TNO Kingmaker Campaign. (Closed Group)

Game Master Patrick McDade

This is a roleplay, downtime, and kingdom building expansion to the Roll20 Tuesday Night Online Kingmaker campaign.

House Rules:

Below you will find proposed house rules for the Kingmaker Campaign.

Books Available: Core Rule Book, APG, Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Campaign (Partial), Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide.

Classes banned: Summoner, Ninja, Samurai, Scarred-Witchdoctor archtype, Gunslinger and all gun related classes, archtypes, feats, etc.

Point buy: 15 point buy.

Alignment Restrictions: Not allowed: NE, CE. Not recommended: CN with an anarchist view. You will be working together to build a kingdom, keep that in mind.

Mortal Ability Scores: Ability scores for player characters are capped at 24 including all adjustments. This means that anything that would take a PC’s score above 24 is deemed not to stack. Negative adjustments can be added to Hero Lab as needed to calculate this.

Multiclassing: Three levels in a row must be taken in any class for the first three levels of that class. Exceptions may be made for dips taken to qualify for a prestige class.

Armor: The following armors are not available for players: Chain Shirt, Breastplate, and Full Plate. Certain NPC classes may have access to armor the PC’s cannot use and I will not be adjusting NPC stat blocks, meaning that NPC’s may receive a small advantage. Chain Shirts found will be converted to Studded Leather, Breastplate will be converted to chain mail, and full plate will be converted to half-plate. These conversions also apply to other rules for class or feat qualifications, etc.

Counterspell: You may attempt to identify and counterspell as an immediate action. If you do so, then the corresponding action on your next turn is forfeit. You may counterspell spell-like abilities.

Magic Item Creation: The caster level to craft a magic item is a requirement to craft an item. This means that you normally may not craft a pearl of power until 17th level. Attempting to overcome this requirement costs adds five plus twice the difference between your level and the level requirement of the spell to the DC of creation. Thus, if you tried to create a pearl of power while 10th level, it would result in a +19 to the DC of the item creation. Accelerated crafting is allowed for the normal +5 to DC. Further, the time it takes to create an item will be reduced by an additional 1 hour for every point by which you exceed the spellcraft check to create the item. The minimum amount of time it takes to craft an item is 1 hour. You may not take 10 in attempting to create magic items. The roll to create an item is done at the beginning of the creation process then the time is calculated whether the creation roll was successful or not.

Magic Item Sales: The economy of a settlement can only absorb expensive magic items at a certain rate. A community generally cannot purchase items valued at more than the base value of magic items that are available in that community. (See Table: Available Magic Items in the Settlements section). Likewise, the economy of a settlement generally cannot absorb more than three times the base item value that is available for sale at that settlement in a given month. Side quests may be needed to acquire or sell items outside of these guidelines.

Spellbooks: Spellbooks have unlimited pages.

Encumbrance: Coins have weight and must be accounted for as encumbrance, unless stored in a bank or hideout. Likewise characters will be expected to abide strictly by encumbrance, including for treasure sheet. There will need to be an entry as to who is carrying what on the treasure sheet as well.

Channel Energy: Channeling energy uses d8’s not d6’s.

Healing spells: Healing spells that are cast rather than invoked via magic item or other means use 1d4+4 instead of 1d8.

Rogue Sneak Attack: Rogue sneak attack does d8’s instead of d6’s in damage. This does not apply to any class but Rogue.

Rogue Combat Trick: The Rogue Combat Trick talent can be selected as many times as the player wishes.

Falling Damage: The number of d6’s of falling damage double for every 10’ you fall. Landing in water at least 10’ deep negates falling damage. Other soft landings may reduce damage in the GM’s discretion.

10’ = 1d6

20’ = 2d6

30’ = 4d6

40’ = 8d6

50’ = 16d6

60' = 32d6 Damage caps at 32d6.

Archery: Point Blank Master and Many Shot do not exist as feats or class features.

Crossbows: Crossbows ignore four points of Armor Bonus or Natural Armor Bonus.

Spell Penetration: The bonuses for the Spell Penetration Feats are doubled.

Weapon Focus and Specialization: These feats apply to categories of weapons as listed under Weapon Training in the Fighter class.

Swimming: For every 10 pounds of armor or gear a character his carrying, they receive a -5 to their swim check. A corpse or unconscious body does not count towards this weight, but the gear or armor on said body does.

Drowning: Any character can hold her breath for a number of rounds equal to HALF her Constitution score. If a character takes a standard or full-round action, the remaining duration that the character can hold her breath is reduced by 1 round. After this period of time, the character must make a DC 12 Constitution check every round in order to continue holding her breath. Each round, the DC increases by 3.

