Kingmaker

Game Master Jovich

I am fine with Andreas as he is, and I am fine with bringing in another player.
I think we need some more damage dealing sneaker type.

I am largely happy with Rillka, but will look at the blood line mutations and archetypes tomorrow.

I do want change up spells known.
I will happily take any suggestions please!

I have a friend who has played many a sorcerer and a piece of advice he would give you is to only take a single offensively damaging spell per spell level. Or if you are interested in taking more then one offensive spell, they should serve very different functions. Like one single target and one AoE, which is something I think you lack now without Rhavi.

There are a lot of fun spells out there that serve a lot of utility function. There are a lot of less flashy spells that are often overlooked by sorcerers but allow you to change up what you are doing in interesting ways or allow you to participate in parts of the game that many sorcerers just get to be bored by. This is a game where Divination spells would definitely be useful over time. Although, you are a bit low level for the good divination spells.

I am currently playing a sorcerer and at 4th level I made a lot of Flaming Spheres, although they are save negates. The duration allows you to do multiple attacks a turn if you want or you can conserve resources and still fight. Even if you have a lot of spell slots, there are times you run out if you are not careful, so you might look for spells that offer more then one turn of use. It's pretty far down the road, but Telekinesis and Resilient Sphere are amazing utility spells. I have saved more then one ally by putting them in a Resilient Sphere.

When you are ready with any changes let me know. So far we have one vote to re-open recruitment for a sneaky damage dealer. Please feel free to chime in on recruitment and what you might find useful.

I think a new player would be useful. A bard would be the classic 5th person choice while giving the group another spell list to draw on for Wands/Scrolls. But really anything could work.

I am also switching to the Clouded Vision curse even though we lost our potion fountain. It seems to be a better fit.

I'll pick up an arcane mark scroll once I have the gold for it.

You can pick it up and scribe it or replace one of your existing spells.

So we have two for adding a new player. If no one objects by tomorrow I will toss something up.

I like the interactions between players., so I am good with adding!

I'll replace prestidigitation with arcane mark

Looks like I already have arcane mark in my spellbook, so I'll keep it memorized from now on.

Awesome. I think it really helps a Magus shine to have a cantrip that works with their abilities.

I have opened recruitment. I hope to have 1-2 players within a week. If a large group of people need more time then that we can wait until the 29th to select.

One week of each month in the game time needs to be dedicated to ruling the kingdom. You were gone for just under a week. So we will assume you spend a day or two recovering and in week 2 we will do the turn for the kingdom. So post what you would like to see happen. To make life easier, here are the results from Turn 12.

What are your thoughts on what we should do for the next round of kingdom building?.

For the party - I decided to change Rillka from a sorcerer to arcanist, it will give her more flexibility in spell choice and some knowledge skills, without changing the concept much.
I hope to have her updated tonight.
I would also like to reclaim the tattered spellbook given to Rhavi.

I will also look at the kingdom as Rhavi was the primary alternate idea contributor to support/balance Andreas.

That sounds good Rillka. Everyone should feel free to throw out what they would like to see happen or what things their characters might like to see invested in.

Also, if people could look at the 22nd and let me know if you want to give some more time or if there are 1-2 characters you want to see in. I would like feedback as I select. Also, consider alignment when you do. If you want a lawful kingdom, picking a bunch of chaotic leaders will not help. If you want a free willing nation, a bunch of lawful characters may not go along with that.

If everyone could try and give me some feedback on waiting another week or who you want on the 22nd that would be appreciated.

Saoirse looks like the sanest of the options so far. I would be fine with extending to the 29th as there are several folks expressing interest.

Our existing group is surprisingly Law/Chaos balanced so adding the new folks could easily tip us one way or the other.

As we asked for a sneak that usually means a chaotic alignment.
Maybe if we do expend and choose 2 folks we should look for a Lawful type to keep the balance.

I do like Saoirse as well but also like the halfling bard pullap. The only downside to Pullap is that this is a brand-new player with 3 posts total.

I will try to get some downtime to go back and see what we had planned for the next couple of rounds with kingdom building.

Does anyone else want to give some more time?

Also, are we just saving BP this turn for something big next turn?

I am fine giving more time for finalizing submissions..

We have 21 BP.
Canal C20 4BP

Total: 4, leaving 17 BP for next round. I think we should save those for when the new city is ready.

The preparation of the site for the 3rd city will be this turn 12 and the next turn 13 and then in turn 14 we can start building.

