Giantslayer Marathon: Part 2!

Thanks again to the Order of the Amber Die for another great look into y'all's campaign!

Thanks again to the Order of the Amber Die for another great look into y'all's campaign!

Oloch here, thanks for all of your support! I'm having a great time with the iconic warpriest, and chomping at the bit to fell some giants with Gorum's Thorn! It's going to be a trip. (Pun intended.)

The boat map looks amazing, and these write ups really make me want to run Giantslayer...

The boat map looks amazing, and these write ups really make me want to run Giantslayer...

Shadram, glad you like the boat! I actually made it super-easy for any GMs to make the same boat if they do decide to run the path. In our Dropbox is a PDF of the boat already sized to a 1" grid and ready to be printed. All you have to do is cut it out, glue to foamboard, and then use a sharp knife to cut the foamboard. If you prefer a more polished look, sanding the edges afterward might be helpful. I also have some production photos I took while assembling it that will eventually appear on our Facebook/Instagram, which will provide a glimpse of what it looks like in various stages. I will gladly walk anyone through it--it's worth it to have the boat in 3D!

Happy gaming!

GM
Order of the Amber Die

What did you use for spacers between decks of the keel boat?

What did you use for spacers between decks of the keel boat?

We used some flying bases that we have on hand here, but really anything would work (even dice). The boat doesn't weigh very much, so you won't need many spacers; if you are going to use dice, you could easily slide them more toward the middle so they wouldn't be seen as easily. We were playing with quite a few painted miniatures that we have to take good care of, so we definitely used more spacers than necessary to give it added support.

Did you guys have four or six total party members? How many healers did you have on hand? Any arcane magic users to dish out some spell-woopin?

Can you let us know what PC's you used and what their levels where at the beginning of the adventure?

Did you guys have four or six total party members? How many healers did you have on hand? Any arcane magic users to dish out some spell-woopin?

Can you let us know what PC's you used and what their levels where at the beginning of the adventure?

Sure! For the second marathon, we started out as:

Oloch the warpriest: 3rd
Quinn the investigator: 3rd
Crow the bloodrager: 4th
Zadim the slayer: 4th
Kurst Grath (NPC, Ranger4/Cavalier1): 5th

and encountered this NPC from the module along the way:

Ingrahild Nargrymkin (NPC Ranger): 6th

We have a few other stipulations when it comes to party construction and character builds (for example, ACG only and single-class), and these are detailed in our full writeup available in our Dropbox. We're also keeping an active party roster in the writeup to track what NPCs (or PCs if it comes to it) come and go. As far as arcane casters, we just have Crowe, but Quinn could be roughly classified as arcane I suppose. Regarding healers, mostly we just have Oloch and whatever Quinn can throw together. For butt-whoopin', it's old-school steel and teamwork feats such as Escape Route.

Hope that helps!

GM

Last month I had the opportunity to play with the Order of the Amber Die at Philly GamesCon. Before going I looked around at their Facebook page, and was very impressed. Here was a group of guys that not just enjoyed playing the game, but made it their passion. The dedication and time that they put into their Crystal Spire marathon was something I had never seen before, so I went into the convention with pretty high expectations.

When I say that my expectations were surpassed, it's a bit of an understatement. Sitting down at the table I was struck by just how much they enjoy playing Pathfinder and Crystal Spire in general. The table was draped with a large green cloth, they had their flip-mats ready to go as well as miniatures separated out by type and the ones they knew they were going to use for that floor were in their own box. Not only did they bring all of these accessories to the game, they had 3 GMs running the slot so that we could try and slog through two levels of the Spire during the first evening. From the initiative board to the printed pictures of the monsters and NPCs we faced, these guys knew how to deliver an unforgettable gaming experience. Even when the convention closed the ballroom down early and we weren't anywhere near finished, they brought us back to their hotel room to set up the game and continue onwards. We ended up playing until almost 5 am, and even though those two floors ended in a TPK, it was a memorable and enjoyable evening that will stay with me for a while. I'm glad we got to finish up the levels, even if it did end in defeat and I had to bury my first character of the weekend.

