GM Merc's Savage Tide

Game Master Mercurion

Pirates! Dinosaurs! Demons! Isle of Dread!

Starting in the port city of Sasserine, the party discovers the first clues about an impending disaster called the Savage Tide. The action then moves to the Isle of Dread for the middle portion of the series, and the party must deal with the dangers of the island and unearth more information about the Savage Tide.

I am kicking off a new Savage Tide AP, one of the classics written by Paizo and published in Dungeon magazine prior to Pathfinder being a thing. With authors such as James Jacobs, Nicolas Logue, and Richard Pett (and that’s just the first three adventures) you know it’s gonna be good.

I am looking for a group of creative and COMITTED players. With an AP this big, it’s going to run for two years at a minimum. If that sort of commitment scares you, this is probably not the game for you.

Dot for interest. I must think about this as my 3.5 is really rusty.
There will be time to craft magic items?

Dot for interest. I must think about this as my 3.5 is really rusty.

There will be time to craft magic items?

Yes, there are certain downtimes built into the adventure path.

interesting, what 3.5 books are you allowing?

Dot. It has been a long time since 3.5.

interesting, what 3.5 books are you allowing?

I have quite a few:

If you are looking to use another source, if you can provide a source I will certainly consider it.

Hmmm, given the setting it looks like I should pick up Stormwrack as well.

*Waves*

Hey-YA there! (^_^)

Showin' m'self ta' be seein' if'n people's be in'erested in'a Elf taggin' along.

Wishin' every one all'a very bestest.

I was just wondering if it was worth me spending the $20 for the 3.5 Herolab extension. I hate a LOT of the 3.5 books in my basement.

I was just wondering if it was worth me spending the $20 for the 3.5 Herolab extension. I hate a LOT of the 3.5 books in my basement.

Hate a lot of the books, or have a lot? :) I have stacks and stacks, so this will be a good chance to dust them off, including a lot of excellent Dungeon magazines.

Now add Stormwrack and Complete Warrior to the list above.

Have not hate haha, although I did have a love/hate relationship with a few of them but that is neither here nor there.

Would you allow the PHB II?

I have always liked the Scout class, it does take a bit to come online and requires "running" room to work effectively.

I'm happy to keep it 'simple' and would only be using 'standard' Paizo... If that's all right?

@Raltus - Yes, I've heard that the Scout class is a good choice for Savage Tide, and I have access to that in Complete Adventurer. There is quite a bit of the adventure, at least early on, that gives a scout room to move.

@Sunset/, - Yes, I'll consider anything from the sources listed above, or if there is something not listed that you are particularly interested in let me know.

*Nods* Glad you're happy with standard Paizo shipping along with the older stuff. :)

Will work up a Sunny when I have some more time.

*Nods* Glad you're happy with standard Paizo shipping along with the older stuff. :)

Will work up a Sunny when I have some more time.

Just so I am clear, when you say 'standard Paizo' do you mean Pathfinder stuff? Or something else? Because as noted, this will be run with 3.5 sourcebooks, though I am open to class ability substitutions, etc.

Dot dot dot very much dot

Just to clarify.

This a 3.5 game

or

A Pathfinder game allowing 3.5 source material.

Just to clarify.

This a 3.5 game

or

A Pathfinder game allowing 3.5 source material.

A 3.5 game allowing Pathfinder spells, feats, domains, and items.

hmm

spellthief, warlock or duskblade

Oh! *Nods*

Ah... all my 3.5 stuff is cluttered away in storage. :(

Oh well.. best of wishes to every one who's going to play. (^_^)

Definitely interested.

Gotta pull out my 3.5 books hehehehe

dotting
been a while since ive done DnD

curious, what kind of LA are you aiming for at most? +1/+2?

@Seth: Do you mean a level adjustment due to race? In that case, yes, I would suggest aiming for nothing more than +1 at the start.

