So for my upcoming Dark Sun game I looked at the various homebrews and conversions for the defiling mechanics, including official sources such as Dragon magazine and athas.org. As it turns out, there is a lot out there. The problem is that almost every approach I've seen so far is either too powerful for my tastes (granting free metamagic and such to defilers), or that it's too complicated, with derived tables for defiler points or terrain types or some such detail. Pathfinder is fiddly enough as it is, more arcane bookkeeping is not what I'm after. So I sat down and came up with my own system.
I worked under the following assumptions:
Magic in Pathfinder is powerful enough as it is. There are fewer infinity-loops compared to 3.5, but "free" metamagic is not what the doctor ordered. Therefore, any bonuses granted by defiling should be somewhere below what a metamagic feat grants. If this becomes a problem of diminishing returns in later game stages, I might need to come up with an alternative.
The only classes viable as defilers are wizards, nothing else (maybe arcanists? Would need additional work).
The standard way of casting arcane spells in Pathfinder translates to preserving (more or less), not defiling. Otherwise, preserving would have to be a sufficiently nerfed form of spellcasting and that's hard to sell to players in a setting where a random cactus might be a psionic, flesh-eating monster. There are drawbacks and benefits to both casting traditions, but I won't introduce nonsense such as "casting a preserving spell always takes a full-round action".
The effects of defiling should be easy to grasp and not involve long tables that need referencing whenever a character defiles something. Point pools and mini games are ok, but they must be straightforward and relate directly to something on the character sheet and not a randomly derived number.
In relation to that, defiling should be a fun mechanic and not something that punishes a player character unduely for setting reasons. A defiler needs to be able to participate in adventuring, he needs to be able to calculate how dangerous his defiling is in terms of consequences, and defiling cannot interfere with the character's core abilities (that is, being an arcane spellcaster).
This is what I came up with:
Defiling
When an arcane spellcaster decides to add a bonus (see below) to his spell or to use metamagic, or both, the spell becomes a defiling spell and the character becomes a defiler. This has three main consequences.
First, the caster defiles a radius equal to 10 ft. per spell level around him (5 ft. for 0-level spells). The soil and any vegetation, insects and tiny animals within this radius wither and turn to ash. Magically created or summoned creatures or plants are not affected by defiling (note: maybe with a feat?). A preserver can't cast spells within a defiled area unless he succeeds on a concentration check with a DC equal to 10 + the defiler's caster level. A defiler can cast multiple defiling spells from the same position, increasing the defiled area with each casting, but he can do so only a number of times equal to the modifier of his spellcasting attribute (minimum 1). Beyond that, he must change his position (that is, step outside the defiled area) to cast more spells, even if he doesn't want to defile.
Defiling Radius:
I think this adds a nice tactical quality to the idea. You can stand in one place and cast three or four spells, and then you need to move. Not sure about the DC for preservers, though. For now I'm completely ignoring terrain types because I see no way of including that in an actual game and retain my sanity as a GM. Any ideas on this are welcome!
Second, a defiler can add one bonus to his defiling spell, chosen from the list below. This is part of the defiling and not a separate action. Any bonus such gained stacks with other bonuses, even metamagic effects.
+1 to the spell's attack roll.
+2 to a concentration check.
+1d4 to any variable, numerical effect of the spell.*
+1 to the spell's DC.
+5 ft. effective range of the spell.
* Only once per spell. Level-0 spell get a +1 bonus instead.
Spell Bonuses:
This is where I see the most problems right now. The bonuses are probably flexible enough, but they are fiddly (which I explicitly wanted to avoid) and during later levels you might not care that much about them. Maybe I should write a feat or two to allow mid- and high-level casters to increase these bonuses or further modify their spells, I dunno.
I would love to just let defiling add +1 CL to the spell, but I feel that's just too powerful over an entire adventuring day.
Third, casting a defiling spell nets the caster defiling points. They represent the disconnect between him and the natural world of Athas and mark him as a defiler. The amount of defiling points gained this way is equal to 1 point per effective spell level (level-0 defiling spells without metamagic net 1 defiling point per day, no matter how often used). Note: I think I want to make it that defilers with defiling points are detectable with an appropriate detect spell as per cleric aura rules.
The first time a caster gains a defiling point, he also immediately gains a tainted trait (see below). A tainted trait remains even of all defiling points are gone, and they can only be removed by a willing druid who casts atonement on the defiler or by some extraordinary task that the defiler fulfills on behalf of Athas' mistreated nature (GM's discretion).
The maximum defiling points a character can handle is equal to 10 + his caster level + his spellcasting attribute's modifier. The sum of all defiling points acts as a penalty on Fortitude saves against nonmagical effects and on Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Ride and Survival checks. It's also the DC for any other spellcaster attempting to bring the defiler back to life via reincarnation, raise dead, and similar effects.
Defiling points heal naturally at a rate of 1 point per day. The spell lesser restoration removes 1d4 defiling points, and restoration removes defiling points equal to the caster's level. Limited wish or wish remove all defiling points, but they can't remove any tainted traits.
Defiling Point Healing:
I think 1 point per day is ok, especially at low levels. That way, a character isn't forced to spend money on recuperation. Maybe a feat can unlock faster healing at higher levels? Not sure of that's worth a feat slot.
If a defiler with maximum defiling points casts additional defiling spells, he gains an additional tainted trait for any spell cast beyond his limit (except for level-0 spells). He can only have a number of tainted traits equal to his caster level though, and should he ever gain more tainted traits than that he becomes an undead t'liz and an NPC under the GM's control.