Saturday night I sat down to the table, thrilled to be playing with these guys again. We had one of their Order join us for that evening's session, and you could see the camaraderie immediately, but they made everyone that came to their games feel like part of the group. That was one of the awesome things about this group, they get so much enjoyment from playing and are passionate that anyone that shows the same kind of energy is more than welcome. Even when faced with inexperienced players, their patience and excitement to be able to expand someone's experiences were contagious. This evening was more intense than Friday, considering that during the first encounter one of the PCs ended up being killed. Mind you, it was an epic death and the person playing said PC was not bothered in the slightest. Thankfully they had pregen characters with them and we were able to continue forward and try to plow through the rest of the dungeon. The rest of the adventure was definitely challenging to the group; a near TPK during the basilisk encounter sobered everyone at the table and reminded them just how dangerous the Emerald Spire actually is. My favorite encounter of the entire evening was when we faced the Succubus sisters. Thankfully there were 3 GMs for this encounter, it added a whole other level to the experience that would have been lacking otherwise. Two of the GMs took the personality of the sisters, and didn't flinch when it came to trying to seduce the players at the tables. I know many a GM who would have been awkward of uncomfortable in that situation, but these guys were fully prepared for all of this, I found out later that they had spent much of the afternoon going through the encounter to make sure that they were fully prepared. This is what I call dedication, forgoing the exploration of the convention to guarantee that they were as fully prepared as possible. Even though my favorite character of the weekend was buried during that encounter, this will rank as one of the most memorable gaming experiences.

By Sunday, convention exhaustion had begun to settle into my bones. Plus, having buried three characters in 2 days, my enthusiasm was faltering. That didn't matter when I finally sat down to the table though; the Order was able to inspire me to put aside everything and give my all to the game. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time necessary to complete the last level of the Spire but they did their best to get us through as much as we could. It truly was an epic finish to a fantastic weekend, the guys brought an energy to the table that was able to wash away everyone's exhaustion at the table. Most of that afternoon is a blur for me, but that's because exhaustion had finally kicked in for me. Even so, I walked away from that session with a sense of accomplishment and a desire to make sure the next time I play a character of that level I am fully prepared.
Not only did the Order of the Amber Die deliver a truly epic and unforgettable weekend, they did something even more important for me. They awoke the desire inside to jump back into the game and explore. I hadn't had the opportunity to play much over the past 5 years, and every group that I played with seemed to be lacking something that I couldn't put my fingers on. After my time with the Order during the weekend, I realized what it was. I needed to find a group that was as passionate about the game outside of gaming sessions as they were during. This was a group that brings their all to the game, regardless of if they are running an adventure or not. It was my honor and pleasure to have played with them throughout the weekend, especially since they were the only RPGs I actually played during that convention. Even so, I don't feel like I missed out on a thing; honestly, I got more than I had bargained for and then some. I salute all the members of the Order for their passion and dedication and sharing it with the community. Hopefully your efforts will inspire gamers for generations to come!

Why the small pictures? Who do y'all think is still using a 56K modem?

You can click on the pictures to see a bigger version, or follow the links in the More Content section to see even more images.

Why the small pictures? Who do y'all think is still using a 56K modem?

Hi Jeff, no worries, we shot almost everything in RAW format and those pictures are included on the Facebook and in our Dropbox inside the PDF entitled "The Giantslayer Endeavor." If there is anything specific you want to see, let us know as we continue to release content from our Giantslayer marathons over the next several months.

I just noticed that the Dropbox link in the blog is our old one from last summer. Please use this one:

Order of the Amber Die Dropbox

Happy gaming!

Last month I had the opportunity to play with the Order of the Amber Die at Philly GamesCon. Before going I looked around at their Facebook page, and was very impressed. Here was a group of guys that not just enjoyed playing the game, but made it their passion. The dedication and time that they put into their Crystal Spire marathon was something I had never seen before, so I went into the convention with pretty high expectations.