When the character finally fails her Constitution check, she begins to drown. The round after failing the check, she falls unconscious (0 hp). In the following round, she drops to –1 hit points and is dying. In the third round, she drowns (dies).

Unconscious characters must begin drowning immediately upon being submerged (or upon becoming unconscious if the character was conscious when submerged). The round after being submerged, she immediately drops to –1 (or loses 1 additional hit point, if her total is below –1). On the following round, she drowns (dies).

It is possible to drown in substances other than water, such as sand, quicksand, fine dust, and silos full of grain.

Natural 1: A natural 1 on a combat attack roll is always a miss. A natural 1 on an unopposed skill check confers a -10 adjustment on the skill but does not signify automatic failure. A natural 1 on a saving throw or opposed skill check is simply treated as a 1 and calculated normally.

Natural 20: A natural 20 on a combat attack roll always hits and is a critical threat. A natural 20 on a saving throw or unopposed skill check always succeeds. A natural 20 on an opposed skill check is simply treated as a 20 and calculated normally.

Healing Spells: Standard house rule applies. (1d4+4+X)

Rulings and QA:

Question: It does raise a couple (currently unimportant) questions: 1) could one sneak in dim light vs a creature with darkvision? 2) on a cloudy night what would vision be like for non-darkvision folks?

Answer:
1) Absent other circumstances, the creature with darkvision would be considered to have normal line-of-sight to the sneaking individual with no concealment from the dimness. Thus, you would be considered observed for purposes of the stealth skill.

As an aside, the reading of the stealth skill under Being Observed does a pretty good job of describing when you can and cannot use stealth. Notably, my reading is that if someone can actively hear you or smell you you will likely count as observed for purposes of stealth. Sneaking against creatures with scent will generally be difficult.

2) It depends... in the woods on a cloudy night on a new moon, you are probably in darkness not dim light. The question is whether there is enough ambient light to make the lighting "dimly lit" instead of "dark." That will be on a case by case basis. In this case, I am saying the lighting is dim, not dark - thus the adjustment

Question:
Under Handle Animal - "You may also “upgrade” an animal trained for riding to one trained for combat by spending 3 weeks and making a successful DC 20 Handle Animal check."

Answer
As long as the mounts are with the party (not underground for instance) there is enough downtime during the day to count the weeks for training for this purpose.

Question: Can you speak to magic item purchase capacities for our 7 day round trip buy orders? The house rules mention settlement limits, but I'm not sure what the limit is for the settlement we are shipping to and out of.

Answer
Oleg can special order from Restov which is a large city, meaning items of 8,000 gp and less are readily available. For large purchases you have to put up funds up front. As commerce grows in the region you could expect Oleg's personal wares and access to more readily available goods to grow.

Ruling:2 Small Creatures to a Square?

Bannigan has pointed out that he doesn't believe the Pathfinder rules support having two allied small creatures sharing a square. I think this was a legacy rule from 3.0/3.5 that we carried over with us, but I couldn't find any justification for it under Pathfinder.

I kind of like the idea as small creatures are fairly disadvantaged already, and I know player characters have taken advantage of the ruling in the past. But unless others want to keep the old rule as a house rule, I will bow to the rules as they are and we will have those poor little kobolds stand all alone in the big 5' squares...

Question: At what time are caster's rememorized spells available.

Answer:
Alright, we will say in the morning is the time and it will be after the final watch regardless of when you take watch. This does mean that people are weakened during potential watch encounters - but two of the primary spell casters have spoken and I'm fine with that.

Statement:

Initial Leadership:

Anastasia - Ruler - 18 Cha
Visanica - Magister - 21 Int
El-ian - Spymaster - 17 Dex
Zorthalus - Warden - 18 Str
Dox - Marshal - 18 Wis
Akiros Ismort - General - 18 Str
Auchs "Ox" - Royal Executioner/Enforcer - 20 Str
Oleg Leveton - Treasurer - 15 Int
Svetlana Leveton - Councilor - 15 Cha
Kesten Garess - Grand Diplomat - 14 Cha
Jhod Kavken - High Priest - 18 Wis

Mass Combat:

As for Optional Rules, we will use all the "Official" optional rules for Mass Combat as listed in the SRD here:

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/mass-combat/

I'm also game for using the Kingdom Building Optional Rules listed here, if the party wants to use them:

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/kingdom-building/#TOC-Op tional-Kingdom-Rules

Early rulings:

You can create, heal, equip, or upgrade one unit per turn instead of building a settlement. In this case (only) unit means an army grouping of one creature type. So you could build one army of archers, one army of mounted lions, one army of swordmen. When you build the unit you set the levels and parameters, including initial equipment as you can afford at that time.

