So, in my extensive time of Dming in person, a particular question has always managed to vex me at every single corner. The question of "Equipment Value." with respect to NPC wealth, and Wealth by Level for the players.
A single Ring of Protection is valued, by purchasing it, at 2000 gp, but, if sold, is worth only 1000 gp.
My question is simple. When creating an NPC with Wealth, do you equip them with crafted wealth, or purchased wealth?
And does the wealth gained per encounter from the Core Rulebook also relate to Purchased Wealth, or Selling Value?
A Ruby that's 2000 gp sells for 2000 gp. A RoP that's 2000 gp sells for 1000 gp.
This is the Discussion Thread. Have you any complaints, or anything out of character to say, please say it here, or, if it's small enough, simply use the out of character chat formatting in the actual gameplay thread.
"Silence gripped the fog as you ventured through it for what seemed like hours. At first, you had simply believed that it was a trifle passing of low clouds, but, as the hours passed, well... You were summarily lost. Time in that span of things seemed to spring forward and shift, utterly confusing you as you trudged onward. At some point, perhaps, you believed you'd simply turn around and escape it, but nay, the path still yet changed. Anxiety gripped you, and concern weighed on your mind, until, of course, you saw the light. Fickle, and hardly bright, yet still, it was like a deafening roar of clarity in a cloud of dull gray monotoney.
A few steps later, the fog disappeared, revealing only a downtrodden road of gravel with 2 thoroughly worn lines from what appeared to be a vehicle coming and going, and a curt bench, well beyond its years. A man, much too tall, far too tall, with the blackest of spectacles you've ever seen and a simple top hat and dandy-man attire, sat at that exact bench. Just as you escaped the fog, however, to your left and to your right, others came out... You'd never heard them, or so much as heard their foot steps. They, like you, were just suddenly there."
"You will recall, vaguely, a curious individual by the name of Alexsander Augustus Vilger. This is the monicker of the man who has had dealings with your family, whether recent or aeons ago. In the distant past he took interest in various business affairs that most would define as distasteful, or deviant. Perhaps even lecherous. Despite such assured thinking and proper judgemental minds I can personally claim that everything that the owner of the great estate did, he did it to aid the estate. Dark times as they were... Regardless of the circumstances by which you are related to the late groundskeeper, I assure you that this letter has come to you at the date it was supposed to, such is the master's will, and your glorious favor.
Whether by nefarious scheme, plot, coincidence or accident, the estate is now, in part, yours for the taking. You need only seek it.You will enter into joint custody of the place with 3 others, All that is in it is now yours to divvy between yourself and the other four owners. It is at this time that I unfortunately must leave said estate by the only method as of yet that has proven favorable. The means by which you will arrive are vague. The estate is accessible by both land and sea, but is not depicted on any map. Search your history. Search your family history. Trace back the deals and the many letters. Grasp at every hint and straw you can, and find the manor atop the hill beyond the Foggy Lamp Post. The road of black soil will reveal itself in time. Once you find it, you need only wait a time undisclosed.
Do not speak to the driver. He will take you to the estate. The place behind the fog, of which only he may tread betwixt. The estate of paradise forgotten. Where we were sequestered. May the gods have mercy on you. May the gods have mercy on me. May the gods have mercy on us all."
Hello! It a pleasure to meet you, my primary Alias is Alshoodone. If you believe it might be of concern to you, I request you read the following spoiler.
Why did the last EDV Fail?:
The prevous incarnation of El'Da'Vaughn ended abruptly without warning and, even worse, without me telling my players that the game had died. Such is the fate of the average play by post game, unfortunately, but it is not a mistake that I intend to make again. The primary cause as to why I had so little time to dedicate to the game was due to 7 day weeks at a 12 hour factory job. While it paid well, I had no social life, and found myself in a constant state of working and sleeping with no time to do anything else in addition to the ordinary chores of daily life.
If this disturbs you, look elsewhere, but I promise that this time I will not be so quick, or so uninformative. This campaign is my modus operandi, and I wish to see it completed and hopefully published. Should the campaign prove successful, the players whom stick with me through it will be rewarded with both an excellent story, and a copy of the adventure path for their own use.
Without further ado, allow me to give you some much-needed backstory towards this campaign. The late Alexander Augustus Vilger has died at the venerable, yet prodigious age of one hundred and thirteen. This is rather impressive, as he was just a human. In his life, the master of El'Da'Vaughn pursued such exuberant things in his hunt for knowledge. Deviancy, Hedonism, Unspeakable acts, Charity, on every edge of the spectrum did he travel to look at life from so many facets. What he ultimately learned in the end on his deathbed is knowledge that he has taken to his grave.
His many dealings and eldritch pursuits, however, rubbed off on many an individual in secretive ways. His appearances were either masked, or in the distance, and his simple symbol of A.A.V are the only hints he left behind, as Vilger survived all of his prominent apprentices. A fact many believe to be engineered. Regardless, with his passing he had to have someone to pass his findings, or, at least, his possessions to. That person is yourself, and your 3 cohorts whom are the rightful owners of the Land within the Fog. Everything in it is yours, and you shall rule. You shall defend it, and seize it back from the mock-masters that rule in the thrones empty shadow.
