barbarians,Monks, 150 GP
Paladins/Mages/Sorcerers/Alchemists Rogues,etc... 100 GP
Clerics/Oracles/other healers 50 GP

Rates could be reduced by increasing membership.
Think of the money laundering we could do.
Anyone?

Those Heal checks should have been at +7+2, not +4+2, but both passed anyway, and so I didn't edit the post. The nat 20 gets to 39! The power of self-loathing!
:-)

Fade, it wasn't clear to me who you were offering blanch to. Tanjvats or Uriah?

Tanjvats already bought some silvered bolts, so he's likely good.

They were offered up to anyone in the group, Uriah.

To finish out my record keeping prior to the assault: I didn't take the silver blanch, I took back my 50gp offer from Uriah since he didn't want it, and I've dropped divine favor and memorized shield of faith instead.

Pipe up if you already have a deflection bonus to AC, so I don't waste shield of faith on you. Tanjvats has been looking at your fingers and watching your spells! [But my memory as a pbp player leaves a bit to be desired]

If no one else wants to blanch any projectiles, Faedrin will blanch 10 of his own arrows and keep the remaining container of blanch.

House Rule question

#1) Stealth as a group:

I've always been bothered by the idea, that when sneaking as a group, the stealthier could hide in broad daylight, but the armored couldn't sneak past an unconscious drunken ogre.

What I like to do is average the results of everyone's sneaking. Everyone gets their individual rolls for sake of surprise and such, or when alone, but as a group I look at it as the quiet ones tend to be louder in trying to keep the louder ones more quiet. In the end it balances toward the middle.

If this is okay with everyone, then when the group is sneaking together, I could also mass roll them (like I do initiative), that way the maths are all done in one post instead of having to wait.

#2) Aid another on skills/ability checks

I saw this in the house rule thread, and I like it. When aiding another, the highest roller is the base, everyone else is the aid. It makes more sense that the person that had the most success is doing the most work, anyone doing less than that is just assisting.

Thoughts on both?

I like them both!

I am totally okay with both of those, if only because my stealth is kind of ridiculous.

And me as well, I am fine.

I like those both, too. I use the second one in my campaigns for most skills anyway.

A question on this climbing, and your skill house rule.

RAW, a 200ft climb will mean Tanjvats needs to succeed at 26 or 27 climb checks to get to the top. (Speed 30x.25 = 7.5; 200/7.5 = 26.667)

With my -2 Climb modifier, I will only fail the DC 0 on a 1. But when I do roll a 1, I'll get the -10, and be at -11, which will be a fall.

With 26-27 rolls, I'm pretty darn likely to roll a 1 (of not several).

Thus it seems likely suicide to make this climb.

Things are even worse if the other rope isn't knotted.

knotted rope means you can take 10 against a DC 5 (if there's no bracing wall; DC 0 if there is), Tanj and thus no checks are needed!

EDIT: I forgot the houserule that removed Take 10. UGH.

This might just be one of those situations where we should assume that there just isn't a check for a braced wall, rather than rolling for it... but that's just a suggestion.

...Can we houserule that we don't need to roll against a DC 0 check?

Or that, since we're not being rushed, we can roll once for every 100ft? That would still mean that everyone would eventually fail on an infinitely long rope (unless their climb mod was high).

In effect, it would be: the DC to climb 100 ft of a knotted rope when you have plenty of time is 0.

I don't know, it's tough. Each additional 100ft is +2 to DC?

So, it's actually 180 feet up to the top entrance. Not sure why you have a 20' speed, unless you are carrying too much and if that that's the case you have that penalty as well?

Either way, at 20' it would be 36 climb checks at DC 0, or for an accelerated climb, 18 checks at DC 5.

With 30' speed, having someone carry some of your stuff maybe, it would be 24 checks at DC 0, or 12 at DC5 for accelerated.

Yes, this is one of those situations where both the removal of Take 10/20, and the crit/fumble skills play into a double handicap. Sadly, this is exactly the type of scenario I enjoy about those rules, as it reinstills that risk factor that makes it so exciting. Climbing a rope for 180' when not really equipped for it means there is a chance of falling, even something as simple as a knotted rope with a wall to brace against.