Defiling Points:
I think the defiling point limit is pretty ok, at least until mid-levels. A level-1 wizard (assuming you'd start a Dark Sun game that early) with a bonded item and Int 18 would be able to cast all his spells as defiler spells for 4 consecutive days before gaining additional tainted traits (assuming he heals 1 defiling point per day naturally). A level-5 wizard with a bonded item and Int 20 could go defiler nova on all his spells, but then he'd only have three defiling points left in his budget for the next day (assuming he heals 1 defiling point naturally), so it's doable but not a sustainable long-term strategy. At higher levels a defiler reaches the point where he can't defile all his daily spells without suffering tainted traits, and I think I like that.
The penalties on Fortitude saves might be a bit harsh, especially with Athas being a desert environment, but I think the skill check penalties are ok. They make it hard to just completely ignore being a defiler, but they don't cripple a character at being good at Knowledge checks and the like.
Tainted Traits
Note: I only have a few entries so far and not a complete table. Also, I'm not sure if tainted traits should be rolled randomly or gained in order. I'm always a fan of random effects, and presenting a fixed sequence will surely result in some metagaming, but I can also see that random effects aren't always fun. Like I said, not sure what to make of this...
A -4 penalty to your negative Constitution score for determining when you die.
A -2 penalty to your Strengh score.
You need twice the amount of water per day.
All creatures have their initial attitude towards you lowered by one step.
...
The problem here is to find some form of balance between something that imposes a clear penalty and something that renders a character effectively unable to continue being an adventurer. I feel that penalties to physical attributes and survival stuff such as food and water are ok (since magic can help with that), but I have problems finding the line.
So one thing that's been irritating me lately is how unsatisfying the advancement of animal companions is, because they all take a huuuge step forward at 4th or 7th level - besides the constant advancement as per the druid's companion table that is. Over night, a creature suddenly grows one size category, has maybe almost double its former strength and one or two special abilities on top of that. In general, I feel this to be a lot clunkier than the standard advancement of PCs.
Other than splitting up the things an animal companion would gain into several chunk and distributing those over several levels of advancement, are there any existing ideas or homebrews on this? Google and the forum search didn't really net me anything other than lots of rules questions.
TL;DR: the huge step animal companions take at 4th or 7th level is a bit much, is there anything out there to help smooth the advancement a bit?
So I need a rival NPC party for my game. The PCs, most of which are new since the party practically suffered a total wipe (leaving one survivor), are still in the process of finding their new group dynamic, but from what I've seen that should work out great for everyone. Now I want to challenge them a bit since they are pretty confident in their abilities right now. Rightfully so, mind you, and I don't want to be a dick and take that away, but you can't have real success without some kind of challenge, right?
Just for fun I was thinking of creating a rival party of the four classic D&D archetypes cleric, fighter, rogue and wizard. Only that they look and act in a way that the PCs won't figure this out easily - I want this NPC gang to be as wild and crazy as possible, and even switch intended roles if possible.
Right now the PCs are at 2nd level, and I'd love to introduce the NPC rivals around 5th level maybe - let's just say 5th level then. Can you guys help me out with some interesting build ideas and archetypes? The adventure takes place in the 3.0 Forgotten Realms campaign setting, so pretty much everything from Pathfinder's body of rules is game - and I don't mind templates or 3rd party content.
Right now I am looking at the spirit whisperer (wizard) from ACG and the eldritch guardian (fighter) from the Familiar Folio, but there's just so much to choose from...
It all started when we began playing an intermediate adventure between campaigns, because I still need time prepping and gathering my thoughts. I went with Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde as a module because it way lying around on my shelf and I wanted to see if I can turn it into a halfway decent sandbox (because it's pretty terrible as-written)
Now, when we began character creation after I read the introduction blurb, I suggested that instead of the usual Point-Buy we use 4d6 drop lowest, just for s&#+s and giggles. This was met with great enthusiasm, much to my surprise. I then, only jokingly, also suggested everyone should roll dice oldschool, in order of the attributes, and not assign values at will afterwards.
Imagine my utter surprise when people began practically fighting each other about who should roll first. Everyone became very invested, and all in all they had amazing luck with the rolls, I think at least 3 out of 4 characters had an 18 or better as an ability score after racial adjustments. They had a hard time mulling over possible classes and what their characters should look like with those random stats, and I think this helped improve the entire atmosphere at our table.
Yesterday, when we played again, the group suffered almost a total party wipe and only one guy survived without any gear or reward. This happened after the group had cleared out the Slaughtergarde laboratory and collected a rather nice pile of loot. It was decided that instead of starting a new adventure, the lone survivor would try to enact some revenge with new friends from the next town.
When the players without characters started to roll up new characters, again with 4d6 drop lowest in order, I was given the offhand comment that "From now on, we wanna do it like this every time."
When preparing for my upcoming Dark Sun game, I read that discovery (especially the re-discovery of Dark Sun's lost past) is more important than slaying bandit group #37, and that a GM should reward such discoveries appropriately. This got me thinking... since this way of advancing characters neatly avoids part of the old murderhobo problem (killing monsters = XP = more power), why not adopt it for other settings and genres? Replace the XP progression table with 5-6 major discoveries between levels. Depending on the adventure and genre played, these discoveries could be:
- make a powerful friend/ally (maybe even under difficult circumstances)
- make a powerful enemy/nemesis (this probably won't happen on the party's own accord)
- gather clues/vital information or reveal a substantial lie
- discover a new magical property of the McGuffin
- ...
A GM could tailor the list to fit his adventures. The players might still decide to go after someone who's not really in their way because they want some shiny gear, but they're probably not going to murder every creature in sight because the risk-reward ratio has changed drastically.
The only downside I see right now is that the GM needs to communicate his list of advancement options clearly and before the game starts, so that everyone is on the same page.
So I'm building an urban campaign at the moment, where the PCs will be abducted by a trickster deity and wake up in some bizarre dream city within a demiplane ruled by said trickster deity. Everyone there has been abducted in one way or another, either physically or while dreaming. A mash-up between Sigil, Thieves' World, and Lovecraft's city of Kadash, if you will. The PCs can do what they want and either ally themselves with powerful entities or try and become the toughest gang in town themselves. Maybe, just maybe, there's a way out of this...