Character Creation
Starting Level: 1st
Starting Wealth: Maximum for respective class.
Star Array: 20 point buy.
Available Races: Human, Orc, Elf, Dwarf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Half-Elf, Aasimar, Tiefling, Dhampir, Drow, Fetchling, Genie Races, Lizardfolk, Tengu, Vishkanya, Changeling, Goblin, Orc, Kobold.
Traits: Choose 1 Trait from the Core Rulebook, or any other First Party Book that is unrelated to an Adventure Path. Your second trait is a Universal Trait that everyone must take that raises 2 skills by +2, and makes one of them a Class Skill. It is called "Rule Aspirant."
Character Backstory
Your character may come from any background and from anywhere within all of Golarion. The exact location of EDV is nowhere on the map, as it is lost to reality. Your backstory should look similar to the following.
- Your family, or a relative, or a close individual dealt with A.A.V as you grew up.
- You discover the letter above, dated with whatever day you find it. You can discover it in old writings, personal affects, or whatever you can think of.
- You learn of what your family/relative/individual did involving Vilger and set off to find "The Foggy Lamppost."
The Lamppost is often found by searching for quite some time, and often when a person has lost all hope of finding it. All 4 players arrive in the fog at the same time, regardless of when they enter the fog. (Time Schmuckery.)
If you have any questions I'd be delighted to answer them.
Ban List
Advanced Firearms
The Falcata
All Summoner Archtypes
Spiritualist
General Cheese
Leadership
Oh, and don't bring your family with you to the estate. Come alone.
Hi there, I'm Alshoodone, and my Imgur is Duboris, for clarity. I've recently waded into the waters of Pathfinder Map Design after ogling them for so long and just doing sketches for my own personal scratch-campaigns. Now I'm taking them a little more seriously as I'm trying to actually design an entire adventure path.
The biggest map I've designed so far is a small portion of a campaign named "El'Da'Vaughn, Land of Memories Lost" which is, among my closer friends, known for being a tad-bit difficult. Nothing like Rappan Athuk, or Gygaxian DnD, however, as slap-stick death is something I try to avoid in my own campaigns.
El'Da'Vaughn currently has a PbP version going as sort of a beta for the design so far and the maps, but I primarily want to discuss this particular one I have right now, as it's the largest map that's been drawn so far. I've yet to see if the map itself is roll20 compatible, but unsnapping the grid I am certain would work, seeing as the map is built with that grid on it already.
Now, I can't exactly give you the map without giving you what's in it, so I've slimmed it down about as much as I can. The players in the beta test are advised to not read the spoiler below, should they see this.
Challenges:
Challenge Rating 11 – The Grand Hall – x1 Damien Mavis – 12,800 Experience - Damien is an Antipaladin that's in cahoots with the Advanced Succubus, whom he has through being an Antipaladin. Rather than keeping her around, however, he consistently has her travel the area. Damien spends the majority of his time on the far eastern side of the map in what appears to be the most open room just before the stairs that go off-map. At any given time he's in dark prayer in the main room. If alerted by the Succubus, he drinks potions, turns invisible and opens combat with a smite good focused primarily on a member of the party that was observed healing others, or seemed "like a goody two-shoes."
Challenge Rating 10 – Cathedral Entrance – (x6 Bearded Devil) 9,600 Experience - The Cr 10 (APL+2) is at the front door because the front door isn't the only entrance. It is, however, the quietest one. The Bearded devils have been ordered to stay in that room and to allow no one entry, or anyone to leave. They are all bound to this service by a person who isn't in the Cathedral. The devils all wield ranseurs and try to stay at reach and flank if able, but try to surround the enemies present, focusing primarily on those that seem to have an easy time piercing their damage reduction, or controling the combat with spells, divine or arcane.
Challenge Rating 9 – The Master’s Minions – (x3 Fighter 1 Wizard 5 EK 1) 6,400 Experience - At any given point in time 3 Eldritch Knights reside in the middle hallway just beyond the door, and, if it's night time, are content to sleep in the bedroom on the east side of the Cathedral (the half-circle room on the bottom.) They are all illusionists and make practical use of Displacement and other buffs before wading into combat.
Challenge Rating 9 – The Dark Sanctuary – (x1 Cleric 8, x8 Fighter 1 Cleric 1) – 6,400 Experience - After the second set of doors in the main room, the party walks out where a particular cleric and his apprentices of darkness are sitting in chairs receiving a sermon. If the Succubus has warned Damien, then Damien has warned the major cleric, and the apprentices are likely sent searching in a spread-out fashion. Of all of the combats that move around in the cathedral, this is the most dangerous. If the alarm has yet to be raised, all of them turn, and spend the first turn drawing their weapons. and moving towards the players. The main cleric buffs them, and keeps them alive and capable as best he can throughout the fight making feverish use of his life-link spells.
