Wrath of the Righteous (Inactive)

Game Master Kevin O'Rourke 440

That's a definite learning experience. I love it!

I was worried if the debate over the crazy dwarf beneath Kenabres would set a negative tone for the campaign, but that animosity never materialized despite none of our PCs actually giving any ground.

The only 2e I’ve ever done is Baldur’s Gate. But looking it up I think you are right.

Running 5e. The rules are simple enough for the kids to get. A lot is tweaked though, to make it more fun for them. Such as the boy’s paladin getting burning hands as an oath spell. The boy has oath of vengeance while the girl ancients.

I'm planning on running a 5E adventure for my 8 year old. I watched a lot of Matthew Colville's YouTube series about GMing, and I'll probably do a variation of the simple adventure in his first episode.

That sounds like a great session Kaeldon.

Alignment is a bit of a strange beast of a system and leads to all sorts of debates, civil and otherwise.

I meant Pathfinder 2e, I've never played AD&D.

I like Matthew Colville's videos over all. I've experimented with using a few of the ideas in a campaign as Fredric can attest. The party keeps getting sidetracked by other issues but the Orc Warlord to the south keeps getting more and more powerful... last they heard he had gotten some trolls to join his army. That said they jumped on a festering plot before expected with a bunch of missing people.

Awesome, Kaeldron!

My kids love Pathfinder, Starfinder, and Tails of Equestria. Although they enjoyed learning D&D they bored of it quickly. They're used to getting to make so many choices that most of the time they made a character decision in D&D they followed it up with: '...That's it?' And not in a good way! Haha.

They're excited to try 2e, but I'm not sure how much they'll enjoy it. They were excited for the playtest, then hated it. We'll have to see. I think we're going to try to find the time to try 2e this week or next week.

If you're planning on running a game for a young kids, have you checked out 'Playground Adventures'? They make really great kids adventures that you can download for cheap. Not that you need a pre-written adventure for kids, but they're really great, so I always recommend them when possible. They make 5e, Hero Kids, or Pathfinder compatible adventures. 'A Friend in Need' is my kids favourite.

I’ll take a look! Thanks. It’ll be good to get some more ideas.

So far my kids have completed the old WFRP Doomstones campaign (amazing old school campaign for any who can get their hands on it), and a homebrew elder scrolls campaign (Oblivion storyline followed by IOS Blades story). They enjoyed building their own town.

How old are your kids? Pathfinder can get pretty complex

I have a seven year old daughter and an eight year old son, but they've been playing a few years already.

At first we played casually here and there, and they always wanted to make more and more characters, but never had enough time to play them all. Haha. They've dabbled in some campaigns, modules, and home-brew for that, including Kingmaker. Eventually we started playing Carrion Crown, which is a horrible campaign for kids but they wanted to play it for some reason, so we started it as a family. We're on book two right now and they're having fun. My son made a grippli father of six whose wife was killed by wayward undead branded with the symbol of the Whispering Way. So he brings his six little froglets with him most places, or agonizes over selecting the right babysitter, and always RPs them all out and everything. It's really interesting to see an eight year old's take on what it means to be a good father.

We also play another family campaign at home for when they don't feel like playing a horror adventure, which is the Shackled City AP. Again, a bad choice! Haha. But, my husband really wanted to play it and my kids thought it sounded fun. It's a hard campaign, though, and they're only three people, and they make poor tactical decisions, so I've had to adjust difficulty quite a bit as we go. Anyway, they're on book two of that and also having fun. The whole family made a band for their characters.

Then they insisted they needed a campaign for when my husband can't or won't play with us, so they picked a campaign he's already playing with my adult group and started that, which is Mummy's Mask. They're... a third through the first book. Then they wanted to play a Starfinder campaign (which is my daughter's favourite RPG), so we're playing Dead Suns (halfway through book one). Then we have Tails of Equestria or Playground Adventures for when they're playing with their younger cousins -- who are five and three. I have them every weekday, so on any day when there's no school, or homework and dinner are done early, we play that together. They all have a blast with that. It's just super creative, light, heartfelt fun. Lots of teamwork and roleplaying and problem solving.

Usually when the weekend's almost here they vote on what campaign they want to play that weekend -- CC, SC, or DS -- and I prep and run that once or twice that weekend. Then they vote again the next weekend. If we have the time, that is. Sometimes we'll go a month or two without playing one, but focus a lot on one of the others, or vice versa. It's good for them.