In round 14 we will have to pay the 16 BP for the temple.
We would probably also like a house (3 BP) and that town would also be a prime location for a lumberyard (12 BP) as it is surrounded by forest. Two sawmills would then only cost 4 BP in total, and generate 3 BP/turn (and +2 stability). As we can build 3 improvements, we could even build a 3rd for an additional 2 BP.
Doing all that would cost 37 BP and that is not counting claiming additional hexes. So leaving something for that turn in both this and the next turn is probably a good idea.

I'm fine with waiting. I'm teaching during the week and had two doctors' appointments I had to commute for, so it's been an unusually busy week.

So all you want to do is build the one canal and save the rest? Just looking for one more confirming vote.

That works for me.

I forget; do we need to address the bandits at Olegtown, or does that resolve itself as part of the turn?

I make checks to see if the nation can handle the issue.

You could build up Stability and Law or Reduce Crime to make it more likely that you solve the problem. But there is no direct way of stopping them.

I will try and get the turn in tomorrow, so if you want to make any final thoughts get them in. On the 29th, we will invite the new players so try and comment then if you can, although no one else has submitted. And then we will pick where the party wants to go next.

If you have any preference on doing a known mission or just picking a direction and exploring, let me know in case it makes it easier to bring in the new players.

I don't have strong feelings on any of the submissions. I am predisposed to bringing a former player on board, even if he has a new character.

I have invited the two new players.

I am sorry I have not gotten to the turn yet. I will try and get in this weekend, but we can move on with the game while I look for some time for that.

You have several leads and could go try and get Sir Andreas' sword back if you want. Or you can just pick an unknown direction and go exploring. What do you want to do?

Hi guys, thanks for having me back!

@GM: Whenever possible, please mark me as active. Since I was a former player, a stealth dot isn't enough for this campaign to appear in my tab.

Thank you for having me!!

So a quick and dirty update for the new players. The kingdom is one year old. The following positions can be taken by your character: High Priest, Marshal, Royal Enforcer, Spymaster, Treasurer, Viceroy and Warden. I am going to leave Rhavi in her position in case the player shows up in the near future. I doubt it, but if she does show up soon I will let her back in.

Let me know which you prefer and if the existing players have any recommendations, feel free to add them. We are doing a turn for the Kingdom and we will install you in your positions now. At the top you will see the Stat sheet for the kingdom and where it is at. There is also a rules pack that you can look at to see what the different position do as well.

The group received a number of tips on potential adventures. The group decided to pursue a missing child, Tig. They tracked him along the lakes and rivers to a Lizardfolk village on an island. There they killed the Lizarfolk king and his two pet crocs. They then ran into the Lizardfolk god which they identified as a powerful Will o'Wisp. The group grabbed the boy and fled. Unfortunately, Sir Andreas was briefly felled by the creature and in getting him to safety, his sword was left behind.

The group managed to evade whatever the Lizardfolk may have sent after them. But a hydra was in the river and tried to attack them. They opted to race away on horses. If you did not buy a horse, you may want to do so in case you run into an errant hydra.

The kingdom appreciates the return of Tig and the general loyalty the people have for the growing kingdom has increased.

Hmm.. while none of the available positions make use of my best stat (Charisma) with Diplomat and Councillor taken, my +3 Dex would be beneficial for Spymaster, and RP/Background-wise I do have the Brigand background and a bonus to Bluff/Intimidate/Diplomacy with Brigands/thieves/bandits.

Putting a pretty face on keeping track of the criminal underworld that inevitably pops up in any civilization, and in the future dealing with other nations. It'll eliminate the Economy penalty and reduce Unrest.

Oh, added Gather Information for an Exploration Action.

Has the Kingdom/Barony settled on a name as yet?

Not wanting to fight Saoirse for the position, but I've built Duzz for the Spy Master role. He has a higher bonus to Dex than her and his ability to talk with animals and befriend them means he can literally have his little birds watching everything and everyone.

@Saoirse: Considering your criminal background, don't you see yourself as the Royal Enforcer? IMO it seems fitting and it even uses Charisma.

On the other hand, if Duzz can't be the Spymaste, I'll take the Marshal role then... In truth, since I do have Survival and not Intimidate, it is a very good fit all well from the rules perspective, but not so much story wise.

Royal Enforcer doesn't use Charisma.

The Royal Enforcer deals with punishing criminals, working with the Councilor to make sure the citizens feel the government is adequately dealing with wrongdoers, and working with the Marshal to capture fugitives from the law. The Royal Enforcer may grant civilians the authority to kill in the name of the law.