If you want to upgrade the army/unit that takes the turn. If you want to further equip the army unit, that takes the turn. You have to have the appropriate buildings to create/equip the army at the time you creating/equip them.

So if you want an army of archers and an army of lion riders, that is two turns at least of production time.

Withdraw Mechanic:

1) You decide you want to retreat and use the withdraw tactic (which all armies know), you do not get to attack and take a -2 on OM and DV for the rest of the turn.

2) Make a Morale check against each army attacking to attempt your withdrawal.

a. If all Morale checks are successful: you may pull back and end the combat (and the enemies do not get an attack this round), OR may continue the combat and reset the combat to the Ranged phase – meaning the enemy does not get its melee attack for the round and the combat resumes from the Ranged phase. (This means that you could use the withdraw action to get extra attacks (at a -2 OM) if you have ranged weapons and your enemy does not.)

b. If some of the Morale checks are successful: you may pull back and end the combat (and the enemies do not get an attack this round), OR may continue the combat and reset the combat to the Ranged phase – however the enemy gets a parting melee attack. Resume combat at the ranged phase. (The net on this is worse than above because the enemy got to hit you while you had a -2 DV, then you can make a ranged attack at a -2 OM.) (This result only applies if you are engaged with more than one army)

c. If you fail all Morale Checks, you failed to withdraw and your opponent gets to hit you in Melee while you enjoy your -2’s and don’t get to attack this round.

I think there is an alternate reading where you end up having to make a Routed check if you fail your Withdraw morale checks, but that seems especially harsh.

HOUSE RULE: An army costs a number of BP=ACR (yes that is twice the maintenance cost, but only half the monthly maintenance cost) to create (minimum 1). There is no cost to increase the size of or heal an army, though that takes the Built Settlement phase for the turn as rules state. Army Resources have the cost listed. I am basing this off of the "Mounts" resource where the cost of the mount is the cost of the ACR. So Elite Army Commandos would have a recruitment cost of 23 BP, not 20.

Looking at the rules for the Mounts Resource, however, it seems quite out of whack with the other Resources. While the below rule might be viewed as a "nerf," if you look at the costs and benefits of mounts it is basically equivalent to having magic armor and magic weapons which would cost 55 BP for a medium army, though the mount would only cost 1/4 of the BP maintenance. That's silly.

HOUSE RULE: If an army is a mounted, the ACR of the Rider and Mount is calculated from the CR of the Rider and Mount as if they were a joint encounter of two creatures, resulting in a the ACR being equal to the higher of the mount or rider's CR's +2. See Encounter Building (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/#Table-CR-Equivalencies). The initial cost and maintenance will be derived from this combined ACR. The Mounted Resource must also be purchased at the cost of the separate ACR of the Rider or Mount, whichever is less. Under this rule, Elite Mounted Knights would have an ACR of 4 and a recruitment cost of 13 BP.

HOUSE RULE: When a new army is created, as a one-time/one-turn adjustment, Unrest is reduced by the ACR of the newly created army -1. So an army with an ACR of 1 does not assist with Unrest, and army with an ACR of 2 gives reduces unrest by 1, etc. However, if the army is intentionally disbanded (not including defeat in combat) within one year of creation, Unrest is increased by the ACR of the army.

As a part of this house rule, I am also ditching the bonus/reduction to unrest you may receive for building a Castle. It seemed to be interfering with the Organic/Roleplay aspect of kingdom building anyhow. The -1 for houses is still fine.

RP wise this makes sense, unrest would go down if a big old army showed up and it gives you a more flexible method of using BP to directly combat sudden spikes of unrest that might occur with Events. Likewise if you are disbanding armies just after createing them, that would make the population nervous and large amounts suddenly unemployed soldiers aren't a good idea to have around either. Also, this gives an organic role/play reason to have an army or two around even if you are OOC not expecting mass combat.

Overall, considering the potentially devastating impact of unrest, I would consider this overall a net gain for the PC's

House Razdovain Unit (ala Jason):
The cost to raise the army is 8 BP (5 ACR +1 mount ACR +2 ranged weapons):
The lion is the army, the "mount" is a rider to control and direct the lion so the "mount" ACR is 1

The stat block would read:
hp 22; ACR 5
DV 17; OM +8
Tactics: TBD
Special Low light vision, Pounce, Rake, Scent
Resources ranged weapons, mounts
Speed 1; Consumption 4

Time and Movement:

OK, Movement is getting unnecessarily complicated. I'm going to propose some simple house rules that will trump what I said in the earlier post.

I propose we go with adjusted overland travel rules based on Miles per Day. Since we need to travel in 12 mile hexes We will adjust the table appropriately. A person walking travels 12 miles per day (+4 mile bonus over raw.