Until now I've concentrated pretty much on the GM's side of the screen, I wrote up the city and the surrounding demiplane, who's who, some twists and plots, the usual. Now I want to collect options for my players and make a list of the most interesting urban character options out there. A player's guide, if you will.
Obviously the new Ultimate Intrigue is like a must-have, and I will get that book soon. I'm also looking at some Players Companions like Heroes of the Street or Blood of the Shadows. What else is there?
I'd love to hear your suggestions... books, options, party compositions, whatever. 3rd party is also welcome at my table.
In preparation for my upcoming Dark Sun game I made a custom character sheet because I wasn't really happy with the sheet from Dreamscarred Press (wasteful layout and errors), and also because I like to mess around in Photoshop. So this is an image-file sheet, nothing fancy like fillable PDF, sorry. Size is A4, so adjust accordingly before printing in Letter size!
The sheet assumes both Psionic rules from Dreamscarred Press and magic-psionic transparency. I also included a small box on the first page for minor psionic or psi-like abilities to avoid page-flipping for people who don't play full-blown psionics. The only real change I made ruleswise is to fold Climb and Swim into Athletics to accomodate for the desert environment of Athas (who needs Swim if there's nothing to swim in? You can't even do that in the Silt Sea). The money listings on page 2 adhere to the old Boxed Setting, no clue if that was different in 4E Dark Sun.
There are two versions of the first page, one with all the things listed above, and another one with an additional heat subsystem that was inspired by GoblinDaddy in this thread here, which is a nice compromise between incorporating heat and exhaustion and avoiding tons of active Fortitude saves every 10 seconds. I use degree Celcius, if you want Fahrenheit I can whip up a version for that as well.
So I am looking into Dark Sun as a potential successor setting for my current weekly Pathfinder game, and although there are numerous threads here and on the other RPG boards about converting Dark Sun to Pathfinder, I have yet to find something about incorporating the setting's extreme temperatures into the rules. Even the DS3_r7 document from athas.org doesn't seem to have anything about that (or I missed it).
The problem, for those who are unfamiliar with Dark Sun, is that in this burned desert world temperatures rise up tp 150° F (65° C) in the afternoon. This makes the core environment rules in the PRD all but useless since every single PC would die within an hour or so. Also, using the standard rules for heat and starvation never made a lot of sense to begin with since they involve an unreasonable amount of Fortitude saves and nothing else (e.g., every 10 minutes... really!?), so just using the standard rules as if Dark Sun's temperatures weren't that high doesn't solve my problem.
Does anyone have a good idea how to proceed here? Or a link to someplace where people already tackled this problem?
Since one of the players in my online game won't be able to attend the next session, I though about doing an unrelated (unrelated to the current adventure, at least) oneshot. That leaves two players.
My idea was to make a game about spies, assassins, infiltrators and information-brokerers in a large city seething with organized crime. The players will be new in town and need to prove their mettle or die trying. The setting is a generic 'everyting goes' kinda thing, maybe even an extraplanar location, so exotic concepts are definitely possible.
For the sake of gaming speed and accessibility I thought about making pregens not higher than 5th level. Right now I have three writeups: Human Bard (Sandman) with Silver Tongue trait, Half-Elf Inquisitor (Infiltrator) with Two-Weapon Fighting, and a Sylph Wizard (Diviner, Foresight) throwing tarot cards with Deadly Dealer. I'd like to have about 5 writeups for my guys to choose from.
I am looking for adventures in the veign of Arabian Nights, both in terms of look and feel. Which probably means someting featuring Katapesh, Jalmeray, or Vudra, but not necessarily ('The Harrowing' comes to mind). I've already considered the Legacy of Fire AP and standard adventure modules such as 'Broken Chains'. Can you point me to some PFS scenarios that would fit?
So I am working on some ideas for a treasure island adventure based on the time-honored D&D module "Isle of Dread", you know, with pirates, dinosaurs, indigenous folk, temples, curses, and what have you. The setting will not be Golarion, not even a kitchen sink setting but something more akin to Freeport/Razor Coast. Most D&D Tropes still apply though.
Right now I am contemplating to make the indigenous people of the archipelago where the adventure takes place a separate PC race that can be chosen at game start to play a guide or an exiled or something like that. The idea is to make them focused in living between the sea and the jungle and having a general Polynesian/Aztec theme. I am not sure that a separate PC race is really needed, or even a good idea to begin with, but this is my rough draft:
Archipelago Natives:
Archipelago Natives (Placeholder Name)
+2 to One Ability Score: Archipelago Native characters gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Archipelago Natives are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Archipelago Natives have a base speed of 30 feet.
Heart of the Archipelago: Archipelago Natives have a close connection to both the jungle and the sea. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Survival and Swim checks. They can hold their breath twice as long as normal, and they suffer no harm from hot tropical climate (as if using endure elements).
Oral Traditions: Archipelago Natives value folklore and genealogies. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (local) and Knowledge (nobility) checks and can make such checks untrained.
Resistant: Archipelago Natives gain a +2 racial bonus against disease and poison.
Suspicious: Generations of conflict with foreigners have made Archipelago Natives suspicious. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Sense Motive checks and a +1 bonus on saves against mind-affecting effects, except for fear effects.
Weapon Familiarity: Archipelago Natives are always proficient with atlatls, blowguns and something I have yet to decide.
Languages: Archipelago Natives begin play speaking Archipelago. Archipelago Natives with high Intelligence scores can choose from the follwing languages: Elemental Languages, Sylvan, stuff I still need to flesh out.