When I say that my expectations were surpassed, it's a bit of an understatement. Sitting down at the table I was struck by just how much they enjoy playing Pathfinder and Crystal Spire in general. The table was draped with a large green cloth, they had their flip-mats ready to go as well as miniatures separated out by type and the ones they knew they were going to use for that floor were in their own box. Not only did they bring all of these accessories to the game, they had 3 GMs running the slot so that we could try and slog through two levels of the Spire during the first evening. From the initiative board to the printed pictures of the monsters and NPCs we faced, these guys knew how to deliver an unforgettable gaming experience. Even when the convention closed the ballroom down early and we weren't anywhere near finished, they brought us back to their hotel room to set up the game and continue onwards. We ended up playing until almost 5 am, and even though those two floors ended in a TPK, it was a memorable and enjoyable evening that will stay with me for a while. I'm glad we got to finish up the levels, even if it did end in defeat and I had to bury my first character of the weekend.

Saturday night I sat down to the table, thrilled to be playing with these guys again. We had one of their Order join us for that evening's session, and you could see the camaraderie immediately, but they made everyone that came to their games feel like part of the group. That was one of the awesome things about this group, they get so much enjoyment from playing and are passionate...

Maelstrominabox,

Wow! What a huge compliment! Thank you so much for these many kind words and excellent story of the weekend, it was good to see you at the convention. We do take our roleplaying seriously, but ultimately our goal is to have a great time and create memorable experiences; meeting and connecting with people who feel the same way we do is what drives us to keep pushing the envelope. We met so many great players who signed up for our superdungeon on "difficult" setting, and though it was definitely a blur, we fondly remember playing until 5am and offering up everything we had when it came to endurance--we were also coming off of The Hill Giant's Pledge marathon just a few days before!

While we may have inspired you to get back into the game again, you have inspired us to post one of our memories of the convention on Instagram just now. Enjoy!

For anyone who is interested, we will be at Gen Con. We won't be running any events, but we would love to connect with anyone who feels so inclined. Keep your eye out for the Amber Die logo!

Thanks again for adventuring with us and being so enthusiastic,

The "Three GMs" of the Emerald Spire at PhillyGamesCon: Adam, Aerick, and Erick

Was there a particular decision to only use for PC's (plus the two NPC's) instead of six? Also, are any of the female staff of Paizo Publishing going to participate next gaming session with you guys?

Was there a particular decision to only use for PC's (plus the two NPC's) instead of six? Also, are any of the female staff of Paizo Publishing going to participate next gaming session with you guys?

About the 4 PCs:

Our goal with all of our projects is to provide the most authentic and accurate playthrough as we can, so we don't deviate from the standard complement of 4 PCs that all Pathfinder challenge ratings are designed for. As for the NPCs, we open up those roles to other members as the modules dictate. Kurst Grath is an NPC who--if the party builds a close friendship with him--can be present for all 6 modules of the Giantslayer AP. Ingrahild Nargrymkin, on the other hand, was only available for parts of marathons 2 and 3. Each player who took on the role of an NPC wrote about their experiences in our report located in our Dropbox.

About Paizo staff/women:

Currently there are no members of the Paizo staff in Order of the Amber Die; we are a completely independent group who Adam Daigle and Wes Schneider decided to let tell their story. One interesting feature that might not be evident is that Paizo does not have any control over how this turns out, as much as we would love for their divine intervention in preventing a dreaded TPK. That being said, if any members of the Paizo staff wanted to be part of our endeavor or were even looking to grab a marathon for their bucket list, we would be honored to have them.:) As for women in the next session, one of our female members recently participated in The Emerald Spire Project (full report in our Dropbox) and another plays in our monthly Rise of the Runelords campaign. Yet another of our female members is trying to make the time to play an NPC for the 4th marathon, but is unconfirmed at this point. For the Giantslayer Endeavor, the first criteria for selection was merely who could devote the time out of their life to play six marathons back-to-back, and out of everyone in our association, only the four PCs you see here were able to play every marathon.

Is that castle map taken from the Giantslayer AP? Or designed specifically for whatever adventure the group was on at the time?

(It's a great map...)

Just finished reading the DropBox PDF for the 2 session's you've had and just wanted to say that it was great reading it and bravo for your dedication! Can't help but admit I'm pretty jealous! Look forward to seeing how future sessions play out!

Is that castle map taken from the Giantslayer AP? Or designed specifically for whatever adventure the group was on at the time?

(It's a great map...)

Thank you, it was quite an art project!

