As the title says I'm a new GM (well new to premade modules, I did a little custom made stuff about 2+ years ago but sadly haven't had a group to play with since) and I'm about to run Rise of the Runelords. I'm going to running it for 3 people who have never played any form of tabletop rpg before and one who has. I'm in the process of reading some of the threads here, the gm reference threads in particular and any others that catch my eye.
I'll be starting in about 1-2 months, and should have both the Rise of the Runelords anniversary edition and the face cards coming in the mail in about a week or two. So I plan to start reading the actual module when it arrives and trying to familiarize myself with the plot and what's going on ahead of time.
So if anyone has any helpful advice or tips I'd very much appreciate it.
I am currently working on preparing a home-brew campaign for my group which for when our current GM finishes his campaign or just wants to take a break from being GM. I have only run 2 campaigns and both were sort of failures (in my opinion at least), the first ended with 3/4 of the party being killed and the sudden decision that the 1 living character was actually a spy for the villain and the time. The second campaign I continued from the last and let the 1 remaining character stay and had the other 3 be evil, and that just ended with more chaos than I could handle (burning a bar to the ground, killing guards, permanent enlarged half orc female in party, all after the first campaign where one of the party members killed a man's young daughter in his arms after the party freed her from a curse)
The campaign I am now working on, I have been working on it since at least August, the plot I have been working around is the player's characters being involved in a war between the nation they are from and that of one that is bordering them, I was planning to have them initially be on the battlefield itself and after a while have them do more covert things for the war. My problem is I have no idea how I should go about running a war, like running the combat.
I am working on a campaign to GM for my group, currently I am a player so I have time to add, remove, or change things. I believe I have enough prepared to that people should be able to comment on what I have.
A few points, this is taking place in the same country I used for my group previously for a campaign that I was ill prepared for. I already have a basic map for the country that they will start in and which most of the campaign will take place, I still need to make the map for the Northern country and of the cities themselves. I will be continuing to try and come up with side plots aside from the two listed in the document. The encounters I intend to come up with closer to when I actually GM, which will probably be a while.
I guess I have said enough, please give me critiques on the campaign write-up.
I am working on building a campaign to GM for my group during the time that I am a player. So far I have written up a basic skeleton for the world and some stuff concerning the characters. I would like some opinions of my write-up, and if anyone has any changes they think I should make I would like to hear them so I can consider them. I plan to share this with the people in my group as well to get their views, I have already checked with them on their views of some of the aspects such as the characters being restricted to starting at True Neutral, and their races being restricted to Human or Half-Elf.
Ok so first off, if you are in my party I know you are gonna end up thinking I am just complaining because of the situation.
Ok so I need some advice, I am GM'ing for a group of friends and recently one of them who's character died decided to roll a Druid, nothing wrong with that. The thing I need advice with is the player is basically using his animal companion, an ape, to stand guard at night and sleep during the day, I had nothing wrong with that when he informed decided to try it. But here is where the issue comes in, the ape is woken up for every encounter thus interrupting its sleep, so it is effectively staying up all night taking a nap then getting up exerting itself then going back to sleep until next encounter or night when it will stand guard for the sleeping party.
It strikes me as the ape should be fatigued unless it gets a full 8 hours of sleep, but I haven't found anywhere that it states the 8 hours need to be straight and can't be spread out like the player is doing. How would yall handle this situation, I asked the player to give me a write-up of his ape's sleep schedule and am hoping he has something for me tomorrow (well actually later today, Friday) but am doubtful. And I know I am the GM so my word is ultimately law but if the sleep can be spread out then I don't want to just say he can't do what he is doing just because I don't like it.
I am sure this type of character has come up in the past, the concept seems like something many people may consider but most would probably argue that it is flawed and not consider it. Today the idea hit me that for my next character I may consider running a multi-class Fighter/Wizard character that has dissociative identity disorder (or multiple personalities) one being the fighter who is pretty much an aggressive attack first ask questions later type of person and the other being the wizard who is more of a calculative person preferring to consider all of the possibilities before making a decision. Now I know that the multi-classing in and of itself would make the character weaker than others as well as the need for two primary abilities and really only 2 possible dump stats. The thought that got brought up by one of my friends who is in the group I play with was possibly having the GM roll like a percentile every now and then to determine when the character changes personality.
The idea strikes me as having an interesting RP aspect to it of having to play two distinct personalities for a single character and having the chance of personality changing at an inopportune time.