Here's my character concept

Reyth Ravensfyre
Human Female Sorceress 1
Bloodline: Draconic
Affliation: Witchwardens

Appearance:
Reyth (pronounced 'Wraith'; in draconic it means 'Princess', yes really, her mother did it on purpose) is a very lovely young human woman, with long dark hair that is slightly iridescent, like a raven's. Her eyes are an odd hue of blue that borders on violet in some lights. She favors dark grey clothing and deep purple ribbons.

Personality:
Reyth has a mixed disposition. Although she is kind-hearted and empathetic to the struggles and sufferings of others, she is also vain and proud in herself, like the dragon in her bloodline. She can be calm, friendly and serious, but also struggles with fiery blood, that evokes stronger emotions than she knows what to do with. This confusion is part of what drives her as a Witchwarden.

Background:
Reyth was born into a family of minor nobility. Their rank itself is not particularly high, but her father is a winemaker and has used his profession to make himself useful to the higher nobility and thus gained a lot of favor and influence. He holds private wine tastings whenever he has something new or new mix to offer. These are used by the other nobles as excuses for secret meetings, for plans and plots, while on the outside the event is on the up and up, since the wines are quite good and the best food provided. Larger parties, open to most all the nobility, are also held and are considered excellent social events.

Reyth's mother died of disease when she was young. Her mother was the one with draconic blood and taught all the children to speak Draconic, and named them Draconic names. Reyth has two elder brothers ‘Syne (Golden Memory) and Ayr (Silver Mirror), who show little bloodline influence, except for having a slightly exotic cast to their features, and striking gold and platinum blond hair, respectively. Her eldest brother 'Syne and she were always close. He had a little innate magical ability, although he wasn't interested in it and never fostered it. But she played with hers like a toy and loved to try to make him smile or laugh if she could make something happen. She was educated mostly by reading extensively and learning about the family business. She loved tales of adventure and mystery best of all.

Being born beautiful as well as rich and with a clever family, Reyth always knew herself to be highly desirable among the nobles, and when she was young she would daydream about marrying well. However, the more she observed about the politics of the nobility and how unhappy most of marriages were, the idea lost its shine. She overhead enough talk to realize, as she approached her coming of age, that whom she married might not be entirely up to her, and a life of frustration and boredom, relieved only by continuing intrigues, might be her fate after all.

But her father would not bear to see her unhappy and promised she would not have to marry for gain. He soon found this promise difficult to keep, as various nobles began to pressure him to arrange a marriage for his daughter, and after she came of age it became a constant issue. Her father put on a brave face but she could tell the problem was taking a toll on him.

One night, the issue came to a head when one of the family vineyards outside of town was set fire. One of their workers rushed to their house in the Noble district to get them. The whole family went to help put it out and soon they and the workers had it contained. The damage was not insurmountable, but the warning was served.

And a warning it was. As Reyth made her way through the charred vines to report to her father that it was mostly out but some of the workers needed a healer for their burns, she saw in the glow of the ashes a man with a plague mask and hood approaching her father. He told him that this was a warning, and that he must settle the question Reyth's marriage within the year or his livelihood would be destroyed. Her father struggled with this piece of information, but Reyth – Reyth felt suddenly that all her blood was lit on fire, and with a shriek that sounded slightly like a roar she lunged at the man. Her fingers turned to golden claws and she tore at this clothes and mask, delivering one blow that managed to scratch the side of his face as the mask tilted.

She was not particularly strong, though, and he easily threw her off, tossing her into the embers which left some burn marks on her upper back and right arm (she was too upset to notice them much until it was too late to prevent some light scarring; not severe, just some discoloration). But he wasn't armed or wanting to fight. He escaped easily.

While she recovered, Reyth brooded over the situation and concluded she could not continue to live a life of idleness under her father's roof. The way to protect him was to go get involved in something larger, where the demands of petty politics over something like a marriage arrangement would seem small.

She decided on the Witchwardens. She felt it was a natural fit since she did have some inherent ability, and based on the events of vineyard she probably had more; the inherent excitement of hidden and arcane knowledge appealed to her active mind. Her family is able to pay her dues with no problem. She was also frightened by the murderousness of the rage that led to her attacking the man; she had completely lost her mind, and she didn't know what else might happen to her. The intellectual environment of the Witchwardens, it seemed, was just what she needed.