Alternate Racial Traits
Blood Ritualist: Some Archipelago Natives believe in blood rituals to honor the spirits and calm the mind. Whenever they suffer from bleed effects or hit point damage inflicted by slashing or piercing weapons, they gain a +1 morale bonus on Fortitude and Will saves. This racial trait replaces suspicious.
Children of the Feathered Serpent (Su): Archipelago Natives with this racial trait believe to be descendents of the feathered serpent god and infused with its divine power. Once pay day as a swift action, they can shroud their arms in acid energy. This lasts for one round per level, and can be dismissed as a free action. All melee attacks made during this time deal +1d6 points of acid damage. This racial trait replaces oral tradition and suspicious.
Death Mask: Some Archipelago Natives cover their faces with tattoos or ritual scarification to frighten their enemies. They gain a +2 racial bonus to Intimidate checks. This racial trait replaces oral traditions.
Jungle Hunter: Some Archipelago Natives become dedicated hunters who adapt to the difficulties of fighting in the middle of the jungle. Archipelago Natives with this racial trait reduce any miss chances due to concealment by 10% and gain a +2 bonus to Survival checks to find and follow tracks made by animals and monstrous humanoids. This racial trait replaces oral traditions and suspicious.
Keeper of Myth: Archipelago Natives with this racial trait grew up listening to tales of the gods and the glory of past aeons. They gain a +2 racial to Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (religion) checks that pertain to the archipelago. This racial trait replaces oral tradition.
Poison Use: A number of Archipelago Natives use poison when hunting animals or fighting enemies. They never risk accidentally poisoning themselves. This racial trait replaces resistant.
Trial by Fire: Some Archipelago Natives expose themselves intentionally to fire to please the spirits or to harden their bodies. They gain resistance 5 to fire. This racial trait replaces suspicious.
I think a few abilities are very strong but not really above what some of the ARG races get, but I am open to any and all criticism. Starting with if the whole thing should just be condensed into an alternate racial trait package for regular humans :)
So I am building an evil NPC for my ongoing hexcrawl, a death/spirit-focused Skald, and I'd like him to be the bossy guy who barks orders from behind and intimidates every PC who comes close. Problem is he needs to be around 5th level and I can't seem to find a way for him to intimidate as a move action. Any ideas?
I am working on an adventure setting in the spirit of Necromancer Games classics such as "The Vault of Larin Karr" or "The Lost City of Barakus". You know, a relatively small setting with a couple of plots and developements that the players can engage with as they see fit. In terms of setting elements I want to stay classic as well, no extradimensional shape-shifting races riding on bears with laser eyes and such (you know what I mean :))
Now, my adventure setting is a remote vale with one city (10.000 citizens) and a couple of small towns and villages. The vale's river connects it with the next big city in the south-east (~100 miles downstream) and there is a lot of rading by boat. There are two overland roads as well but only few people take those. The vale is in some ways the last remnant of the old kingdom and folks still use many of the old laws, some old noble families still live there. as well.
Now, the vale is famous for a couple of things: the small but elite arcance school in the city, high-quality lumber which is send downstream, the number of dwarves living in the city (as traders and artisans, there are plans to build a dwarven colony in the mountains), and the mysterious vanishing of the elves. The city stands on the ruins of an ancient elven settlement but why the elves left nobody knows. Sometimes elven travelers come to the vale but they are looking for answers as much as the native citizens do.
Now, what kind of adventures and plots would you like to see in a setting like this? Were the elves wiped out by something horrible which will return in time? And what lurks in the mountain ranges to the north? Or are there conflicts between the settlements? Or within the main city?
So I am working on a Diviner wizard for a PbP-game, using the Foresight Subschool from the APG because I think the resulting character is pure awesome. The plan is to make the character a specialist and buffer, not so much a damagedealer (battlefield control will be shared with a druid character).
Now, what interesting or unusual divination spells are there that I might be interested in? I know the ones from the official PRD pretty well, but are there any in the companions, camapgin setting books, or from 3rd-party materials (GM allowed such materials in his game)? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
So I am busy digging through the Adventure Path right now, making notes and adjusting details here and there. Now I also have City of Monuments to increase the level of detail in Magnimar, and since the volume has settlement statistics printed for the city I went and applied them, as an experiment, to all Diplomacy checks found in Shards of Sin. It's important to note that Magnimar has settlement modifiers for the entire city and for each district as well - I am just using the city-wide modifiers here since I don't think Magnimar is big enough as a setting to justify this extra work. But maybe I'm just lazy.
So Magnimar's modifiers look like this:
Corruption +2 (Bluff vs. citiy officials, Stealth aboveground/outside)
Crime +2 (Sense Motive vs. bluffs, Sleight of Hand to pick pockets)
Economy +5 (Craft, Perform, Profession to generate income)
Law +2 (Intimidate to anforce friendliness, Diplomay vs. officials)
Lore +6 (Diplomacy to gather information and Knowledge using libraries)
Society +1 (Disguise and Diplomacy to alter attitiude of non-government officials)
Now let's have a look at all Diplomacy checks the PCs might have to make during Shards of Sin:
1. Sheila Heidmarch - DC 16 to increase the advance money.
2. Zograthy - DC 21 to lower the price to 15gp.
3. Nidalese Slavers - DC 12 to gather information about them.
4. Officer Kasadei - DC 20 to avoid waiting 1d4 hours, DC 17 to reveal important details.
5. Underbridge - DC 30 to track down Natalya (but aid another is allowed).
6. Terisha Skiloni - DC 19 to make her indifferent, DC 24 to reveal important informations.
7. Lockerbie Brast - DC 20 to convince him of PC's intentions.
8. Liza Jane Brast - DC 20 to track down her residence.
Average DC for diplomacy is DC 20 (19.9). Quite challenging.