Challenge Rating 9 – The Bleak Study – x1 Dark Wizard 10 – 6,400 Experience - Fauldrin is a wizard with Dark Feats (and dark spells) that aren't natural to pathfinder. He primarily prefers to be left alone and constantly has a familiar out of his room, (the Kyton one from Improved Familiar). he doesn't do this because he has any real strategical reason, he just finds the Kyton's constant ramblings and hatred of patience quite annoying. If the kyton stumbles upon a combat, it joins it, knowing it can just come back. It's sadistic empathy concerns Fauldrin, however, whom immediately prepares for combat. He does willingly converse with the members of the party and request to be left alone if possible, but is by no means a pushover. If combat can't be reasoned with he uses his Dark Initiative to force a 20 on his check, and uses quickened vanish, focusing primarily on disrupting the party. He then casts wall of force after moving past the party, unless he's unable to get around them all, in which case he readies an action to phantasmal killer the first person who seems to pull out anything he believes could hinder his invisibility.If beaten, he gladly reveals a tremendous amount of information about the Cathedral, which might even prompt the Succubus to finish him off.
Challenge Rating 8 – Wandering Monster – x1 Advanced Succubus Nerei – 4,800 Experience - The Succubus is constantly in telepathic link with him, and warns him of whatever weaknesses she sees amongst the party. She becomes invisible via potion and observes combats if she stumbles upon them, and then surprises the party as they try to recover, assuming she's present. Whenever she gets in trouble, Damien pulls her out of the combat by calling her back to his side. This is the wild card of the Cathedral, and can interact with plenty of combats very differently.
Challenge Rating 8 – The Well of Darkness – (x1 Erinyes) – 4,800 Experience - The Erinyes is bound to servitude, and cannot leave the room with the Well of Darkness in it. A specific spot in the room has been stone-shaped for her by the local dark wizard to aid in defending the well of Darkness. The Erinyes doesn't ask questions if someone besides the head cleric, Damien, or Fauldrin comes into the room, however, and is very quick to attempt killing them with her bow.
Challenge Rating 8 – Cathedral Steps – x1 Variant Efreeti – 4,800 Experience - A particular Efreeti, whom has had all of their fire damage and abilities switched out for negative energy and will saves stands alone in a particular room full of knowledge.
Now, I know I need a number of things. Particularly letters, room-by-room description and whatnot, as well as small details, but I was just wondering what everyone thought of it, and I'm completely okay with any criticism you might want to give.
"Xanithrem, Bedir, Lizbeth, and Regina. Those were the first 4 people to materialize at the well. The first few, and certainly not the last. I still remember their first few moments at the Temple..."
Xanithrem:
"A rather vivid memory flashes through your mind as you awaken, groggy. You place your hand down on the floor, feeling the warm, slightly mossy structure of it. A Fall is what you remember... and a long one, at that. For what seemed like forever did you fall just recently. You feel the lantern in your other hand, and again, a memory... This lantern wasn't yours. But who's? Who are you? Your name, your name... was... Xanithrem. Digging deeper only hurts your mind... you can remember your kinetic abilities, what you have on your person, but not anything else."
Bedir:
"Something wiggles in your hand as you come back to your senses. The harsh light of day pierces your eyes, and a wracking headache practically crushes your brain. A hand, covered in mucus comes up to block the sun and you only realize it is your own as your mind comes back from its fog. You died. You remember that well. A Sharp pain in the back of your head, and a struggle are all you can remember... You remember you had a faith... though you can't feel it anymore. Despite your present, mental loss of state, you know of the battle between good and dark. You are currently fallen"
Lizbeth:
"Ah, the good lady Lizbeth." "These words enter your mind as you slowly peel yourself off of the ground. You are still badly wounded, but you can stand again, and you do just that." "The Deacon will see you now." "Those are the last words you can remember before everything goes blank. You have no recollection of who this Deacon is, nor do you know a thing about him, or what you did in your past. You can remember your skills, what you have on your person, but their exact purpose is beyond you... You cannot help, however, but feel that something important to you is missing. The sensation is a terrible, nagging one."
Regina:
"You distinctly remember clutching the medallion, bloodied, in your left hand right before the world flipped and you woke up here. The exact reasoning behind that is beyond you at this time, as your memories have been entirely lost. The most distinct thing you can remember is a large red moon, and the sheer memory of it fills you with crippling dread that sends chills down your spine. You died, that much you remember... Beyond that, you know of your equipment, you know of your abilities, skills and talents. How you got them you are not sure, but they are at your fingertips."
The Party awakens at the edge of a giant diamond-shaped pit in a daze. The floor is moss-covered marble, and has the distinct smell of the edge of a welcoming forest. Through blurry eyes and open wounds you can see a raven haired woman, whom, upon further inspection has had her throat slit as evident by the enormous scar at the nape of her neck. To her right is a dark-skinned man that seems to be getting on in the years, standing with his hands in his coat pockets watching the collective group get back on their feat.
"Ah, good, they seem to be waking up. You folks don't look too good, but neither does anyone else that shows up back at this place..." he says, scratching his neck as you all collect yourselves.
After another moment of headaches and prodding pains, he looks about and says. "I don't imagine you all are... veterans of this situation, but I believe I can help explain at least a few things, so while you collect yourself, listen up, won't you?" He walks up and squats down, resting his elbows on his knees and looking eye-level with those of the party who are still struggling to stand.