The person who will be GM’ing after me who I would most likely use this concept with said that he is letting the characters be gestalt characters, since we only have 3 players and he is trying to think of a way to try and make up for the missing 4th, so if we use that type of character would the character be more plausible then with multi-classing. And what do you all think of this idea as a whole?
I am currently GM'ing for a group of friends and am having difficulty coming up with ideas for encounters while they are traveling between cities. When we last left off they had just finished traveling 1 day of a 5.25 day trek to a city where they were told a crime lord they are hunting for resides. (They are hunting for him since the crime lord, Alister, sent thugs and bandits after a group of traders the party was escorting. By defending the traders the party got on the bad side of Alister who has since sent multiple assassins after the party, one of which killed the parties wizard, and has sent a single messenger to tell them to stop searching for him or they will be killed, suffice it to the party refused and was attacked by the messenger.) Their first day went fairly uneventful, a carriage passed them on the road and they were attacked by assassins while they slept, tho that is seeming like its going to be difficult to do anymore since the party's new druid (replaced cleric, read my thread CRAZIEST SESSION I'VE HAD TO DATE) has decided she will order her Ape companion to stand guard at night and sleep while they travel and I'm not sure how to work around it's scent ability.
All of this mixed with my lack of creativity lately is making it difficult to come up with ideas. What can people suggest I do for encounters during the travels?
I've been GM'ing for a group of friends recently, two sessions ago they were informed of a Striga terrorizing a village and accepted the job of curing the creature (a 7 year old girl) of its affliction. Yesterday the party faced to Striga and cured it.
Before I go any further let me give you some info about the party:
Echo: Dwarf Cleric of Pharasma
Locke: Halfling Rouge
El: Human Barbarian
Malkior: Half-Elf Magus
Ok so Yesterday after curing the Striga and it reverted back to a young 7 year old girl the party took the girl back to her father, the Governor, carried on Malkior's back. Upon Receiving payment from the Governor, bag of gems and jewels worth 6000gp, Echo proceeded to smashing the young girl's skull in with his Masterwork Gold Gem-Encrusted Amethyst Spiked Morning Star (long story), rationalizing it as the girl had returned to the dead so Pharasma would be against her existence. The Governor proceeded to call for the guards, devastated and enraged by Echo's action, as the guards came in to attack Echo Locke ran into a corner choosing not to take sides, El grabbed Echo, and Malkior readied an action so that if Echo resists he would use shocking grasp on him. Echo proceeded to surrender and was sent to prison. While in prison Locke visited Echo in prison and was permitted to enter his cell, with the catch that it would then be locked until he called for the guard when he was ready to leave. Locke proceeded to pick the lock and let Echo out of his cell until he decided he had no viable way of sneaking him out, Echo returned to his cell and Locke walked out and was promptly questioned by the guard about how he left the cell without it being unlocked for him. After accepting Locke's excuse the guard went to the cell and tried to question Echo, which lead to a Sound Burst being cast at the guard and Echo being knocked unconscious. Afterward Echo proceeded to meditate and ask Pharasma for guidance, to only be told to wait, and then attack and kill a barbarian in the next cell who killed 10 men before being caught. Meanwhile the remaining members of the party contacted the guild they are a member of asking what they should do about the situation with Echo, only to be told to leave him to the justice system of the city. The guard called for reinforcements and his former party members were called for after seeing he has some prowess with magic. Locke refused to go saying he won't kill a companion, Malkior attacked and delivered the finishing blow to him, and El just watched, during all of this Echo just sat in the corner after casting Sanctuary and calmly talk to his old companions perfectly calm and content as he was being slashed and burned by guards and a flaming sphere from Malkior.
What do yall think of the events that transpired and how would yall react?
First if you are in my party please go no further.
I am running a campaign for a group of friends and they are about to go through a side-quest based on a story from The Last Wish (also the opening cinematic from The Witcher) and need an opinion my build for the Striga, like is is too over powered for a party with APL 3.
Striga:
• Striga: CR6
o Initiative: +7
o HP: 80
o AC: 18
o BAB: +6/+1
o Will: +2 Ref: +5 Fort: +5
o Attacks:
+10 Bite (1d8+4 19-20/x2)
+10 2-Claws (1d6+4 + blinding critical)
o DR5/Silver
o Fast healing 2
o Speed 50ft
o Vulnerable to Silver
o CMB:+10
o CMD: 23
o Str: 18 Dex: 16 Con: 22 Cha: 0 Int: 5 Wis: 0
What causes a Striga is unknown, whether it be magic, a curse, or simply the result of a stillbirth, the corpse is transformed into a creature with two rows of sharp teeth and sharp claws.It sleeps during the day and is active during the night, killing and feeding on any living thing that it can. If it doesn't make it back to its sarcophagus and is exposed to the sunlight it reverts back to being human.