@Seth: Do you mean a level adjustment due to race? In that case, yes, I would suggest aiming for nothing more than +1 at the start.

i was thinking Goliath =^^=

Mercurion wrote:

@Seth: Do you mean a level adjustment due to race? In that case, yes, I would suggest aiming for nothing more than +1 at the start.

i was thinking Goliath =^^=

Go for the Petite Goliath, which purely coincidentally has the same stats and adjustments as a dwarf, heh.

With this setting, it begs for someone to run a swashbuckler. Also, skills that would be useful on a ship such as Profession (sailor), Knowledge (navigation), Knowledge (geography) could come in handy.

Dotting, I'll have to take a look at the player's guide and see if an idea strikes me. I feel like there were some 3.5 ideas that sounded interesting that I never had the chance to play...

Will do

are we using Pathfinder skills?

@Nonny - Great character background, consider Reyth as accepted!

@Raltus - This is a really good question, one I've been considering. I like the Pathfinder categories better than 3.5, but want to stick with the 3.5 number of skill points per class for simplicity. But what are the effects of crossing the two systems? Would rogues have way too many points then given a lot of the skills categories have been combined?

STAT CREATION METHOD: Sorry, I can no longer edit the original post. but here is what I'd like to do for character generation:

Stats: 24 point buy. No stat can exceed 18 after racial adjustments, if any.
Fun Totally Optional Rule: After you have arrayed your points and posted them here, you may declare that to be your final stats, or optionally choose to do the following:
-- Roll 1d4 and add that to a single stat of your choice. You cannot divide up the points (all must be applied to a single stat), and the resulting stat cannot exceed 19. If you adjust a stat to 19 and still have additional bonus points they can be added to your hit points.
-- You must also roll 1d2 and deduct the result from one random stat. Roll d6 to determine which stat: 1=STR, 2=DEX, 3=CON, 4=INT, 5 = WIS, 6=CHA

Hit Points: Maximum +1

Wealth: Standard 3.5 starting gold by class.

I will prob go for this =^^=
looks entertaining

I started a Savage Tides game with this character once but the DM disappeared. I'd like to try him again. The backstory will mostly be the same. The class has changed multiple times with each iteration. Switching to 3.5 is going to be difficult. Factotum maybe.

One additional character creation item:

Traits: Two traits, no drawbacks.

Combining the boards I am recruiting on, here are the character concepts proposed so far:

Player Character Race Class Affiliation
Nonny Reyth Human Sorcerer (Draconic) Witchwardens
Seth86 TBD Alurrin Arcane Caster
Zayne Iwatani Owl/Orym Will Luthias Half-Elf Rogue?
WarTortoise Tidal TBD Martial Zelkarune's Horns

@Raltus - This is a really good question, one I've been considering. I like the Pathfinder categories better than 3.5, but want to stick with the 3.5 number of skill points per class for simplicity. But what are the effects of crossing the two systems? Would rogues have way too many points then given a lot of the skills categories have been combined?

3.5 has too damn many skills in my opinion. But that is beside the point. Since the classes in 3.5 and Pathfinder are sometimes intrinsically tied to certain skills, I don't think you can swap. If we play 3.5 we should use 3.5 skills. It will cut back on a lot of confusion. PBP is not good at handling detailed discussions quickly.

Also, 3.5 didn't have traits like PF. Are we taking PF traits and adding them 3.5 classes or are we doing PF?

Is Factotum okay? It's from Dungeonscape.

Is Investigator (Sleuth) an option?

Warmage. Allurin
Will start on a story soon
=^^=

Just read the player's guide. I take it it's set on Greyhawk?

@Almonihah: Yes, it is set in Greyhawk. But if you need to import something from another setting let me know and I'll be happy to consider it.

@Owl: That's the first time I've heard of the Factotum class. Reading through it, it strikes me as one of those classes that takes the spotlight away from other classes. Although it is a for a somewhat short duration each duration each encounter, the class will be a better fighter than a fighter, etc. I'm probably being influenced by a character I had in one of my games that put together a build that left the other characters standing around half the time, but it isn't a class I love based on the read through.