"My name is Caleb. Folks around here call me Caleb the Kind, or Caleb the Altruist. I don't much care for it, but I'm at the very least friendly, alright? You're in a place called El'Da'Vaughn, and you've just recently been reborn in the Temple of Light. Most of us here are friends... Most, anyway." he says, looking down for a second.
"My charming companion here is named Seles (pronounced "Sails") and she can put you back together... Do forgive her, however, as she is a mute.
Upon character death, you will lose an amount of Essence equal to what you agreed to, and reappear here, conscious, at -1 HP, and unable to move more than 5 feet a round. You may speak, crawl, and do little else. If you are able to heal your wounds, you can, but all actions are considered full-round actions at this point.
At this particular moment, you're all at -1
It is, at this particular moment, that the woman produces a glowing hand and anoints all of those who are still on the ground. She never speaks during the process, which may surprise most caster's present.
Welcome to the Discussion Thread. Here we'll discuss how we want to handle playing this game, as well as get everyone's final character sorted. I would prefer it if everyone posted their characters up with the full 16,000 gp in wealth that they start with, gear included, so that I may skim them for potential errors.
That said, Congratulations, and I hope we all have plenty of fun testing this beast out. You guys are the "Hard" group. You only have 4 players.
So recently I tried my hand at creating a new beast for the campaign I'm developing. I wanted something that was stationary, well-defended, but totally reliant on spells. The ending result is something called "The Grand Gem." My biggest concerns are the following:
- Can it just decimate an entire party without concern?
- Can 4 people just decimate it without a problem?
- Will it be challenging, or will it just gimp particular people?
The level the party is expected to be when they defeat this is 8, but they could also attempt it at level 9, as I don't level people for "Being somewhere that requires X" and use experience instead. The exact group hasn't been divvied out, but one can probably expect a Gunslinger, a Ranger (Not with favored enemy: Construct) a Witch, and a Frontline Cleric.
Here is the thing in all its glory.
The Grand Gem:
The Grand Gem CR 11
XP 12,800
The grand gem
N Huge construct (elemental)
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +18
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Defense
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AC 18, touch 8, flat-footed 18 (+10 natural, -2 size)
hp 131 (14d10+54)
Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +14
Defensive Abilities immovable; DR 10/—; Immune construct traits, critical hits, flanking, precision damage; Resist acid 5, cold 5, electricity 5, fire 5; SR 22
Weaknesses vulnerable to sonic
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Offense
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Speed Melee unarmed strike +12/+7/+2 (1d6 nonlethal)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 14th; concentration +20)
. . Constant—detect magic, true seeing, truespeak[ARG]
. . At will—clairaudience/clairvoyance, make whole, stone shape, telekinesis Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 14th; concentration +20)
. . 7th (3/day)—prismatic spray
. . 6th (6/day)—disintegrate (DC 22), greater dispel magic
. . 5th (7/day)—dismissal (DC 21), hold monster (DC 21), lightning arc[UM] (DC 21)
. . 4th (7/day)—greater false life[UM], phantasmal killer (DC 20), wall of fire, wandering star motes[APG] (DC 20)
. . 3rd (7/day)—fireball (DC 19), force punch[UM] (DC 19), slow (DC 19), wind wall
. . 2nd (8/day)—blindness/deafness (DC 18), flaming sphere (DC 18), glitterdust (DC 18), scorching ray, shatter (DC 18)
. . 1st (8/day)—color spray (DC 17), mage armor, magic missile, shield, stone shield[ARG]
. . 0 (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark, disrupt undead, flare (DC 16), ghost sound (DC 16), mage hand, mending, read magic, resistance
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Statistics
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Str —, Dex —, Con —, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 22
Base Atk +14; CMB +16; CMD 26 (can't be tripped)
Feats Arcane Shield[APG], Empower Spell, Extend Spell, Focused Spell[APG], Heighten Spell, Reach Spell[APG], Toughness
Skills Appraise +18, Heal +18, Intimidate +20, Knowledge (arcana) +18, Perception +18, Sense Motive +18
SQ everlasting magic, magnificent formation, power overwhelming, reactive magic
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Special Abilities
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Arcane Shield Convert a level 1+ spell into + Spell Level deflection bonus to AC for 1 rd.
Construct Traits (+40 HP) Constructs have many immunities.
Damage Reduction (10/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Empower Spell Numeric effects of a spell are increased 50%. +2 Levels.
Energy Resistance, Acid (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Acid attacks.
Energy Resistance, Cold (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Cold attacks.
Energy Resistance, Electricity (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Electricity under specific conditions.
Energy Resistance, Fire (5) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire under specific conditions.
Everlasting Magic (Ex) A Grand Gem may cast Permanency for free, and at will, however it can only have 2 spells made permanent at any given time.
Extend Spell Spell duration lasts twice as normal. +1 Level.
Focused Spell You can cast a spell that gains +2 DC against one of its multiple targets.
Heighten Spell Increases spell level to effective level desired.
Immovable (Ex) The Grand Gem is completely immobile, and as a result is not able to be moved whatsoever. It is virtually immune to Combat Maneuvers. It is not immune to sunder, but its CMD against sunder attempts is equal to its current total AC. It is always considered flat-footed, but is immune to precision damage and critical hits alike. If it is ever forced to make a reflex save, treat its roll as though it rolled a natural 1.