Now, if we apply the above modifiers to all these checks, things look like this:
1. Sheila Heidmarch - unchanged.
2. Zograthy +2 bonus if the PCs use Intimidate instead of Diplomacy (DC 19 then).
3. Nidalese Slavers +6 bonus, which means the PCs must only roll a 6 on their check.
4. Officer Kasadei +2 bonus, effectively reducing the checks to DC 18 and DC 15, respectively.
5. Underbridge +6 bonus, making this a DC 24 check (but aid another is allowed).
6. Terisha Skiloni +1 bonus to improve Terisha's attitude (DC 18 then). Rest unchanged.
7. Lockerbie Brast - unchanged.
8. Liza Jane Brast +6 bonus, making this a DC 14 check.
Avarage DC for Diplomacy is now DC 17 (17.4), so much more achieveable for fresh PCs.
This proves that GMs who use the settlement statistics are actually really nice to their players. At least as far as Diplomacy is concerned :) I haven't checked any other important rolls in Shards of Sin yet, but I wanted to share this with you as a fun little experiment.
Starting to prep for a Shattered Star game here and I nocited something: I've read a lot about people who dislike the PFS element in Shattered Star and sought to replace it with a more freeform approach. Now, is there anyone here who not only used the PFS background for the players but even improved on it? Because I like the idea a lot, and I can immediately think of a number of ways on how to add new sidequests, inter-faction conflicts, and so on.
It's not that I want to include every PFS aspect ever, for example I think the inclusion of Fame and Prestige in the Player's Guide to be a questionable decision, but nevertheless there are tons of ideas to steal from other PFS sources.
Hope this is the correct forum for this, but I'm having trouble reaching paizo.com for some time now. It loads and loads and seems to go nowhere (blank tab) and only after using F5 or opening a new tab I get to the website. Sometimes the website doesn't load at all and I get an error promt (from my browser, not from Paizo).
I've had this problem with multiiple browsers (IE, FF, Chrome), all updated and with only Adblock and Proxmate (German user here) as plugins.
Since I eventually get to Paizo this isn't a biggie, but I thought I might ask if anyone else noticed this?
It's probably obvious, but just in case - HEREIN LIE SPOILERS!
So I am porting Red Hand of Doom to Pathfinder, because it's a great module and I want to run it with my next group. I am aware that there's another thread with a complete PDF, but I want to try my own hand at this (and I discovered the above link way too late to give up). My conversion follows the format of the official Web Enhancement for RHoD in that all creatures are listed in order of their appearance. A complete version with tables sortey by CR will follow.
A few things of note:
hp: I like giving average hp, rounded up. At least in my games this often causes opponents to last one round longer without really increasing their CR or power level. If you want to back to standard hp, just subtract (number of HD x 0,5) from a creature's hp total.
Magic Items: A few magic items didn't make the official transition from 3.5 to Pathfinder (like amulets of health or cloaks of charisma) but I kept them anyway because nothing I've seen so far would unbalance the game any more than existing character options, and it makes things a bit more interesting for experienced players.
I included statistics for all creatures, even those you can find in one of the Bestiaries, to reduce bookkeeping. The only exception to this is the random encounter table for the Witchwood, but I hyperlinked all its entries to the official PRD for your convenience.
The project is pretty much finished on my end, and I'll release it chapter by chapter to make bug-fixing a bit more easy. If you find any errors, I'd appreciate feedback!
[Disclaimer] This question pertains to a setting I am working on, so I put it in here, but it might also belong into General Discussion.
So we have numerous settings to play with Pathfinder and D&D 3.X, yet quite a lot of them don't really connect with the rules in a way that allows smooth immersion from 1st to 20th level. Depending on what the setting/your campaign focuses on, player characters will either surpass the majority of important NPCs in level and power at some point, or never reach the level of the setting's iconic movers and shakers.
Apart from that, we have the phenomenon of magic vs. the world's overall technological level. Even if spellcasters with spells of 3rd level and higher are rare, a lot of settings have them be a continuous presence for thousands of years, so there should be some impact on overall society other than "lives in his tower at the edge of a medieval town" or "we don't trust magic to do that for us here". Eberron tried to mitigate this problem, with questionable results, and in Golarion it's a question of where you are in the world.
Sometimes, the problem manifest itself without bad intentions from the players, it may start with innocent questions from new or inexperienced players like "Wait, they have three spellcasters of sufficient power here in town, why exactly is this drought a problem for the farmers?"
Maybe it is a question about how you approach the creation of a d20 setting, do you start with an idea, theme, or conflict? Or do you look at the rules and wonder what may be a possible backgroudn for those?
I am aware of projects that speculate on what a setting might look like if you take everything within the core rules at face value, especially with civilizations that last thousands of years we see in so many settings, the Tippyverse for example. The result however is something not appealing to everyone, and definitely nothing low-magic (which automatically invalidates quite a lot of classic adventure proposals).
So I guess my question is, is there a middle ground?
Can you create a setting that has more synergy or interaction with the rules as presented without going all crazy, or is it just not possible and you would be happier to just ignore the problems as long as you can?
So I am fiddling with an adventure heavily inspired by the Bourne trilogy and similar stories - secret organization/government agency conducts experiments on next-generation agents, something goes wrong, and the whole project is wrapped up to avoid a publicity scandal. Of course, some hero (or several heroes) escapes his planned death and adventure ensues.
So far I have a rough structural framework of the adventure, and the core idea of the experiment itself - lycanthropy. Or rather, trying to minimize the disadvantages of contracted lycanthropy to use it as a combat enhancement on field agents. There will also be experimental control devices with varying degrees of success (potions, amulets, rings, ...), and of course at least one player will contract lycanthropy and be in dire need of these things.
What I would like to know from you Golarion experts is which existing organizations or governments would fit this description? I only know the broad strokes of Golarion as a Campaign Setting, and although I have been digging though wikis and such, I haven't yet found something that instantly clicked with me. Any suggestions?
