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Rayhan Xobhadi

Archmage_Atrus's page

Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber. 443 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists.


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Minor (Annoying) Bug with Focus Mode
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

(Browser is Firefox 5.0)

If you go into Focus mode and then open a thread there in an alternate tab (so you have the Focused message boards on one tab and the thread you want to read in a second tab), and you clear a dot from the focused message boards, that tab will refresh into the open thread, so you end up with two tabs open to the same thread.

(No idea what would happen if you open multiple threads on multiple tabs...)
Trial of the Beast, For Lawyers
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Disclaimer: I practice criminal defense IRL. In fact, I had a particularly depressing jail visit on Friday, which has kind of been on the back of my mind all weekend long. So on Saturday, I get my hardcopy of Trial of the Beast, and I'm sitting through it (having ignored the PDF in anticipation of the hard copy), with a big ol' grin on my face. I totally want to run this for the (non-gamer) folks at the office (though since I've slated Carrion Crown for the next AP I'm running for my weekend group after Kingmaker, I've got the gamers in the office covered) sometime.

So first off - big ups from the legal perspective of investigating a case. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the adventure, and I appreciate the central tenet of the eponymous trial itself.

Though I must deduct a point for the portrayal of the (court-appointed) defense counsel as a stuttering incompetent. (Reference to My Cousin Vinny aside.)

If do end up running for some of the folks at the office, I'm thinking of changing the entire structure, including making the role of the barrister's one of the PCs. And then watch the craziness ensue!
Magic Item Availability and Interprative Dissonance
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Okay... so page 461 of the Core Rulebook states that, when randomly determining the available magic items for the magic item slots in a given settlement, one should:

R.A.W. wrote:
Reroll any items that fall below the community's base value.

However, such a statement is left out of the Kingmaker Kingdom Building Rules. However, it's pretty clear to me that the intent of the Kingmaker rules are to mimic the magic item availability rules for Pathfinder (IE, 75% if the item is of the base value or lower, otherwise check the magic item slots.) So the question (And I'm leaning towards 'yes' on this one):

Are we, in the context of Kingmaker settlements, supposed to be rerolling magic items that come up as lower than the base value of the given settlement?

(While I don't belong to that group of players that believes the magic item economy completely wrecks Kingmaker, I can see why having a race to building your city's base value up to 4,000 gp might get annoying, in that now all cities automatically produce at least 2 BP per turn. So I could see this being a problem, I'm just curious what everyone's interpretation might be, and what the original intent was, if the designers care to comment.)
Throwing a Festival! (A Side RP Event)
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

So one of my players recently complained that, while they're enjoying both parts of the campaign - IE, the adventuring and the kingdom building - the two parts have felt a little too disjointed for him. He doesn't really have a feel for what his character's role, as Baron, might be. So I thought it'd be fun to take a break from the adventuring side of things, and have a few sessions where the PCs just do in character kingdom interaction.

The basic setup is that the PCs are throwing a festival - Erastil's Harvest Feast to be precise - as a backdrop to some diplomacy (they've invited several delegations - a Mivoni trading barge, Baron Varn and his retinue, a group of Aldori swordlords from Restov, and a delegation from Kyonin, as the baron is a forlorn elf who wants to reconstruct ties to the Viridian Crown.) So a part of the diplomacy will be selecting the proper level of decorum and activities for the festivities, which I'm treating as a kind of interactive event. (The PCs are also dealing with the two distinct group of their citizens - the rough and tumble River Folk, and the slightly more refined, if dour, Brevic colonists that they initially brought with them.) If the PCs manage to please a particular group, they'll gain some temporary (or perhaps permanent) bonus to their kingdom stats.

With that in mind, I drew up the following rules, which I thought might be helpful to someone else out there. (Hidden behind a tag because it's rather long):

Spoiler:

THROWING A PARTY
Rules for Festivals

In order to have a successful festival, you must plan the events and budget the details of the festival exactly. Your kingdom has been gathering resources for festivals on a yearly basis, drawing from a pool of Consumption points already accounted for each month (hence, the festival will cost you nothing from your treasury.)