Immunity to Ability Damage Immunity to ability damage
Immunity to Ability Drain Immunity to ability drain
Immunity to Bleed You are immune to bleed.
Immunity to Critical Hits You are immune to Critical Hits
Immunity to Death and Necromancy effects You are immune to Death and Necromancy effects.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Energy Drain Immune to energy drain
Immunity to Exhausted You are immune to the exhausted condition.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Immunity to Flanking You are immune to flanking.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects.
Immunity to Nonlethal Damage You are immune to Nonlethal Damage
Immunity to Paralysis You are immune to paralysis.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Immunity to Precision Damage You are immune to Precision Damage
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Immunity to Stunning You are immune to being stunned.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Magnificent Formation (Ex) The Grand Gem adds its Charisma modifier to both its Fortitude and Will saves.
Power Overwhelming (Ex) A Grand Gem is a conduit of powerful magic. As a move action it can empower any spell it casts with one of the following metamagics, without increasing their spell level or casting time. Empower, Reach, Extend, Focus, or Enlarge metamagic. What's more, all of a Grand Gem's spells are treated as Silent and Still, without increasing their casting time or level, naturally. It cannot apply metamagic to spells above 5th level as a move action.
Reach Spell You can cast a spell with a range of touch, close, or medium as one range category higher.
Reactive Magic (Ex) The Grand Gem has Energy Resistances to all elements but Sonic, but as an Immediate action it can increase one of its resistances to 20. This lasts indefinitely, or until it changes the focal resistance to something else. It cannot protect against Sonic damage.
Spell Resistance (22) You have Spell Resistance.
Vulnerable to Sonic You are vulnerable (+50% damage) to Sonic damage.
Quick Casting The Grand Gem may cast defensively as a standard action.
It casts Extended Mage armor as soon as its time is up every single day, and has Shield permanent to raise its AC by 8, up to 26. It also has False Life, Greater on it permanently as well, but the health isn't evident of that.
It prefers to use immediate actions instead of swift ones to either change its resistance to spells with its Reactive Magic ability, or expend a spell with Arcane Shield to increase its AC even further.
Before we begin, I must sincerely apologize. Despite the high interest, and my promises to open the game on Teusday for recruitment, I realized that there were adjustments that needed to be made to the player's guide. While not present in this version I'll show you, here are the following adjustments.
Quick and Dirty Adjustments:
The starting level is now 6
The feats that normally required you to be level 5 now require you to be level 7. If this becomes confusing, merely ask questions. I will be investigating each individual application to prevent incidents.
The game I'm presenting to you is heavily influenced, if only by it's setting and mood, by a mixture of Van Helsing, Lovecraftian tones, and Bloodborne. The game also takes a lot away from the backstory part of the character creation process, but there are reasons for this.
When you make your character you will be picking a Memento, and this singular object will be what dictates who you "Were." What that ultimately means is that your characters can't remember their pasts. They know how to use their skills, and can remember things on the fly, but the exact intricacies of their "Story" are left to be found as the game progresses. This means that no matter what you make, you may remember... quite horrible things about yourself.
El'Da'Vaughn is not going to be white washed. Don't get me wrong, it's not a sexual game in the slightest and your characters aren't going to get diddled at every turn, but there are some rather cruel, critical topics that will come up. It's not for the people that could get squeamish.
In addition to the Memento, you must pick your "Essence" type. This is significant as it will effect what goes down when you die. Dying isn't an uncommon thing in El'Da'Vaughn, for those that are left in it. There are a number of Essences to choose from, and all of them have pretty significant penalties when you die. However, you don't stay dead until your essence is gone.
With that said, I welcome you to El'Da'Vaughn, and beseech you to read the majority of the player's guide. Recruitment is over on July 14th.
So, I've recently produced a large, level 4-17 Adventure path complete with working maps, NPC roster, and a player's guide which I'll post shortly. The game is for 4 players, and no more. The only race is the customized Human Race with lots of different potential qualities. In addition to this, the game brings in a new Mechanic called "Essence" which directly relates to the also new "Dark Feats" and those characters dying.
Everything is explained in full in the Player's guide, which, thankfully, is still up for being edited. Please, have a read, and if you seem interested please say so. I'd love to run a forum version of this, or even a roll20 thing on the weekends, or whenever I'm available. I've been courting around lately looking at the forums, and I've never really given online DMing a try, but I believe I've sat on the bench long enough.
Without further ado, here is the player's guide on Google Documents, free for anyone who wants to to read it and give as much criticism as they see fit. The campaign is designed to be difficult, with no-so-frequent, but still very possible deaths. When I designed it I had the mind to make it something similar to Shackled City, or Age of Worms in difficulty. With any hope, I actually succeeded.
The game is, of course, Pathfinder based, 20 point buy.
I'm getting ready to run a game that deals with death in fancy ways, and I was sincerely curious about the opinions of people on this message board.
There are 3 facets that make the campaign sincerely different from the standard campaign in the form of new Mechanics.