Benefit: Add your Dexterity modifier or Strength modifier to Loyalty. During the Upkeep phase, you may decrease Unrest by 1 (this is not affected by having the Leadership feat); if you do so, you must succeed at a Loyalty check or Loyalty decreases by 1.

RP/Plot-wise I don't really see that fitting, especially with the Royal Enforcer focus on punishment. With Diplomat and Councilor already spoken for Spy Master seems the best fit currently, especially since I plan to take Leadership later on, to have a cohort running the spy network while adventuring with the party, and to add to the given attribute affected during the turn.

@GM_Coreyllon, Bought a horse and added to my sheet.

Hum, strange, the information on the doc linked is different. It says the Enforcer abilities are Strength or Charisma.

Interesting. Both Archives of Nethys and PFSRD20 have what I posted above.

I'd definitely be open to hearing recommendations from the existing players if there are any.

I might be wrong, but considering that the GM asked us to look at the doc and that it states to be modifications and house rules, this is most likely one of them.

Nevertheless, I'll take Marshall role. Don't want to start with the wrong foot and argue over it. I'll put my animals to other uses.

@GM: Are downtime rules in play, specifically for building rooms and hiring teams? Looking for stuff to do with all the idle time during kingdom phases.

Welcome Saoirse and welcome back Sir Longears.

We are using the Kingdome rules that are posted under Kingmaker game in your current campaigns: Kingmaker Campaign Rules

Marshal
The Marshal ensures that the kingdom’s laws are being enforced in the remote parts of the kingdom as well as in the vicinity of the capital. The Marshal is also responsible for securing the kingdom’s borders. He organizes regular patrols and works with the General to respond to threats that militias and adventurers can’t deal with alone.

Benefit(s): Add your unmodified Dexterity or Wisdom bonus to Economy.

If you have the LEADERSHIP Feat, the bonus from that feat applies to all kingdom attributes you affect.

Vacancy Penalty: Economy decreases by 4

Leadership Role Skill: Survival
For every 5 full ranks in the relevant skill, the leader increases the leadership modifier an additional 1.

Royal Enforcer
The Royal Enforcer deals with punishing criminals, working with the Councilor to make sure the citizens feel the government is adequately dealing with wrongdoers, and working with the Marshal to capture fugitives from the law. The Royal Enforcer may grant civilians the authority to kill in the name of the law.

Benefit(s): Add your unmodified Charisma or Strength bonus to Loyalty.

During the Upkeep phase, you may decrease Unrest by 1 (this is not affected by having the Leadership feat); if you do so, you must succeed at a Loyalty check or Loyalty decreases by 1.

If you have the LEADERSHIP Feat, the bonus from that feat applies to all kingdom attributes you affect.

Vacancy Penalty: None.

Leadership Role Skill: Intimidate
For every 5 full ranks in the relevant skill, the leader increases the leadership modifier an additional 1.

Spymaster
The Spymaster observes the kingdom’s criminal elements and underworld and spies on other kingdoms. The Spymaster always has a finger on the pulse of the kingdom’s underbelly, and uses acquired information to protect the interests of the kingdom at home and elsewhere through a network of spies and informants.

Benefit(s): During the Edict phase, choose one kingdom attribute (Economy, Loyalty or Stability). Add your unmodified Dexterity or Intelligence bonus to this attribute.

If you have the LEADERSHIP Feat, the bonus from that feat applies to all kingdom attributes you affect.

Vacancy Penalty: Economy decreases by 4. During the Upkeep phase, Unrest increases by 1.

Leadership Role Skill: Intimidate
For every 5 full ranks in the relevant skill, the leader increases the leadership modifier an additional 1.

As far as what we should do next...I am not wanting to go back and face that willow wisp. My character would want to return as quickly as possible. Not to retrieve his weapon. Yes, that would be a bonus. No, he would want to return because we placed those people in the current situation.

Any thoughts?

As far as I remember, those are extremely tough to fight. Absurd AC, almost guaranteed to hit and good damage, and so on.

Personally Duzz can't do much to help... Perhaps we should wait a bit longer to return.

I can at least deal with the always active invisibility with my Glitterdust SLA (though I only get one shot at it, but if I somehow manage to blind it it'll be awesome!), but I think I also remember them having ridiculous AC. My electricity resistance will help with surviving a few rounds as well.

While this version of Royal Enforcer uses Charisma, Spymaster definitely works better. My Dex mod is only one point lower than My Charisma right now, I have Intimidate maxed out and plan to take Leadership at 7th level.

This particular Will o'Wisp had a penchant for dramatics and was visible the whole fight as a glowing green skull.

I am using some rules that I picked up from a Kingmaker campaign that had expanded positions, etc. So some things are different.