Does investigator/sleuth have a 3.5 iteration?

Hmmm... probably not the best time to go for a second iteration of my wolf druid... probably not a good idea to go for a lizardfolk monk...

Oh! That's right! I'd had this idea for playing a Psychic Warrior reflavored as a nature warrior--basically, he'd choose animal-themed powers, and explain it as nature magic like a ranger or druid uses instead of psychic powers. He'd probably take a level or two of Ranger to go with it. How would that be?

Also, what's the initial plot hook? When thinking of a background for my character, I'd like to make sure he'd be interested in whatever starts the campaign.

Animal themed powers would work for this AP, particularly jungle-themed.

Do you know what source book Psychic Warrior was in?

The initial hook is that you've recently done something that marked you as a possible up and coming adventurer (this event should be included in your backstory) and a potential patron has taken notice and has an offer of employment.

Ever have one of those days? A day where you think things are fine, then BAM! your scout partner is ambushed by some predator and killed. You run but don't feel your fast enough and the few arrows that you have remaining (since you dropped a bunch in the initial panic) probably won't be enough?

Being a member of the Zelkarune's Horn Kaylin had it pretty good, she got to scout out the jungle on an almost daily basis, be free of the confines of the city and the Politics. Some days she got to track big animals that the Horn's wanted for their combat arena and that was some of the best times of her life.

She grew up in the Sunrise district, both her parents being members of the guard. She grew up just like most other of the guards kids with hard discipline but a respect for the safety of others and a feeling that her job mattered. She got hired on to the Horn's scout teams because she didn't want to be a member of the guard and both her parents vouched for her. After a few years of being less than utilized than she had wished to be her big break came, it came with the death of the scout leader. It wasn't her fault he had lead with his face into a den of something and had not come back out. She was promoted once to a far ranging scout patrol of just 2, this carried on for about 3 year till she was again promoted to help scout out some ruins that held promise of riches for the Horn's.

The ruins didn't hold as much as the horns wanted but it did have a few things, she was paid for her work and got to pick a new assignment and partner. She picked a veteran scout, someone who had don't 100s of missions into the jungle. Apparently today was to be his last day and all that experience didn't mean nothing when the jungle was hungry.

Do you know what source book Psychic Warrior was in?

There was some kind of psionic sourcebook... it's been too long for me to remember. But all of the info from it is on the old d20srd, which has been my source for it.

Believe Complete Psionic

Out of curiosity, are you going to keep Level Adjustments & Favoured Classes?

Found Psychic Warrior in the Expanded Psionics Handbook as I wanted a little deeper understanding of the class. Looks interesting. I played in a game where a player was Psychic Warrior but honestly had no idea what it was all about. Almonihah, I'd be interested in seeing the character background you come up with using this. The animal theme could work well.

Level Adjustments -- so far no characters have LAs; if I end up accepting a character with an LA I'd even it out over time, probably between levels 2 and 3. A character with an LA would simply progress a bit slower than those without until it evened out.

On a related topic, I essentially hand out XP bonuses for good, active role play. Those players will see their characters move forward a bit faster.

Favored Class -- I ignore the XP penalty, I want people to create a character that meets their vision without penalizing them. However, I would hope and expect mutli-classing to be the result of the character concept rather than a class dip in order to optimize.

Dotting for interest.

@Mercurion: Do you know if the D&D 3.5 point buy is the same as the Pathfinder version? All my 3.5 books are at home but I'd like to start building a character immediately if possible.

Guess its bard with bardic knack and jack of all trades then.

On another note, 24 points is very low in dnd 3.5 point buy. Dnd starts at 8 for all stats. Did you mean 24 points using PF rules for Point Buy?

Also, you mentioned traits but I don't remember dnd 3.5 having traits. Are you letting us take PF traits?

Found Psychic Warrior in the Expanded Psionics Handbook as I wanted a little deeper understanding of the class. Looks interesting. I played in a game where a player was Psychic Warrior but honestly had no idea what it was all about. Almonihah, I'd be interested in seeing the character background you come up with using this. The animal theme could work well.