1 - The party of four is considered their level +1 for the purposes of CR to make the combats consistently more difficult across the board, albeit not entirely overwhelming. (Tentative, and most likely to not be made)
2 - Essence. A Player has 1 essence per odd level that they have, total. If a player ever has 0 essence, they die. A player loses 2 essence every time they die, unless their campaign quality (Their Essence Choice) says otherwise. A player takes a -1 penalty to attack rolls and saves per Essence that they're missing. Essence can be taken from dead humans, stolen from Eldritch Horrors, and robbed from Wells of Essence (Which are not common, and a terrible thing to destroy.)
3 - Eldritch Knowledge is a strange version of a haunt. You see the haunt, make a Knowledge: Planes roll, and willingly accept the effects of the haunt. Failing the save has different long-lasting effects than making the saves, and most often only apply to a single character a time. An example of the Eldritch Knowledge is seeing Bright Light as if it were perfect darkness, and vice versa.
4 - Dark Feats. Dark Feats are versions of mythic feats that can be taken after they choose a feat named "Influenced by Darkness" which lower their total Essence count. The Dark Feats are effectively Mythic feats, but use Essence as a source instead of mythic power, which comes back. Posessing a Dark Feat also lowers the amount of Essence you can have, total.
I'm having a really hard time figuring out how to properly explain the way this question really works, so bare with me. I'm going to have to use the exact numbers to do it any justice.
Let's assume, for all intents and purposes, that the party is level 1.
A Challenge Rating 3 encounter gives no less than 1200 gp in wealth.
A level 4 NPC, equipped to his full power, can carry a Ring of Protection, which is 2000 gp, as well as Composite Longbow and some other things, until he gets to 2400 in wealth.
The NPC's, at all points, depending on Medium, Fast, or Slow progression, always give double the numbers on the loot suggestions.
My question, after careful clarification is this. Are the values on "Table: Treasure per Encounter" in regards to purchased wealth, or Sold wealth? a Ring of Protection +1 is 2000 gp, but if sold at half it's worth 1000 gp, which, ironically is the exact wealth a level 2 character should have.
So, I'm doing my normal bi-annual run of a session known in my group as "Slaughterfest" and, as per usual, it's getting a little bit hyped up, which makes me happy. First, Slaughterfest is a Sixteen Person game, with strict rules regarding being ready for your turn, and thinking ahead. With 15 people waiting in line, you'd best know what you want to do when your turn comes up, after all. More importantly, no whispering, as that's a point deduction.
Anyways, here's the deal. Slaughterfest is called Slaughterfest solely because it's essentially a meat grinder for player characters and their owner's tears. 3 people are walking out of this in-game, and everyone's already okay with getting killed off quick and early, and so, I decided to make this one [b]glisten[b] with dangerous traps. Four of which, (and the first four, no less) are completely capable of causing no small amount of trouble.
I'm open to suggestions and requests, but there are essentially four sections centered around Transmutation, Evocation, Necromancy and Enchantment magic.
These are the first four openers. I'd like to hear anyone's opinions on them, and if anyone has any ideas for the halls I'd love to discuss ideas. I'd also really like to hear which one's your favorite and why!
The Obelisk of Evil:
The Obelisk of Evil Cr 12
DESCRIPTION
Type Magical Trap; Trigger Moving the Obelisk; Reset Automatic (1 Round); Caster Level 15th
INTERACT
Notice Perception DC 0; Disable Disable Device Dc 28
EFFECT
As Circle of Death Heightened to 8th Level
If moved or attacked, 15d6 Hd of creatures effected. DC 22 Fortitude Save, or death. 20 foot radius burst. While returning to original location, all creatures in room that are dead are reanimated as Shadows.
OTHER
Break DC 26
Hardness 10
Health 40
A simple read magic spell can reveal, in writing, the following in Mavisian, “Stab me, move me. Blame your foolish soul. Into darkness with me, your soul is free to go.”
DESCRIPTION
“The Obelisk of Evil is a 4 inch thick, 4 foot tall shard of Bloodcrystal. It is, in actuality, completely unworked, and in fact is merely a properly removed chunk of the unnatural quartz that grew in it’s particular fashion. After infusing it with powerful evil necromantic power, it was placed in the slaughterdome at the request of the Necromantic branch of the Mavisian high family. Seeing amusement in the potential for such mass murder after being carefully informed at what it could do, Dmitri Mavis himself installed it in a starting room, curious as to how many fools would be foolish enough to kill themselves outright at the very beginning of the contest.”
The Obelisk of Rage:
The Obelisk of Rage Cr 12
DESCRIPTION
Type Magical Trap; Trigger Attacking the Obelisk; Reset Automatic (1 Round); Caster Level 15th
INTERACT
Notice Perception DC 0; Disable Disable Device Dc 28
EFFECT
As Delayed Blast Fireball Heightened to 8th Level
If attacked, 15d6 fire damage immediately spreads out in a powerful explosion from the obelisk, searing flesh black and choking the air out of the room. Dc 22 Reflex for half damage in a 20 foot radius.
OTHER
Break DC 32
Hardness 10
Health 160
A simple read magic spell can reveal, in writing, the following in Mavisian, “Molest me not, for I do not clash. My blood runs hot, and you’ll be ash.”