I know this has come up before but I don't think it has come up after the UM was released so I want some opinions/advice on my idea for a Witcher PC.
I am thinking a Magus/Alchemist, wielding a Bastard Sword, the Magus class would give the melee capabilities as well as the spells (researching spells that emulate the signs) and the Alchemist class would provide for the mutagens.
Any views on whether this seems like a feasible build?
I just started GM'ing my first real campaign and in my work preparing I made up a map of the country (city locations, mountains, rivers, ect.). I introduced the party as new recruits into a guild and explained their party being together as being done by the guild. After being tested by the guild (the first little mission/job of my campaign) the party proceeded to inquire about jobs the guild can offer, and I am predicting that this is the only way they are really going to do. Unfortunately I currently have no idea what the main goal for the campaign is and was planning to build to it based on the parties actions through their travels but I am beginning to think that unless I can get them to travel around on their own and not just for a job from the guild they won't really experience much.
So my question is:
How can I get the party to explore and travel the country without just relying on guild jobs?
I am working on an idea for a side plot in the larger campaign that I will be running for my group. Before I go into details I feel I should give a basic synopsis of the idea.
Idea Synopsis:
The party enters a house, which upon entering the door slams shut behind them and any attempts to open or break the door fail. After looking around the room, six shadowy figures come rising out of the floor and out of the walls telling the characters to sit down and let them relive their lives through what they tell them.
A single character can sit with a single figure (so 2 characters can interact with 1 figure each and 2 character can interact with 2 figures each [there will be 4 characters in the party]), sitting with one of the figures causes both the character to be transported into the figure's memories. The character will be unable to interact with all but one of the memories, which depending on his/her actions will effect how the figure views the party outside of the memories.
To the other characters it appears as if the character interacting with the figure and the figure are in a trance-like state
I have so far made 3 of the 6 figures that are interacted with, and need some help coming up with the last 3. I currently have:
Elenee: Half-Orc Sorcerer, NG
Aribeth De Tylmarande: Half-Elf Paladin (or Anti-Paladin depending on interaction), LG (or CE)
Bishop: Human Rouge, CG
The Back-stories I have so far are:
Elenee:
Born with latent arcane abilities, she abandoned by her tribe as a child after her abilities first appeared. She wandered the countryside fighting against those she felt were evil, trying to avoid killing but feeling that it was necessary at times. She entered a city ruled by a tyrannical ruler, who after trying to intimidate him to either change or give up leadership of the city after he refused Elenee took his life and left the city.
Aribeth:
Born in the city of Thundertree, of two half-elf parents, the village was wiped out in an orc raid leaving her the sole survivor of the massacre. Vowing vengeance, she hunted down the perpetrators and slew them all, but, unsatisfied, continued to hunt and kill orcs in an obsessive quest until she was trapped in a sudden blizzard and rescued by a valiant sword-mistress in full plate mail, believed to be the avatar of Iomedae but was actually a priestess of Irori. From that day Aribeth dedicated herself to becoming a Paladin of Iomedae, which led her to Neverwinter and eventually to meeting the man she would fall in love with, Fenthick Moss a priest of Iomedae. Fenthick was eventually found guilty by association and is hanged for trusting Desther, the man who spread a plague throughout Neverwinter. Fenthick’s death caused Aribeth to question her faith, and leads to her becoming an Anti-Paladin (possible for PC to convince her to not give up on her faith and stay Paladin). As an Anti-Paladin she becomes a general of an army attacking Neverwinter.
Bishop:
Born to a poor family, having to steal in order to survive. As he grew older Bishop began stealing for the sake of others, targeting the greedy and rich. After many successful thefts he had been given word by one of his source of the location of a wealthy and greedy noble who has more than Bishop has ever stolen before. Upon arriving at the location it turned out that it was a set-up, his source had been bribed into setting him up, Bishop barely escaped with his life when his source, regretting his actions, caused a distraction allowing Bishop the opportunity to escape.
I need help coming up with back-stories for the last 3.
Lorne: Dwarf Barbarian, CE
Neeshka: Halfling Wizard, NE
Grobnar: Gnome Range: LE
Feel free to make different characters to replace the 3 without back-stories (I just ask that if you do so please make them evil) and feel free comment on the 3 character I already have done.
I have been thinking about ideas for my next character, for when my group decides to start a new campaign or when my current one dies (I have no idea when this will be but I want to get an idea of the character now). Currently we are only using the Core Rulebook, and may or may not be using the APG by the time this character is done.