As a reminder, here is the post where the characters heard about particular missions. There was some RP so you may need to read a bit to get the full stories of what was happening.

Sorry - catching up -
Coreyllon
After Rillka's change to Arcanist; her stats changed and should be updated on the rulers tab...

Saoirse & Coreyllon - Rillka would be willing to give up being Councilor - Tall Folk never listens to her anyway, and take on the Magister role if Rhavi does not return.

It looks like the most rewarding leads are monster hunts... perhaps one of the new members is requesting we pursue one?

So looks like:

. A green dragon lives in the Narlmarshes and eats anyone who crosses it's path.

. A brutish hill giant has been seen wandering the Kamelands. Give him a wide berth (or a stiff drink) and he will leave you alone.

. Hag known as the Swamp Witch lives in a marsh on the northwestern shore of the Tuskwater. She consorts with demons and kidnaps children to boil in her magical pot.

. Howls-of-the-North-Wind, worg hunting the Kamelands

. Lockjaw massive turtle taken up the best spot on the eastern side of the Tuskwater

. Fangberries for Bokken

Should we RP the arrivals of the new party members or jump to post-arrival/ Council Appointment?

The more I think about it, the more I like the Marshall role I think it fits Duzz much more than the Spymaster, so I'm happy with it.

I've made Duzz connected to the Fey in the region, particularly Tiressia and Falchos. He refers to them as Aunt and Uncle. He also knows Sir Perlivash and Tyg-Titter-Tut, but doesn't have too much patience for the pranks.

Duzz would have a personal enmity with the Swamp Witch. If possible, I'd like for her to be an old enemy of the old druid who raised Duzz. I see him offering his services to the PCs in return for them helping in dealing with her.

Now, a couple questions for our GM:

1) Have you missed my previous question? Are Downtime rules regarding building rooms and teams allowed?

2) All this talk about the Leadership feat. I take it is allowed, but do we actually can pick a cohort and such, or this is just for RP and influence in the kingdom? Are there any limitations?

So looks like:

Should we RP the arrivals of the new party members or jump to post-arrival/ Council Appointment?

I will be doing a post tomorrow that brings you in with some new items in the module.

There is one thing you missed. Jackob heard there was elven ruins to explore somewhere in the woods.

The more I think about it, the more I like the Marshall role I think it fits Duzz much more than the Spymaster, so I'm happy with it.

I've made Duzz connected to the Fey in the region, particularly Tiressia and Falchos. He refers to them as Aunt and Uncle. He also knows Sir Perlivash and Tyg-Titter-Tut, but doesn't have too much patience for the pranks.

Duzz would have a personal enmity with the Swamp Witch. If possible, I'd like for her to be an old enemy of the old druid who raised Duzz. I see him offering his services to the PCs in return for them helping in dealing with her.

I am going to say no to you knowing and having close relations/enmities to NPCs that the group has not met before. Friendship with Tyg and Perlivash works great. They have proven to be open to outsiders and have friendly relationships with the group even with some negative actions taken by the two fey.

With that in mind, I do want you to have fun and be willing to explore your fey relations. Or interact with the Druid who raised you. If you want to create a fey (name him/her and fey type) that exists in an area the group often visits, like near the Temple of the Elk or some other explored area, I will be happy to tie them into your trips to the area and work to flesh out your narrative relationship with Fey in or around the new kingdom and try to weave them into the story if there is a good point to do it.

But as a GM, I am not prepared for how unintended interactions between the NPC's that come in the future scenes, the party's desires at that time and how you see your relationship with them versus my interpretation of the NPC's goals and relations with those tied to the kingdom. And from past experiences in running and playing with people who tried to write their background to intersect too deeply with future plotlines, it just doesn't work well. I would greatly prefer to just not deal with relationships with characters the group may or may not end up working with and you are expected not to be aware of in the module before you actually meet.

The same is true with potential enemies. These modules are published and I am sure some of the group has played, ran or just read the modules. But I would like to stick with the modules intent on whether or not your group has any knowledge about existing entities in the game. If you have any questions on this, please feel free to ask them. I want this game to be fun for you and will try and work things out to that end.

Now, a couple questions for our GM:

1) Have you missed my previous question? Are Downtime rules regarding building rooms and teams allowed?

I am unfamiliar with these rules, but I am open to adding in optional rules that add flavor and increase investment by the players.

Can you provide some links to the specific rules you are talking about and I will read through them?

The only Pathfinder team rules I am familiar with are those in Hell's Rebels, and that doesn't seem very relevant to Kingmaker, but I may be missing something.