So after a hiatus my regular gaming group will gather again, and it was decided that I should run official, separate modules (for now). My home library isn't all that bad, many things from the 3rd edition era I can still put to good use, but it got me thinking - which AP's have parts you could run separately, without the need to rewrite much of anything?
My own AP experience is pretty limited, but I have the first 2 parts of Kingmaker and I think that you could run the first volume pretty much as-is and then follow up with something different (although you would want to fill some blank parts of the hexmap on your own, but that's nothing I'd consider much work).
So, which AP's parts would you run as a separate adventure?
So I am fiddling with an old homebrew setting again, and since I plan do mess with the standard cosmology of inner/outer/elemental/transitive planes, I'd like to prevent any hickups due to spells or other effects that have hardcoded cosmological implications. I know the obvious ones like astral projection, ethereal jaunt (and the ethereal condition), or shadow conjuration/evocation, but are there others you know of?
10th of Kythorn, 1372 DR, in Sheirtalar, The Shining City by the Sea.
It is unusually hot, even for Lapaliiya. Summer solstice is a few days away, but the fields outside the city gates already began to dry up and more than one well ran out of water. Everyday life in the city slowed down, and the sounds of Sheirtalar's main bazaar seem to be muffled and somehow far away. Only the children appear to be unaffected by the relentless heat, running, screaming, and playing in the streets with a vigor the older citizens seem to have lost.
However, away from the dusty streets, in the shadows of temples and towers, the city is as active as ever. Rumors are being spread, business deals signed, hostilities declared, and friendships renewed.
...
Earlier this morning, you all received an written invitation from a messenger, a young half-elf with the demeanor of a bookworm who seemed out of his dept delivering notes to strangers. How the young boy knew where to find you, or how he learned your names, you do not know - the messenger had specific instructions, but didn't know anything beyond his immediate task.
Invitation wrote:
Hello, unknown friend.
You do not know me, so let me introduce myself. My name is Grilvo Dibaarn, I am a humble businessman from Sheirtalar. To not waste both our time, let me be frank: I'd like to invite you to a meeting in the bath house 'Istishia's Blessing' this evening, at sunset, to make you an offer I believe you will find appealing. Just show this message at the entrance and you'll be directed to me in the private area.
This invitation is without obligation, just enjoy the cool water and some refreshments and listen to my proposal. If I fail to interest you, no harm is done and we both will go our separate ways again after this evening.
Sincerely,
Grilvo Dibaarn
The invitation appears to be written by a calm and experienced hand, with a small black wax seal showing scales and some coins. You know that the local bath houses have become popular services during this summer heat, but 'Istishia's Blessing' isn't open to the general public.
...
And so it happens that shortly before sunset you find yourself in front of 'Istishia's Blessing', driven by faith, need, or simple curiosity. The walls of the city still radiate the day's heat, but you can already hear the splashing of water and the faint laughter of people from inside the impressive building. The main entrance, a massive bronze gate, is opened, but long silken curtains cloak the inside from your view. Four well dressed guards control the flow of guests, inspecting papers and giving directions.
If you look left and right, it appears you are not the only one standing here with a certain reluctance...
We start right there with you guys standing in front of the building. If you want, you can make retroactive skill checks to find out something before coming there.
Discussion thread for the Red Hand of Doom game.
Feel free to ask questions, talk strategy, roleplay your PC's, adress problems, or plot against the GM and the world.
I am looking for a party of 4-5 heroes to play an expanded and adapted PbP version of the 3.5 adventure "Red Hand of Doom", set in the Forgotten Realms. Unlike the original adventure, this game will start at 2nd level with the 3.0 adventure "The Sunless Citadel", where the heroes will encounter the first signs of something strange happening. In case the transition between both adventures needs additional story or character advancement, I have plenty of materials prepared. Unlike the majority of Forgotten Realms games, this game is set in the south of Faerun, so bring your parasol. The game will also use horror elements and sanity rules (inspired by those found in Tomes of Ancient Knowledge).
Character Generation
Game starts at Level 2, in the city of Sheirtalar (see below).
15 Point Buy.
Races: Core races, aasimar, tieflings, and elemental-touched (ifrits, oreads, sylphs, undines) from ARG, relabeled as genasi in the Forgotten Realms.
Materials: CRB, APG, UC, UM, ARG, UCa.* Companions and familiars can be chosen from all bestiaries.
Hit Points: full Hit Dice at 1st level, average Hit Dice (rounded up) after that.
2 traits per character (from UCa).
Alignment: Anything that works within the group.
Favored Enemies: magical beasts, humanoid (goblinoid), monstrous humanoids, and dragons are all good choices.
Gold: Class Starting Wealth + 1000 gp.
A short background or origin story is mandatory (feel free to write more!).
The group setup is totally up to you guys, I certainly will not demand classic role assignment. However, it wouldn't hurt if you have one wilderness person and one social person, since both aspects will be featured prominently. How your characters ended up in Sheirtalar is again your choice - you can already be a party of adventurers, or two of you guys are related, or one of you hired the others, whatever. If you are interested in a Story Feat from UCa, we will figure out a good choice together.
*If you want to use something 3rd party, of maybe stuff from the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms supplements (e.g. Prestige Classes), I am sure we can work something out.
Game Details
The campaign is (loosely) set in the Forgotten Realms, as described in the 3rd Edition Campaign Setting (before the 4E spellplague or any other shenanigans). The regions we'll be playing in are Lapaliiya/The Shaar, the setting's pantheon can be found here. If you have any other questions about the setting, browse the linked wiki to your heart's content or ask here!
Regular posting would be much appreciated, once per day if possible. If you know you'll be absent for a longer period of time, please leave a message.
Since they inevitably slow things down, battlemaps will only be used for really complex encounters. Until then, if combat occurs, you all state what your characters want to do and I will resolve the round or situation after that. Of course, this doesn't mean that there are no maps at all outside of combat.