But, life's busy, and we often don't have the time to play, so they wanted to try PBP. They've been playing PFS and SFS on PBP for about a year and are having lots of fun. It was hard to find GMs willing to have young kids in their PBP groups at first, but we were always up front about it, and after they were given a chance they've always been invited back, so they're pretty proud of that. Sometimes they get invitations to join a GM's next game, which always makes their day. Usually they play PFS games via PBP, but they're also in one ongoing Legacy of Fire campaign, which they're really enjoying. We needed replacement players and they really wanted to join, so I lobbied for the group to give them a chance -- some were pretty hesitant, but they also didn't want to tell a bunch of kids they weren't allowed to play, so they gave them a shot. Anyways, my kids worked REALLY hard on their opening posts and the group was impressed with their RP, so they were a welcomed addition. It made them pretty proud. Anyway, PBP is really great at helping with their spelling, typing, coding, and creative writing skills, so even though it takes them a good chunk of time to get a post done I let them count it as part of their daily spelling or reading homework.

So... My kids really like RPGs. Board games of all kinds, actually. We have a TON of board games at my house.

They're super excited for the new Extinction Curse AP for 2e where you get to run a circus! That's the main reason they want to try out 2e, actually. That and getting to play as goblins.

Last year they created their own creatures for Wayfinder magazine, which got accepted (have I mentioned that to this group, yet? I can't recall). They were really excited to show it off to their teachers and principal. No one knew what they were talking about, but they got the 'this student wrote something that was published in a fan magazine' thing, so they were suitably impressed. My kids felt pretty special. They're brainstorming more than one submission this year for Wayfinder, so they're pretty excited.

And, I'm gonna go now. I could talk about my kids and games for hours, but don't worry! I'll spare you! Haha.

Man, you’re family is awesome.

Also carrion crown for your kids and they are enjoying it? Not sure I’m brave enough to try that, but I like your kids already

Haha. I know!

Carrion Crown? Are you SURE? We could play so many other campaigns you would like better. No? Carrion Crown? REALLY?

Well, alright...

I'm a fan of the gothic horror vibe, but there's so many campaigns that are better suited to kids. To this day I don't know why they wanted to play the horror campaign.

As super impressive as all that is, what really strikes me the most is your solid grasp of time management. :)

My biggest issue is that there hasn't been enough time with everything else going on to work it in for my son. My daughter, who is five, could potentially want to join in, but that's just speculation at this point.

OMG, making time is always the biggest problem. Definitely.

We were hoping to get a lot of gaming in this summer, but I picked up a few freelance writing assignments, so I haven't had much time to spare. They're a little miffed at me. Haha. But, we're heading to a convention this weekend, so we'll have a chance to actually play a few games together as players, which will be nice. I never get to be a player at an IRL game.

That orc warlord put out a reward for our PCs alive - because we killed his brother in an early adventure. Which we discovered was the reason a foe took our party alive. Which made total sense. Said warlord would have had some brutal vengeance had the party not escaped...

I'm still mystified (and impressed) about Carrion Crown as a choice.

As much as adults we like to steer kids towards more child friendly stuff lets be honest kids always like the grim stuff. How messed up are fairy tales?

Fair point!

I'll be honest I just spotted something in their entry that would make them a nightmare for you to fight. So cards on the table I'm houseruling them so ye can hurt them but I'll be buffing their offence to compensate.

They've got immune: weapon damage I am going to downgrade that to mere DR 5/- since not even smite would get through the immune. They'll be getting +1d6 fire damage.

Sounds more than fair to me. Thank you for not having us walk into a TPK

It's things like this that make Kevin a great GM!

Or just tolerable enough not to drive you all away!

This sounds really hard, guys. We should just give up and go home.

Fair!

Also, home?

Good way to make Fredric even madder!

Attending a con this weekend! Bot me as needed. Thanks!

That surge...that was a last ditch effort but it worked!

And very consistent hits this turn from Fredric.

Nice work, Fred!

To all my games: I have an extremely busy work week ahead. I will try to check in, but please bot me as needed to avoid slowing the game. Thanks!

No problem

Oh yes the Haunted Vault, Ahari Bridge and Drezen Watchtowers are all skirmishs so standard combat rather than mass combat.

Nice. So we can split it up. Mass -> Standard -> Mass, etc.

Alternating sounds good to me!

I was a bit cautious about making a roll. I should recall that this group is on the aggressive end. ;)

Kevin, for the "skirmishes" that's just the PCs (and any specific NPCs called out to come along), and not any army units en masse, right?