2) All this talk about the Leadership feat. I take it is allowed, but do we actually can pick a cohort and such, or this is just for RP and influence in the kingdom? Are there any limitations?

When I brought this up I was not sure if the group wanted to try recruiting again. This game has had trouble getting consistent players and if the group wanted to just stick with the four they could, and then adding in cohorts would make a lot of sense.

With 6 players, I would not be comfortable with everyone having a cohort and running 12 character fights. The balancing for that would get to be a bit much.

With that in mind, if several people did take Leadership, I would probably limit how many Cohorts would take part in the actual fight, and the rest would be "fighting" against other foes off screen. If it came to that, at the beginning of the fight the group could decide who was fighting with them and who was not. In the past, I have limited it to 7 characters in the fight, but we could discuss this if people wanted.

There is something to be said about Sir Andreas taking a cohort to be his Consort and leaving her behind. He would have more control over her then if she was just an NPC and having a Consort who can rule while the King is away can save the kingdom a lot of trouble if you guys get stuck somewhere and miss the timeline to run the country for one week each month.

My goal with Leadership would be to better flesh out the nation's spy network, with followers being part of key groups likely to come across valuable information, and have a finger on the pulse of the city underbelly, the better to head off or at least give warning of any potentially harmful events/sentiment. My cohort would likely be someone who would spend almost all of their time in the Capitol, sort of the center of a spiderweb of information, so them adventuring with us is unlikely to be an issue.

On a side note, The Cohort as Consort idea is a pretty brilliant way of handling having a Kingdom-running backup system in place.

Connections: About the connections to the fey, I had the impression by reading the docs that the party had already met Tiressia and Falchos and assumed that the Witch was bad. I've read the AP many many years ago when I was getting ready to run them, but I remember basically nothing, so that was indeed just a guess.

My initial idea was for this druid who raised Duzz to be dead, with hints of the witch being behind it. Thought it would be a good hook. On the other hand, it is equally workable for Duzz to be friends of Perlivash and Tyg-Titter-Tut and use this friendship to breach the gap to the party. In this second case, the druid could be still alive, even if remarkably old. This old druid would leave on the marches/swamp to the west of the forest.

Downtime with Teams and Rooms: You can find the rules HERE.

[spoiler=Brief Explanation]They are basically kingdom building lite and with the scope of a single building and/or organization. Just like anyone can work to earn gold with profession/perform, you can use a variety of skills to earn "capital" in addition to gold, which are special resources (Goods, Labor, Influence, and Magic). With these resources, you can hire a variety of teams and build rooms of a building. These teams and rooms give you bonus to generate more capital and so on, but also have maintenance costs.

In general, this is basically like running a business and with that you eventually will have a small amount of gold being generated on the background while you adventure, even if you need to keep a close eye to it so your workers don't think you are gone, and so on. There could be events and such as well.

My goal with this would be to slowly build an inn close to the woods that caters for both fey and people, perhaps fostering a good relationship between them.

While not simple, the system isn't too complex, but I can see it as a complication for you since the kingdom building is heavy enough. I could do all the work/math/rolls here and just inform you about the consequences, if any. I don't want to game the system with this for sure.

Leadership: I totally agree with your take. I just brought it up to understand what was the plan.

Welcome all.

Yes going back to the Wisp is a Bad Idea. Give us 2-3 levels and some specialist gear and we'll see then.

As far as missions Saoirse's news likely takes precedence. No bodies yet so they might still be alive.

I am loathe to shove my face into another missing-person meat-grinder but Jackob sees the chance of a rescue as paramount.

Just for the record Rillka is openly hostile to the fey, (Pev and Tig) based on her experience they are merely bullies and thieves.

I am hoping the missing people and livestock are connected, otherwise we are going after two different quests, in which case citizens are more important than cows.
Besides what are the chances we find another lizardfolk god to start a fight with!

Rillka would have mapped the path they travelled with special notes like "here lurketh the hydra!"

There are bodies, you guys just haven't had time to see them. The two are very dead.

You can definitely go Hyrda hunting if you wish. And it might be a good idea before claiming and planting farms, a city or whatever else in that zone.

Just as a heads up, I have a major report due each year. It's due in about two weeks. If I procrastinate too much, which seems mildly likely, it might cause some minor disappearances as I rush to finish it at the end.

Also, I am going on a small trip for Spring Break. We leave Sunday and return sometime on Tuesday. I should have the internet, but I am not sure how much free time I will have during those three days to post.

Good luck with the report and enjoy your spring break trip!