The map is of Redlake Fort, taken directly from the Giantslayer AP. Players must find a way to enter and take down the hill giant chieftain Grenseldek, who resides inside--easier said than done in most cases. The fort was originally part of Harchist's Blockade, and has an interesting history tied to Lastwall and Belkzen.

I'm curious - when I've run AP's in the past I keep the whole party at the same level (I award XP via a straight party split and don't worry too much if an individual player misses one session or if a character dies (if raised I give them the same XP as the rest of the party or if replaced with a new character they start at the same level as everyone else).

How do you handle XP such that party members have different XP's & Levels? (I'm sure this seems really basic to you as clearly you assume this is how everyone plays but clearly I play in a different way) I know that in previous editions XP was far less standardized (I never really played 3.0/3.5) but even in AD&D (1st and 2nd) edition days I generally kept the party at the same level. Made life as a GM easier with everyone leveling up at the same time.

Just finished reading the DropBox PDF for the 2 session's you've had and just wanted to say that it was great reading it and bravo for your dedication! Can't help but admit I'm pretty jealous! Look forward to seeing how future sessions play out!

Jeffrey,

Just wanted to reach out and say thank you for taking the time to read through the PDF. It's constantly evolving and we work hard to make it as entertaining and helpful as possible. If it inspires you to try something similar or at the very least helps enhance your game then we've done something good for the Pathfinder community.

I'm playing Crowe in the endeavor and he is fast becoming one of my favorite characters. Luckily my stats support him being more than just a brick wall that kills things, so it feels good to contribute to multiple aspects of the game. Playing the iconics has turned out to be a great experience.

I hope your group decides to give Giantslayer a try, or if you are a GM, that you can give your players the gift of this great AP. If you have any questions about the path for any of our players, we've created a thread here and welcome the discourse. We're excited and nervous for part 3 and glad to hear you're looking forward to riding along on this crazy adventure.

- Sterling, Order of the Amber Die

I'm curious - when I've run AP's in the past I keep the whole party at the same level (I award XP via a straight party split and don't worry too much if an individual player misses one session or if a character dies (if raised I give them the same XP as the rest of the party or if replaced with a new character they start at the same level as everyone else).

How do you handle XP such that party members have different XP's & Levels? (I'm sure this seems really basic to you as clearly you assume this is how everyone plays but clearly I play in a different way) I know that in previous editions XP was far less standardized (I never really played 3.0/3.5) but even in AD&D (1st and 2nd) edition days I generally kept the party at the same level. Made life as a GM easier with everyone leveling up at the same time.

We have experimented with some of the various XP systems with smaller projects over the years, and I can definitely appreciate your system of keeping everyone the same level--it is wonderful for the GM and leaves you time to focus on the most important thing: good prep!

For all of our major campaigns and projects, we use the standard Pathfinder rules for awarding XP (dividing by the amount of players in the party as per the Core Rulebook, p. 398). The group has also placed additional restrictions on themselves. If any character dies and cannot be brought back to life, a new character may join but must start at 1st level regardless of where the party is at. This has been a rule of ours for about 15 years, and it is as challenging as it sounds; however, we have witnessed characters who joined when the party was as high as 13th level survive and climb to fruition with the rest of the party. In the event that a character dies and CAN be brought back (for example, in this recent Giantslayer marathon), they do miss out on the XP gained while they were dead and will permanently be behind characters who have not died. Luckily, a few thousand XP difference at low levels doesn't mean very much when the party has reached higher levels. The players have also chosen not to have CRs adjusted down, so if too many characters die and need replacing, the likely result will be TPK. This strict system is definitely not for everyone, but it taps into the competitive spirit inside many gamers and leads to a tense game where every encounter is treated as a dangerous one. The Giantslayer Endeavor could go either way with how strained the party is right now.

I should probably add that we have never had a player who made the climb from 1st level say that they regretted starting at 1st, while prior to this rule we did have players express at the end of a campaign (20th level) that they regretted missing out on the first 8 or however many levels we started them at. We have even seen the lowest level character who joined last eventually (due to deaths and departures) become the highest level character! A lot of this depends on whether or not you frequently "complete" campaigns, and how long you intend to play for. We have had many campaigns go for years, with one lasting as long as 7 years of real time, so when the players start one, they have the expectation of seeing 18-20th level or higher.