I am thinking of a Dex-based melee character wielding an Elven Curved Blade with a Longbow (maybe Composite) for ranged combat, I am thinking an Elf so no feats are needed for the Elven Curved Blade, but I'm not sure about the class. I am debating between Fighter, Ranger, or Paladin. I am leaning more towards the Fighter but really not sure. Any suggestions/opinions?
/*Note: The ability scores won't be rolled until the time the character made.*/
I was looking over the druid's spells as I prepared them and when I looked at Call Lightning and Call Lightning Storm, a question arose. Is it affected by magical storms, such as Sleet Storm? It doesn't state one way or the other on it so I just took it as it is unaffected but would like to verify this.
I was reading The Last Wish and was thinking the concept short story from it "The Witcher," would be interesting as an adventure (for those who don't know the story check the spoiler). I need some suggestions on what I might be able to use as the Striga. I have considered trying to create one if nothing close can be found.
The story begins with Geralt entering Vizima. Shortly afterwards, he kills three men in a bar fight. He is escorted to Velerad, the elderly castellan of Vizima. Near the beginning of King Foltest's reign, he got his sister, Adda, pregnant. She and the baby died giving birth, both being buried in a double coffin. Seven years later, the daughter awoke and slaughtered the inhabitants of the palace. She had become a striga. Geralt meets with Foltest, who warns him not to harm the striga, for a wizard had told him that if someone prevented the striga from returning to her coffin by the third crowing of the rooster, then she would be cured, turning into an ordinary little girl. Geralt asks to see a miller (a survivor of one of the striga's earlier attacks). The soldier that brings him to Geralt is Foltest, disguised. He gives Geralt leave to kill his daughter if he found that she was an incurable case. Geralt spends the night at the old palace (Foltest having moved to a new palace, unplagued by the striga's attacks). During the early night, Lord Ostrit, a magnate, tries to bribe Geralt into running away, as he wishes the striga to survive. This would eventually horrify the inabitants of Vizima, who would more easily support Vizimir of Novigrad's rule. Geralt refuses, knocks Lord Ostrit out and ties him up. At midnight, he cuts Ostrit loose, using him as bait. He is soon found and killed by the striga. Geralt fights with the striga, reluctant to use his silver sword. He ties the striga with a silver chain, which she breaks free off, despite silver being an antithesis to monsters of magic. She is eventually scared off when Geralt uses his sorcery to project the hate and malice in her own mind back at her. Geralt settles down in the double coffin to wait for morning. In the morning, he sees an ordinary little girl who is lying on the floor. Leaning over her, he sees too late that her eyes are open. Using the last remainents of her talons, the striga slashes Geralt's throat. As he subdues the girl/striga, Geralt hears the third crowing of the rooster. Finally, he binds his neck, knowing he will faint. The witcher wakes up, his neck bandaged, with Velerad (who was part of the group that had planned to just have the striga killed) admitting he was in the wrong. He assures Geralt that his silver sword, his three thousand oren reward and his possessions are safe. Geralt, soothed, falls asleep.
A member of my group has stated that if/when his current character dies he may be interested on playing as a Dhampir as his race (with the group and GM's approval, mainly GM tho). I would like to know if compared to the basic races, those presented in the Core Rulebook, if it is balanced?
Ok I am for the most part a newbie to Pathfinder (or any table top RPG for that matter [closest I have played is NWN and NWN2]) and I noticed in the Bestiary something that confused me. The weapon is a "+1 flaming composite longbow +14/+14/+9 (1d8+6/×3 plus 1d6 fire)", I understand the flaming composite longbow and the damage portion.
But I am slightly confused about the +1 I think it means that it gets +1 to the attack roll but I'm not sure (I just want to know for sure).
My main question is about the +14/+14/+9 part, what does that mean?
I am working on making a campaign for my group who are playing Pathfinder, I wanted to use a devil in the campaign but the pre-built stat blocks are all too strong to put against my party. I'm looking for some tips on how to change the stat blocks so as to reduce the creature's levels and power. If no one has any ideas or advice I will just work on building a new monster for the purpose but I was hoping to avoid having to do that since it is my first campaign.
I am working on making a campaign for my group who are playing Pathfinder, I wanted to use a devil in the campaign but the pre-built stat blocks are all too strong to put against my party. I'm looking for some tips on how to change the stat blocks so as to reduce the creature's levels and power. If no one has any ideas or advice I will just work on building a new monster for the purpose but I was hoping to avoid having to do that since it is my first campaign.