DESCRIPTION
“The Obelisk of Rage is a 4 inch thick, 6 foot tall pillar of super-heated Glassteel. Translucent and beautiful, it has ever-changing cracks inside of it that seem to melt and dance within. Forged by the ever vengeful members belonging to the house of anger, it was requested to be placed in the slaughterdome by Dmitri’s wife Cirice, whom enjoys it’s pleasant glow… along with the peculiar scent of scorched flesh that often follows from the fools who use it for revenge.”
The Obelisk of Avarice:
The Obelisk of Avarice Cr 12
DESCRIPTION
Type Magical Trap; Trigger Touching the Obelisk; Reset Automatic (Simulacrum destruction); Caster Level 15th
INTERACT
Notice Perception DC 0; Disable Disable Device Dc 28
EFFECT
As Flesh to Stone Heightened to 8th Level
If touched, the stone immediately attempts to turn the offender into a stone statue. The stone then creates a Simulacrum of that player’s visage immediately, breaking apart slowly as if being chiseled. The Simulacrum has all of that player’s abilities and gear, and begins combat with the present party. The simulacrum is particularly biased towards destroyed its counterpart, and actively attempts to do so each turn. If that player is destroyed (Or shattered) the Simulacrum dies immediately as well, and both remain dead. If the Simulacrum is killed, its blood will change the player back to normal, but the stone obelisk will immediately reform.
OTHER
Break DC 58
Hardness 10
Health 900
A simple read magic spell can reveal, in writing, the following in Mavisian, “So here you come with skin so supple, touch me once and there’ll be trouble. A masterpiece I will make, but your visage I shall break.”
DESCRIPTION
“The Obelisk of Avarice could be easily mistaken for a simple pillar, if it weren’t made of magically hardened marble and exactly 6 feet tall. It is 2 and a half feet thick of pure stone, and incredibly hard to break. Perplexed as to why the house of Avarice would deliver a simple block of stone, Dmitri ordered a simple house slave to touch the stone. As the man turned to stone and his double broke free from the rock to destroy him, he watched on with glee and clapped all the while. Disappointed that the rock didn’t reform, however, he immediately requested another with his own specifications. The new one now sits in the Transmutation section of the Slaughterdome, ready to greet it’s new challengers.”
The Obelisk of Betrayal:
The Obelisk of Betrayal Cr 12
DESCRIPTION
Type Magical Trap; Trigger Reading the Rhyme; Reset (Complete quest); Caster Level 15th
INTERACT
Notice Perception DC 0; Disable Disable Device Dc 28
EFFECT
As Geas/Quest heightened to 8th Level
The first player who starts to read the front of the Obelisk is immediately accosted by a Dominate Monster spell, and must make a DC 22 Will save. The spell makes it a point to whisper horrible thoughts of betrayel in their minds, and at that player’s first opportunity they will attempt to deceive their allies, whether it’s a good idea or not. Whether this consists of running away from a combat, closing the doors behind them, or pushing them into something dangerous, doing so once immediately alleviates the order of the spell, and they’re immediately free from it. They can even go back and help their allies. As soon as the quest is complete, however, the Obelisk immediately resets.
OTHER
Break DC 30
Hardness 10
Health 160
On the front of the Obelisk, readable easily in common, is the following. “Foolish are you to read these phrases. Feel it now, your mind it hazes. You had so very long to go, let me show you now, who is friend and who is foe.”
DESCRIPTION
“The Obelisk of Deceit was actually designed in the fleeting hope that it would effect one of the other high house leaders in transit. Unfortunately for the rest of the world and the political strife that flows like water within Mavisia, however, it did not. Dismissed as a foolhardy and poor attempt to cause issue, the creator of the Obelisk of Deceit was slain. It wasn’t until the eye opened afterwards that they’d realized it had actually worked. To avoid any more problems, the four high houses agreed unanimously that the troublesome thing be placed in Slaughterdome for their amusement.”
I seem to be having a bit of an issue in the realm of encounter design. Unfortunately, and to the detriment of some people, I am a very by-the-book Gm when it comes to designing NPC's and the like. To put it simply, I tend to formularize my games.
To put that into perspective, I take and find how much experience my players need to level, create a number of encounters to have them reach that level (and 25% more, if necessary) and then, taking those encounters, I check the wealth of them all.
Cr 10 encounter? 8,200*1.25 gets them 10,250. I have 5 players so I increase the wealth per combat... It also makes it easier to give geared NPC's weapons. Mooks, mind you. That, however, is where my problem begins.
The amount of wealth a Level 9 Heroic NPC Fighter gets is 7,800 gp. Problem with that, however, is that a Cr 8 encounter (and the Fighter is a Cr 8) under fast progression awards an ordinary 5000 gp. My original solution was to just do everything in my power to lower the amount of wealth each NPC had, but then I realized that that didn't work in the long run.
I had originally planned to throw a lot of geared NPC's at the players, but I'm running into walls, somewhat. Could anyone help me figure this out? The only other idea I've had is to lower the amount of wealth in other fights, and make the NPC fights cash cows. That seems like it would make life a bit difficult for the players as they inevitably wait for super-gold fights.