The group had to make a tough decision at the start of this project regarding whether or not they wanted to play it on "difficult" as we usually do, since TPKing in front of the whole RPG community would not be pleasant. I applaud them for making the decision they did, and it makes me proud to be this group's GM. I hope the community understands the pressure they are under, and especially what it is like for them when one of their PCs dies and they know it will be published for all to read.

Ah, thanks for pointing out that this wasn't a Paizo Publishing-base Campaign good sir. I'm also glad your fine company of intrepid roleplayers have accepted adventurers of the feminine variety into their ranks. ^_~

Makes sense. I don't get to run (or play) as much as I would like - if I had a regular group and/or could do marathon runs like you are doing I can understand the XP systems you use (I too generally follow the rules re XP just make allowances for missing players and don't adjust when characters die). I would guess that your system means you see folks leveling in the middle of the adventure? (i.e. that 1st level character if they survive one high tier encounter would likely level up a few levels at once). Do you award XP after every encounter and level up immediately or do you wait for pauses in the adventure?

Makes sense. I don't get to run (or play) as much as I would like - if I had a regular group and/or could do marathon runs like you are doing I can understand the XP systems you use (I too generally follow the rules re XP just make allowances for missing players and don't adjust when characters die). I would guess that your system means you see folks leveling in the middle of the adventure? (i.e. that 1st level character if they survive one high tier encounter would likely level up a few levels at once). Do you award XP after every encounter and level up immediately or do you wait for pauses in the adventure?

Typically we do XP at a good stopping point or appropriate time in the story (depending on whether it's our normal campaign or a marathon). In the case of a party that is fairly high level and is toting around a 1st level character who is desperately trying to stay alive, we will award XP after a couple of encounters to level that character accordingly. One of our funniest stories with this was just last week, when we added Lem the bard and Alain the cavalier to our Runelords campaign (party was around 9th level at the time), and these two rookies had to face Black Magga (CR 15) in their first session! Fortunately, the players controlling these characters were anything but newbies, and lived to tell the tale. We just recently posted pictures on our Facebook of this session and encounter with the legendary monster. Unfortunately, there was a character death in that encounter (7th level fighter).

How can I get one of these: Custom GM screen complete with the official Giantslayer font and iconic character art:)

What brand are those flying stands. They look very sturdy unlike most out there.

What brand are those flying stands. They look very sturdy unlike most out there.

I agree! We have tried many types, and have yet to find a brand of flying stand that can support a miniature firmly, or that the players trust to hold one of their precious painted minis. The stands you see in the pictures on Facebook are custom made by our players, who combined two 28mmm Games Workshop flying bases and sanded down the surface to remove the extra plastic on the bottom. It's quite a bit of work, but they make them in batches of 20 and they last a few years before the need for replacing.

How can I get one of these: Custom GM screen complete with the official Giantslayer font and iconic character art:)

Ah yes, the custom screen. This was made by one of our players who does graphic design work. While I can't promise anything here, the best way to get one of these would be to take max ranks in Diplomacy, grab your best d20, and make a Diplomacy check through our Facebook ;)

Edenwaith wrote:

How can I get one of these: Custom GM screen complete with the official Giantslayer font and iconic character art:)

Ah yes, the custom screen. This was made by one of our players who does graphic design work. While I can't promise anything here, the best way to get one of these would be to take max ranks in Diplomacy, grab your best d20, and make a Diplomacy check through our Facebook ;)

Allow me to rephrase the question; the physical screen itself, where do you get that? It looks to be some kind of multi-folding award frame or something with plastic sleeves to place your own designed sheets?

Much easier! A few companies have made these types of folding screens over the years, but the most recent one that offers many different colors and sizes is Hammerdog Games, "The World's Greatest Screen."

Were can i find all the info regarding all of the iconic charecters?
Such as there stats, equipment and all that?

The Order's PDF has some info on the builds each player used for their PC.

Were can I find all the info regarding all of the iconic characters?

Such as there stats, equipment, and all that?