I think the only psionic class I've ever witnessed in play is Soulknife, so this is going to be a new experience for me if I get in the campaign.

The basic outline I'm thinking of for his background is that he starts out as a Ranger from the Sunrise district, doing some hunting, scouting, helping people that live out in the hinterlands around the city... anything that gets him out in the wild for a while. Then he either discovers or gains this mysterious shapeshifting power (Claws of the Beast or Bite of the Wolf) somehow... still debating on how. This would probably be the event that brings him to the attention of potential employers. So he'd start off as a Ranger with... I think there's some feat that lets you get a low-level psionic power, or maybe just some Power Points? I still need to nail these details down. Anyway, he'll basically view his Psionic Warrior abilities as an extension of his reverence for nature. He might pick up another level or two of Ranger, too.

I've been debating on his race, as well. Elf would fit, but I tend to avoid the obvious choices. :D So I might do human... or maybe half-orc, which would explain why he likes the wilderness better than the city. Maybe his mom lives in the city, and he takes care of her with the money he earns, but if he were alone he'd rather live somewhere a lot smaller and wilder.

So yeah, a lot of thoughts right now, not a whole lot firmed up yet. I'll probably nail down more of these details tonight.

You can buy off LA in 3.5

you can reduce the level adjustment by one whenever your class levels reach a multiple of three times the adjustment your character has. So in the case of a hobgoblin it'd be level 3 to reduce it to +0 for a race with LA+2 you could buy off at 6 and 9.

To reduce the LA you pay an exp cost equal to your current ECL (not class level) -1 and then multiply that by 1000.

So at level 3, ECL 4 for Goliath you pay 4000xp. So you go from 9000 back to 5000 which is still level 3. In the long run you will make up the 4000xp and the gap will go away. There may be times when the group just hits the next level where you may lag behind. System works pretty well.

I am interested. I have played a lot of the adventure though it was many years ago. I may have to remake Vilheim. He was a neanderthal Cleric of Odin. He joined the group at sea after my Goliath War Blade had a bad experience with a Hydra :) When does recruitment end. I'm traveling for work the next 2 days. I am in 3 games on here that are over 2 years now so I have not problem committing to a game.

I am a bit of a power gamer. I blame 3.5 for this :) I am a pretty well rounded player though to spite that side of me.

@Owl: Bah, you are completely right. I was intending to be fairly generous, but failed to convert from PF back to 3.5. So please use 24 points and the PF system Calculator here. I am also allowing PF traits with approval (which is usually; haven't run across too many that I thought problematic).

@Profession: Please use the PF column in the calculator above. I'd suggest background before build though since that is what I'll be primarily selecting on.

@Ashe: What I have in mind is similar, but expect a +LA character to lag behind until middle levels. All depends on the character, though, if the LA isn't impacting effectiveness they would catch up faster.

Recruiting will stay open until it isn't any more. :D In the intro I said August 20th, but if I hand out enough acceptances before then and we have a full crew I'll close it up. Right now two players [Reyth - Human Sorcerer and Tidal - Human Barbarian] have been offered spots with a whole lot of others still working on concepts.

Erin. Erin the Cursed. Erin the Outcast. Erin. Demon spawn. Shes heard it all her life. The moment it came to light what she was. How she was conceived. The daughter of a succubus. Or Incubus. People didnt really care. All they saw was a demon child. And she suffered for it.

But not any more. She has been given power. Power over the arcane. Power over the forces that binds the planes together. She was going to channel those forces. Learn. Experience. Grow. Yes. One day. One day she will go back to that stupid little town and show them. Show them what she has become, despite their loathing.

All she needed was someone to believe in her and what she is capable of. And now. Now she has that. Some unknown benefactor has granted her enough coin to get out of that pit of dispair she knows as her home town. And she is taking it with both hands. The road awaits. And with it. Knowledge and power

INT: 1d4 ⇒ 3
Random: 1d6 ⇒ 2
Reduction: 1d2 ⇒ 2