Your characters will encounter dark and terrible creatures, spells, or effects, and the game uses sanity rules for that (see below).
I would love to start the game by the 16th of February, 20th of February at the latest.
Last but not least: this game is all about fun. If you guys want to kick a** and take names, I am all for it. If you want to roleplay your characters and really interact with the NPCs you meet, cool. Just say what kind of game you prefer and I will adapt according to the group's majority vote.
Sheirtalar (Metropolis):
The Shining City by the Sea (population 52,135) sits at the head of Sheir Bay on the northern end of the much larger Talar Bay, which is located at the foot of the Sheir peninsula. The land slopes sharply down to meet the waters, allowing those arriving on ships to see almost all the city at once. The city’s apt nickname arises from the fact that most of the prominent buildings are domed and leafed in silver and gold.
Sheirtalar is the capital of Lapaliiya and the largest and most powerful of the confederated city-states. Its ruler is the Overking of Lapaliiya, Shaliim Wyrmslayer. The Domed Palace of the Overking, the most prominent of Sheirtalar’s landmarks, sits atop a granite outcropping in the upper third of the city. The Gilt House of Gleaming Coins, the temple dedicated to Waukeen, the city’s civic deity, is also incredibly opulent. Because most trade goods exiting the Shaar for western Faerûn pass through this port, it has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the South.
Sanity (House Rule):
Sanity Score: A PC's sanity score is equal to the sum of his or her character level + Intelligence score + Wisdom score + Charisma score.
Sanity Check: A sanitiy check is basically a Will save and uses the PC's Will save bonus, but a PC applies his or her highest overall mental ability modifier, which isn't necessarily Wisdom. Failure means some amount of insanity crept into the PC's mind, and he or she suffers a certain amount of madness points based on the level of the alien horror witnessed.
Madness Points: When a PC gains madness points, he or she shows increasing symptoms of insanity. Those symptoms range from minor penalties on abilities or checks to more severe quirks or personality disorders. The maximum amount of madness points a PC can suffer before going completely insane is equal to the PC's sanity score.
Regaining Sanity:Calm emotions or successful long-term care (Heal check) temporarily suppresses the effects of madness but cannot reduce the target’s madness score. Restoration can remove 1 madness point from a creature per casting and heal, greater restoration, miracle, and wish can remove all Madness points, but only if the target fails its save. A creature with a Madness score cannot voluntarily fail this save, nor can they use such effects to cure their own insanity
That should be everything vital for now. I hope to see some brave heroes within the next few days! :)
So, we had threads where people analyzed trends of the past and predicted what might be popular this year. I'd like to see what your impressions of the actual contest are so far - of course without revealing or naming any individual entry.
I had a massive load of helmets so far. Also several items with a table of ascending/varying effects, which suprised me a bit, but it's my first year so what do I know :)
So, the players my on-and-off game will reach the mysterious main continent soon, at which point the game switches to hexcrawl mode. The idea is that hundreds of years ago an epic apocalypse forced the few surviving folks off the main land, and they have been living on a huge island since now.
I want to introduce a few horror elements to the game to spice it up a bit. So far I have been looking at the old Cthulhu d20 book, also a few things from Conan d20. A friend of mine showed me Tomes of Ancient Knowledge from Legendary Games, which had cool ideas I am totally stealing. I am not familiar with the Carrion Crown AP (for which ToAK is intended), is there anything in it worth considering? Or anything else you can think of? I'd appreciate any ideas you guys might have :)
My goal is to add unknown items or monsters to generate the feeling that things are definitely not ok in the continent, also to hand the players a few oddities (if they survive), since they are limited to CRB and APG.
So I am fiddling with a backup PC for my current game, since the risks of death or TPK have increased considerably. So far I've been a damage dealer, and I'd like to continue that with a Beast Totem Barbarian. Right now we are at 8th level, allowed materials are CRB and APG.
What options are there to enhance the barbarian's claws? So far I have identified the feat Eldritch Claws (counts as magic and silver), Amulet of Mighty Fists (money for the better versions will be a problem), and magic fang. The latter isn't a problem as long as our druid survives, but I suspect I will have trouble getting bonuses higher than a simple +1/+2, other than taking Elemental Rage?
I know that a melee weapon with the furious enchantment would be the optimal choice here, but I kinda like to go "all natural", I'm not aiming for the most optimised DPS option ever (altough I looked at the half-orc for the bite attack, since that invokes some pretty awesome images).
I am preparing the 3.5 adventure Red Hand of Doom right now. The party will start at 5th level, and the adventure's location is somewhere remote, so no access to large cities with lots of magic items (like flying carpets). If all options from the PRD are available, is there any other way to give the whole party long-term fly, besides casting Animate Dead on any suitable monster corpse?
I know that Overland Flight comes online at level 9, which I am totally ok with, but if there is a way to fly earlier I am not aware of, I'd like to prepare accordingly (or huge parts of the RHoD's first half would be rendered irrelevant, especially the timeline of events).
Are there any good wilderness adventures for new and low-level characters? I am looking for something that mightz serve as introduction to the 3rd edition adventure "Red Hand of Doom", so anything that is not focused on city life should be ok. I know Hollow's Last Hope, but the only other 1st-level module I am aware of is that one from Free RPG Day 2010.
We are a group of 5 PCs at Level 8, allied with the pirate faction, currently plaing through the third part of the AP, The City of Seven Spears.
We moved camp twice (currently located in the Artisan District), but are still a far cry from having all exploration points. Our party consists of:
- Human Druid with elephant companion
- Dwarven Rogue (charge-happy!)