Hi there! I'm going to be running a game with 5 players this year, and it's going from 1 to 20. I'm dedicated to the point where I set up a custom college class with one of my more enthusiastic professors centered around making this thing functional, but that's just to give you an example of how much breadth the campaign has. Anyways, my problem is with one of my players. Currently, the party looks as such.
Player 1 - Inquisitor (Sword and Board) (Tank, Front Lines)
Player 2 - Bladebound Magus (Strength Build) (Front Lines)
Player 3 - Legalistic Oracle (Waves Mystery) (Reach Weapon Combat)
Player 4 - Bolt Ace Gunslinger (Back Line)
The fifth player wants to be the parties dedicated caster. Whether it's control, destruction, or buffs, it doesn't matter. He wants to be the dedicated back lines caster of the 5. The only problem with this, however, is he origanally wanted to play an Occultist. I'm not savvy on the Occult book, unfortunately, but I'm not about to reject anything that's a recent first party book when so many swear by it.
That said, what would you suggest? Is it possible to maintain his back line full caster status as an occultist, or are they ill-suited for that role? I'm aware they can be front liners, though not amazing tanks, per say, but he was expecting to be a back line caster. What would you suggest? His race that he wants to play has a -4 wisdom modifier (Though it does get Iron Will as a bonus feat. I'm calling it a Yeedaus.) It gets a +4 Intelligence modifier and a +2 Constitution.
So I have this place in my world named Germain, and, due to issues that have already come to pass it's basically missing all of it's magical ley lines. Essentially that means it, and every single hex within 2 hexes of it is considered completely devoid of all magic.
To make up for this they've taken to crafting up mechanical weapons that are a bit beyond the normal longsword, though most of them have tradeoffs.
One such weapon was the "Pile Driver" which is, laughably, wrist-mounted. It's a large, bulky piece of equipment that gives whoever's silly enough to use it a -1, and is considered a masterwork weapon off the bat. (Setting it's price to 315 Gp)
What I want to know is if that's a reasonable price for this thing, but before I do that I need to explain what it does.
As a full-round action that does provoke an attack of opportunity, the Pile Driver can be pulled into the cumbersome wrist sheathe. As a standard action, the player can perform a touch attack that deals a bonus 2d6 piercing damage (On top of the Pile Drivers already-existing 1d6 Bludgeoning/Slashing). The recoil of this damage deals 1d6 damage to the player, almost as if it had the vicious quality. The major difference, however, is that if the player misses the touch attack then he has nothing to brace against and the force of the weapon drags him prone immediately.
Before I went to create this thing, I skimmed the Numerian books to see if I could find anything about crafting such a weapon, but couldn't find anything. What would you all suggest? It basically has the Vicious Weapon quality, but isn't considered magical. What's more is if you missed, you might just get yourself killed.
This is more of a simple question than anything regarding one of the new Occult classes, but am I horribly wrong in assuming that Burn can theoretically stick with you for an entire day as long as you're willing to suffer the nonlethal damage cap on your health for the duration?
I don't really understand it that well, unfortunately, but I *am* interested in playing a flame based kineticist. I just want to understand the rules behind it before I begin.
Alright, so, I'm really new to this forum and I really love this game. I've been a long time lurker for a good few years but I've never really joined until now. Short life stories aside, here's what I've got in mind.
At present, I'm in the middle of developing a lot of new races for a new world setting I've got planned. One of the inhabitants of said world is a race known as the "Lesaar" which may as well be Lizardfolk with a few extra trimmings.
The Lesaar have a +2 to Strength and Intelligence, but a -2 to Charisma. Their racial qualities look a bit like this.
Slow (-1 rp), Bite (1 rp), Claws (2 rp), Greed (1 rp), Natural and Improved Natural Armor (3 rp total), and then, I have this really strange racial quality that I made myself. Unlike a lot of folks that I know, I actually like Gnomes and the "Obsession" racial quality always really interested me and set a person up for really decent roleplay opportunities when the time actually came. That said, I wanted to throw that at this new race, only... with a little more oomf.
For that exact purpose, mind you, I created "True Obsession"
True Obsession (3 Rp?): At first level, a Lesaar must pick a Craft skill as their true obsession. A Lesaar may not pick Spell craft for his True Obsession. A Lesaar may not use Spellcraft for the purposes of creating magical items. When a Lesaar picks a Craft skill as his true obsession, he gains a +4 racial bonus to that craft skill. A Lessar may not use any skill but the one he chose as his True Obsession for the purpose of crafting magical, or mundane items.
Just looking at it, I kind of enjoy the idea, and I can already see my more "Crafter type" players cringing a bit at the idea of sealing spellcraft off for the purposes of crafting, but the Lesaar aren't actually supposed to be wizards, even if they could function very well as one given their stats and setups.
The Lesaar, as a race, are built around making a community full of guilds that all do one thing really really well. Their offspring are allowed to focus their obsession on something else, but their elders will often suggest they keep with what the family is doing.
Story aside, what I'm mostly curious about is what do you folks think about that racial quality? Is it 2 points? 3? 5? I can't really place it.