Then again, if falling is a concern, maybe there is some way to make sure that the fall wouldn't kill you even if you did fail a climb check with a 1..... almost as if the adventure had provided a means to protect those that might decide to climb up this way.

You know, like that ring of feather falling.

Tanjvats assaults whichever character is bearing the ring. It's mine! It's my precious!" :-)

re: Herolab not outputting the untrained amounts...yeah, that's irksome. It should at least put out the armor penalties, so things are easily calculated.

I guess that should also be included in the standard stat block across the system, too. Perhaps as part of the AC line.

Alert the authorities.

Oh, and I put my stealth in my profile

I have a solid 13 stealth. My next feat just might be stealthy, to make things more hilarious. I've considered taking the rogue talent that lets me see in the dark, also, on my next level, or just taking another one in wizard, but I think I should do them 1 for 1, really.

Real quick, Oz, while you're here. Can you put in the status bar I asked for.

I don't know if I've mentioned it here before, but I don't think I have. This is not based on any event that came up in this game, I just want to make sure there is an understanding on where I'm coming from as a GM. So there are no incorrect assumptions due to my lack of clarity.

When I play, I consider the game to be one about taking actions, and you can't assume an action that has in game consequences is taken unless declared. If there are rules for it, then it should be accounted for. If it is assumed you ate, then you should mark off a ration.

If you didn't say you used Survival to find food, then you didn't do so.
If you didn't say you were moving stealthily, you didn't do so.
If you didn't say you prepared different spells than the ones the day before, you must have kept the same ones.
If you didn't say you slept, you are fatigued or exhausted (these I'm not certain of, I can't seem to find sleep rules for anyone other than prepared casters).
If you didn't set up a watch rotation while you slept, then you all get the -10 to your perception checks for being asleep.
If you didn't say you when and where you mapped, you don't have a map.
If you didn't search for something hidden, you won't find it.*
And if you didn't say you told the party what you saw/learned/know, they don't know.

From the other perspective, there are no rules for bathroom functions, so no declared action required. No rules for breathing, unless there ISN'T air to breathe, no declared action required. No rules for sharpening your weapon (There are whetstones in the CRB, but they do nothing, and there are no rules for a blade dulling), so no declared action required.

House Rule question

#2) Aid another on skills/ability checks

I saw this in the house rule thread, and I like it. When aiding another, the highest roller is the base, everyone else is the aid. It makes more sense that the person that had the most success is doing the most work, anyone doing less than that is just assisting.

Thoughts on both?

To be clear, is it the highest roller or the highest outcome is the primary actor? E.g. I roll a 19 but my skill is only +2, another player rolls a 15 but their skill is + 8. Who is the primary actor?

Okay, I see now I wrote it both ways. It is based off the highest result. Those would be the ones with the most success, therefore doing the lion's share of the work.

Sorry, my comp is acting stupid. Spending the whole day trying to get it right. Should have posts tomorrow, I hope.

Aard, while I do truly like the stealth homerule, I would ask that my stealth checks be made separate, and if that wasn't possible, I would ask how it could be made separate.

My character was designed to be the stealthiest of the group, and if we're tallying averages, then that's null on the useful range. No one else in the party is even close to how well Oz is capable of hiding, and as a result I'd like to be farther ahead of the group, surveying for traps, and rolling perception checks to warn them ahead of time, if possible.

It's just that, when I can roll a 23 half the time, and being reduced to a 14 (Which is a 1 for me) as a result of the average, one of Oz's main utilities goes out the window...

Also I updated the character bar finally! So hooray for that.

Is anyone against this, or would you prefer I stick with the average?

Oz, I think the rule only applies "when the group is sneaking together". We had to in this situation, because we were all stuffed on the platform and in the tunnel.

I'm sure when Oz is up ahead on his own, and we're all waiting for his report, it'll be different.

Not that any of us will be able to spot you when you return!