Oloch here...way back in October when we first conceived this endeavor, we weren't aware of any existing Advanced Class Guide stat blocks since the book was still very new, so after we selected characters we just used what we could from the Meet the Iconics blogs and designed our characters accordingly, based on the history and images provided. It was fairly easy to gear them up by looking at their equipment in the iconic art, and after rolling up ability scores we proceeded to create the rest from scratch. Later, the stat blocks for Crowe, Oloch, and Quinn were released in the Risen from the Sands module, but we decided to stay with what we had, as we had already put significant work into them. Bottom line - we tried to stay true to the authors' intent, no different than the way we try to do with the modules, and from playing them half way through the Giantslayer AP we definitely feel like we've done them justice. We hope you've been enjoying their story as much as we have!

Marcus Gehrcke wrote:

Were can I find all the info regarding all of the iconic characters?

Such as there stats, equipment, and all that?

Oloch here...way back in October when we first conceived this endeavor, we weren't aware of any existing Advanced Class Guide stat blocks since the book was still very new, so after we selected characters we just used what we could from the Meet the Iconics blogs and designed our characters accordingly, based on the history and images provided. It was fairly easy to gear them up by looking at their equipment in the iconic art, and after rolling up ability scores we proceeded to create the rest from scratch. Later, the stat blocks for Crowe, Oloch, and Quinn were released in the Risen from the Sands module, but we decided to stay with what we had, as we had already put significant work into them. Bottom line - we tried to stay true to the authors' intent, no different than the way we try to do with the modules, and from playing them half way through the Giantslayer AP we definitely feel like we've done them justice. We hope you've been enjoying their story as much as we have!

I enjoy your giant endaevor very much. It's great fun to read, and i feel bad for Oloch, it seems that the Amber dice is specially hard on you. After reading your endeavor me and my gaming group will take up the giant slayer adventure path in a month or two. I have been inspirede by that you use the iconic characters and i will bring it up in our gaming group, so we can try it (maybe even in the giant slayer adventure path).

I enjoy your giant endaevor very much. It's great fun to read, and i feel bad for Oloch, it seems that the Amber dice is specially hard on you. After reading your endeavor me and my gaming group will take up the giant slayer adventure path in a month or two. I have been inspirede by that you use the iconic characters and i will bring it up in our gaming group, so we can try it (maybe even in the giant slayer adventure path).

Thank you for the great Work, that the order of the amber dice puts in to this adventure path and may Oloch kill all of the giants in the forges of the giant god.

Thanks for your support! It’s good to know we have people on our side against the giants!

Now, if you really want to try something unique with your group, there’s another step you can take with the iconics – play the four characters featured in Giantslayer! We wanted to simultaneously feature the new ACG hybrid classes along with the AP, and at first we were surprised to learn that none of those iconics were featured (especially since Oloch is from Belkzen and his mother, Halgra, is the Chief Defender of Trunau where the AP begins) but as we played the modules it started to make sense why those four particular classes were chosen and I think it'll really pay off for your group if they play them. Plus, it'll be enjoyable for your players to literally see their characters in action throughout the AP artwork...

Regardless, I hope you get to play Giantslayer soon - despite Oloch's triple tragedies, it’s been the greatest Pathfinder experience I've played in so far.

Good gaming!

Have not seen an update as of yet from Order of the Amber Die, Giantslayer Marathon Part 3 "The Forge of the Giant God" They were more then likely at PaizonCon last weekend, would be my guess as of why? Anyway, look forward to hearing on how this one went guys! THANKS and keep up the GREAT WORK!

Have not seen an update as of yet from Order of the Amber Die, Giantslayer Marathon Part 3 "The Forge of the Giant God" They were more then likely at PaizonCon last weekend, would be my guess as of why? Anyway, look forward to hearing on how this one went guys! THANKS and keep up the GREAT WORK!

Kevin, thanks so much for the support, we are buried under the weight of this endeavor right now and get a lot of our motivation from comments like yours. We did play Forge of the Giant God, and everyone can expect our report on the blog within the next two weeks.

THANKS for the info and look forward to reading the update! Years ago, back in 84-85 I ran some players through the Giant campaigns G1-G3. It was tough, but FUN TIMES ALL!