Table Mounts and Vehicles

Adjustment: Vehicles/mounts under 20 Miles per day move 12 Miles per day or one hex; Vehicles/mounts between 20 and 30 miles per day move 24 miles per day or two hexes. Vehicles Mounts Between 30 miles per day and 40 miles per day move 36 miles per day or three hexes.

This movement is adjusted by terrain and roads as appropriate, however left over travel (fractions) are lost:

Terrain and Overland Movement

Water Rules:

1) Floating: All rivers flow from north to south as determined by the origin and destination. The destination will be flowing into another river or larger body of water south of the origin. If the origin and destination are in the same horizontal hex line, then the river flows from west to east.

2) Canals do not allow for floating, they do not have flow like rivers, but require towing or pulling to move.

Based on this, to explore three hexes it would take:
Day 1: Travel into a hex (12 miles) stop.
Day 2: Explore first Hex.
Day 3: Travel into next hex (12 miles) stop.
Day 4: Explore second Hex.
Day 5: Travel into next hex (12 miles) stop.
Day 6: Explore third Hex.

Fly Questions:

Q: Does taking a 5 foot step mean moving at less than half speed, and is therefore only a DC 10 check? If so, this would simply mean I need to take a 5 foot step each turn to avoid the check, as I have a +16 fly.

A: No. 5' steps are not movement. You would need to be hovering to execute a 5' step as this occurs outside of normal movement. There is no additional check to make a 5' step while hovering. If you fail to hover, you cannot take a 5' step. In contrast, you may move only 5' and continue flying if you make a DC 10 fly check, but it takes a move action to move that 5' and the movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.

Q: Can you make a second check to move at less than half speed or turn at greater than 45 degrees, if you fail to hover?

A: Yes, if you fail to hover your round proceeds as if you did not try to hover, so you can make other normal flight movements that do not include hovering. Assuming you will be taking a move action and a standard action, you may take them in any order you choose.

Q: How do you decide whether you move or fall?

A: Falling means you stop flying, then you hit the ground and take damage and are prone. You have to move or hover to fly. So if you fail your hover check, your choice is to hit the ground and take damage, or take a move action to continue flying. It is almost never better to fall than to move, and you may always choose to descend straight down.

Q: Does falling provoke attacks of opportunity?

A: No. Falling is not movement. Exception: Feather fall, see below.

Q: How does falling impact your action economy(i.e. it typically is not an action to fall unwillingly), and when does it happen in the round? At the beginning of your turn or end?

A: If you are flying and your round begins, you must decide whether you will hover or move to maintain your flight. If you choose to hover and fail, then you have to move or stop flying. You must take a move action and move at least 5' (with a DC 10 fly check) or at least half your movement without a fly check to stay aloft without hovering. This is normal movement and would invoke attacks of opportunity. If you stop flying you fall, take damage, and end up prone on the ground. At that time you would still have all of your actions remaining.

More rare:
Q: What if you cannot move due to enemies or walls surrounding you?

A: You can always move by descending at any angle, including straight down. If you truly cannot move and fail to hover, you stop flying and fall.

Q: What if you can only move upwards?

A: You can fly straight up, it is a DC 20 check to do so by rule. If you fail that check you resort to the standard 45 degree ascent angle. You can also fly straight down (descend).

Q: What if an enemy is below you, and you fall on top of them?

A: We are not creating a new attack type where you intentionally fall upon people. If you fall and an enemy is below you, you will pass by them and hit the ground taking damage. Realistic? Maybe not, but that's my ruling. Note: You could charge while descending and cover a lot of ground, but it is still controlled movement, not falling.

Q: How does feather fall fit into this (Vissannica has feather fall permanently, but others will not)?

If you are feather falling, you fall slowly enough (60') that it does count as movement for the purpose of taking actions (Falling up to 60' is one action, falling up to 120' is two actions, falling more takes more than one round). Feather falling does not allow for any actions other than free actions and does not provoke attacks of opportunity. This same ruling applies during the floating period that occurs upon expiration of the fly spell.

Notable: Witches with the flight hex have feather fall at will. This is not permanent feather fall. It takes 1 immediate action to invoke, just like the feather fall spell. If you are sleeping, paralyzed, dying, or otherwise incapacitated and unable to take an immediate action to invoke the supernatural ability, you cannot invoke feather fall.

Not really a question: I'll be able to be safe to hover around 8th level with a ring of improved flying.

Not really an answer: Don't forget the bonus to fly that the fly spell gives you.

Other ruling/house rule: Creatures with a natural fly speed and a Perfect designation can hover automatically and can fly straight up. (See: Hummingbirds, air elementals, etc.).