Guys, if the answer above is yes, here's a suggested order based on discussions we've had and the priorities I think our PCs would have:

*********

3. Southbank: Mass combat -- Vs. tieflings/cultists -- gear for crusaders

1. Paradise Hill: Mass combat -- Vs. schir demons -- prison for captured crusaders

5. Drezen Cemetery: Mass combat -- Vs. ghouls -- called out as constant risk of affecting other battles

2. Haunted Vault: Standard combat -- Vs. "eerie shadows" -- needs investigation

4. Ahari Bridge: Standard combat -- Vs. ? -- capturing will be advantageous for final battle

6. Drezen Watchtowers: Standard combat -- Vs. "few figures" on each of seven towers -- each tower captured will be advantageous for final battle

Sounds good, one battle and a skirmish a day seems reasonable.

The haunted vault sounds super cool, but the "soldier" in me thinks we should first go for the tactical advantage of reclaiming the bridge.

The haunted vault sounds super cool, but the "soldier" in me thinks we should first go for the tactical advantage of reclaiming the bridge.

I was going with the alternating of the skirmish and mass combat encounters. Taking the bridge (and watchtowers) only seems to be beneficial in going after the final citadel, which happens after we've taken care of (or ignored) the six listed above. It doesn't sound like it's going to help us with anything prior to that.

I agree about leaving the bridge and watchtowers till near the final assault. Let the besieged cower as we advance!

Attack rolls this battle so far: 7, 7, 16, 3, 4, 2, 3, 1, and 5.

Pressure's on, Fred.

So cards on the table I maxed this guys hit points and he didn't even get to go!

Since it's their first and only Mythic adventure path it's known by GMs who've run it that once Mythic comes in you need to make the bigger bad guys a bit more resilient since the PCs can throw out so much damage... not so that the pcs will all get a chance to get a hit in!

Well, it does feel awesome to have a paladin hit squad that annihilates whatever it touches. :)

I do think that against Spell Casters we will struggle. Especially when they start summoning mooks to bleed us dry.

For Unhallow, what are our options for removing it? If we even have any.

I've also heard that about this AP. I'm having fun with the all paladin party; I look forward to an encounter that targets our weak points.

@Kaeldron I think that might be one of the things a different party would be more equipped to deal with. I don't think there's much ye can do.

There’s some stuff we can do, because of Mythic.

Davok has advance, which gives everyone a free move. Then Champion Mythic lets us move again. So we can close the distance on mages quickly if we work together.

And I plan for a legendary item with spellcasting to shore up our defenses. Spells like see Invisibility, anti-summoning shield, dispel magic and Flight will be essential for us to defeat enemies in the future.

That's cool and all, but I think I'm going to ride a dinosaur next level.

Yeah. I can’t beat riding a dinosaur in coolness.

Are there any priests or mages with us capable of undoing the unhallow?

Sosiel can try but the best he can manage would be dispel magic.

Which he has.

Welcome to Level 7!

Lvl 7!!!!!

HP: 6 (Class) + 2 (Con) + 3 (Mythic Trait) = +11
BaB: +1
Saves: None
Skills: 2 (Class) -1 (Int) +1 (FCB) = +2 (Perception)
Feats VMC Channel: 5x day, 1d6
Smite Evil: 2x day

Another level up? Haha. It will also take me a few days to get around to levelling up Claire. Just FYI.

Welcome to Level 7!

Hooray!

That's cool and all, but I think I'm going to ride a dinosaur next level.

Well, not this level because VMC. But maybe some day.

Level 7 Oath of Vengeance Paladin / Tier 1 Champion

84 HP (74+10)

BAB +1 to +7/+1

Fort
Ref
Will

Skills:
Intimidate, Knowledge Religion, Sense Motive +2

Feat:
L7: Improved Weapon of the Chosen

Benefit: This feat acts as Weapon of the Chosen, except you gain the benefits on all attacks until the start of your next turn. Your attacks gain a single alignment component of your deity—either chaotic, evil, good, or lawful—for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. If your deity is neutral with no other alignment components, your attacks instead overcome damage reduction as though your weapon were both cold iron and silver.

Class Features: Smite Evil 3/Day

Spells:
2 x 1st level
1 x 2nd level

Level 7 Paladin choices:

FCB +1 skill point
Skills (3): Disable Device, Acrobatics +2
Background skills (2): Knowledge (nobles), Sleight of Hand
Feat: Manyshot