- Human Cleric (Luck, Travel)
- Human Bard (with a dragon thing, dunno the details)
- Human Sorcerer (Fire) (my character)
For several session now we had the problem of someone trying to scry us (the GM ruled that our druid, who was constantly rolling very good saves, would get an idea of being targeted by a spell). We have been in most of the districts, save for the military and residential district, which we peeked into briefly, and the government district, which we explored only partially so far (the western peninsula).
Sadly, our bard was killed by decapitation in the last session. The only option we had was do reincarnate him, but he didnt want do continue as a halfling and went on his merry way. The player is considering a summoner with melee eidolon as replacement right now, because we need a fighter. After that we learned that a guard from our camp had gone missing. Since we try to get personally involved into such things, morale and what have you, we investigated and found tracks leading to the government district. We had made brief contact with the serpentfolk guards there, in hope to negotiate a free pass into their territory, but chances were it was a moot point. The guards we encountered were very hostile and sneering, so we got somewhat pissed and wiped the whole crew of and entered their territory. Following the tracks, we got to the amphitheater, where we saw our men being tortured by a rakshasa (as the GM of an Eberron game, I kinda freaked out at this point).
We were invisible and our advancing rogue had been buffed with Silence, but naturally we could'nt mask our presence against the thought-detecting. The rakshasa vanished into invisbility in the first round, but our rogue had magic stones from earlier, who would cause a burst of Faerie Fire within a 10-ft. radius, so hello again Mr. BBEG. I landed a Fireball (tuned to ice damage), almost killing our tortured man in the process, and then our hilarious chase begun.
Our druid summoned some creatures and gave chase with her elephant companion, but with little effect. Our cleric casted another Silence on the raksasa's staff, which the creature abandoned after one round, only for the animal companion to pick it up and carry it after the raksasa. Our rogue managed to get close to the raksasa once or twice, but only to cover it with her Silence. I landed a few damaging spells, using my highest spell slots to enforce a higher save DC, but ery little damage took effect. Our cleric had problems overcoming the SR and wasted a few spells. Then, the enemy advanced to the amphitheater's exit and made a snide remark towards us. I was next and decided to not plink away a few hit points with another fireball, but to use Slow in conjuncture with my metamagic rod of Enlarge Spell, since the target was far off (stupid to not have tried Slow a bit earlier). Against all odds, it worked, and the druid's creatures swarmed the raksasa again (bringing the silenced staff with them. Our cleric landed a Holy Smite, then the druid casted something nasty, and finally the damn creature went down.
So thanks to the rogue's magic stones, the staff-carrying elephant, and my successful Slow, we brought down a rakshasa we totally were not prepared to meet or fight effectively. Now we suspect that this raksasa (we don't know its name) was the one who tried to scry on us, but we're not completely sure. I am glad it is gone, since playing detective games of chasing it in disguised form would have been a fool's errant, but we have so little information about what was/is going on the the Government district at this point.
So, how did your party manage to meet or defeat this creature?
Is there a way for sorcerers to get cure spells? Preferably without multiclassing, but if that's what it takes then so be it. I looked through d20pfsrd and searched the messageboards here a bit, but found nothing. I thought, with all these archetypes and alternative traits around, maybe there is a way :)
I just stumbled upon some guy's house rule. He tied the distribution of Hero Points to a character's BAB progression, like this:
Good BAB: 3 Hero Points/day (Barbarians, Fighters, etc.)
Medium BAB: 2 Hero Points/day (Rogues, Bards, etc.)
Bad BAB: 1 Hero Point/day (Wizards, Sorcerers, etc.)
is reasoning was to balance spellcasters against melee types, which is a probllem because not every game suffers from this penomenon as much as internet hyperbole might suggest, but still. What's your opinion on this? I think the idea has some merit, barring questions of multiclassing between classes with different BAB progression and the like.
So for an upcoming game of Serpent Skull I made a 1st level samurai, because I want to check out for myself how funny this class really is.
Chargen is pretty standard 15-point buy, 2 traits (one campaign trait), all of CRB + APG valid, plus exceptions (like the samurai from UC).
After educating myself a bit with various guides and statements, I think I'll stick with a melee build using a two-handed weapon, maybe a backup shield or something.
So far I've got this:
Human Samurai, 1st level
STR 16, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 10, CHA 10
Feats: Power Attack, Toughness
Traits: Boarded in Cheliax (+200 gold and a free map), Reactionary (+2 Initiative)
AC: 19 (6 armor, 1 shield, 2 dex)
Melee: katana +4 for 1d8+4 OR +3 for 1d8+6 (without shield)
With all the money I am thinking of a steel lamellar, quickdraw shield, and a katana. I know there are better weapons, but for style's sake I think I wanna stay with it. The shield is supposed to be a backup solution that's used if I'm not in melee range or getting beaten up.
I know its only 1st level, but somehow I am not that satisfied. I could lower some mental stats to get 18 STR, but the GM is not afraid of making brutal encounters. Negative WIS hurts the already bad will saves, negative CHA hurts the possibility of using Intimidate in combat, and negative INT takes away the benefit of having 4 skill points per level... the old conundrum.
Anyone with some ideas on how to push damage without totally crippling the other areas?
Also, what would be a good idea for further character advancement? If I choose the Ronin order, the 2nd level ability isn't bad at all, but right now I am looking at the "guide" ranger archetype:
"Ranger's Focus (Ex): At 1st level, once per day, the guide can focus on a single enemy within line of sight as a swift action. That creature remains the ranger's focus until it is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points or surrenders, or until the ranger designates a new focus, whichever occurs first. The ranger gains a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls against the target of his focus. At 5th level, and every five levels thereafter, this bonus increases by +2.
At 4th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the ranger can use this ability one additional time per day. This ability replaces favored enemy."
Considering that it also requires a swift action (like the challenge ability), but pumps up the attack pretty good, would this be a viable option? I know the bonus will decrease in usefulness as the samurai levels up, but still... seems interesting.