A festival consists of four basic elements:
• Location: Where the festival will be celebrated – throughout the kingdom, localized in one city, in every city (but not every hamlet)? The more spread out the festival is, the higher the cost of the festival, but the more people will be affected.
• Food: What kind of vittles can the folk at your festival (generally) expect to have available?
• Propaganda: How will the festivities be advertised – through word of mouth, or will there be criers and announcements in every street corner?
• Activities: Activities provide discrete entertainments and events for the festival goers, to keep everyone occupied.

Budget: Your budget is measured in festival points (FP). You cannot draw a negative pool of festival points. You can acquire more festival points by digging into the Kingdom’s Treasury, however. You can withdraw 1 BP for 4 additional fp.
Your current allocated budget for the festival is 16 FP. Note: I calculated this based on the number of Festivals per year. Since they have 6, which is 2 consumption points, I figure they gather 24 BP per year for festivals, which is 4 BP per festival. And using the 1 BP = 4 FP rubric (which I figured from the roughly 1 BP = 4,000 gp rule), you get 16 FP.

LOCATION
Before beginning to plan the festival, you must decide where the festival will be held. Select one of the following:
• Capital City (1 FP): Holding the festival in Lelarin centralizes the festival and forces those in outlying communities to travel to the city. Not everyone in the Kingdom is likely to make it to the festival, however.
• All Cities (4 FP): You can instead choose to hold the festival in all of your cities, simultaneously. This will increase the number of people exposed to the festival, but more preparations must be made.
• Everywhere (6 FP): The last choice is to celebrate the festival throughout the entire kingdom. Preparations will be made not just in Lelarin, Leveton and Candlemere, but in every manor and hamlet in between.

FOOD
The next step is to plan what kind of supplies will be available for your people to purchase. Select one of the following:
• BYOF (0 FP): You’ve chosen not to supply any foods – people must make do with whatever’s in their pantries and stores. Not the best way to throw a party, but times are lean…
• Street Vendors (2 FP): You’ve hired dozens of street vendors and brought in supplies from the outside to sell fruits, meats and breads off of mobile carts. Not very healthy – or classy – but people love their finger foods!
• Halls and Kitchens (4 FP): A clear upgrade from street vending, these temporary tents hold ovens and kitchens where food can be prepared fresh for your visitors to dine upon. The fare won’t be much better than what you find at a common inn, but it’ll be hearty and filling – and folk will have places to actually sit.
• Food Faire (8 FP): Showcasing some of the better local cuisine, you’ve invited culinary masters from around the region to partake in your festival. They’ve brought the freshest produce, best cuts of meat, and masterful equipment, to provide your people with a gourmet dining – and breakfast and lunch – experience for the duration of the festival.

PROPAGANDA
Your citizens need to learn about the festival, otherwise how are they going to get there! Select one of the following:
• Word of Mouth (0 FP): You trust that rumor and word of mouth will be enough to get the people to come and attend.
• Rumor Mill (1 FP): Well, maybe you’ve paid an innkeeper here or there to plant a rumor yourself. You won’t promise anything you can’t deliver, but it doesn’t hurt to work up some of the excitement yourself.
• Town Hall Announcements (2 FP): Hiring a few criers couldn’t hurt. Let the people know directly what the plans for the festival are going to be!
• Advertising Blitz (4 FP): A modern day (or prior day?) P.T. Barnum. Everyone in your kingdom – and some beyond – will know there’s a festival brewing.

ACTIVITIES
Having decided the basics of the festival, the final task is to select from a range of activities to complete the festival. You can select up to three events per city district that the festival occurs in (based on your choice of Location, of course).
• Banquet (3 FP): A feast held for a select group of individuals. Regardless of the Food level selected, those invited to the banquet will react as if you’d selected the highest grade.
• Bazaar (4 FP): An open-air bazaar of tradesmen and trade goods. Tends to appeal to those commercially minded.
• Fencing Tournament (4 FP): Setting the stage to test contestant’s skills with one particular type of weapon – sword, club, mace, axe, staff, etc. Tournaments tend to bring in and entertain those who appreciate martial skill at particular arms.
• Games (3 FP): Simple carnival games, meant for all levels of skill. One of the simplest forms of hands-on entertainment.
• Hunt (2 FP): An organized hunt allows a select group of individuals some face time with the nobility, as well as the opportunity for excitement in the selected game. Appeals to those adventure-minded who don’t mind getting dirty.
• Joust (8 FP): Setting the lists, claiming a prize, and testing the strength of your people in battle! A known crowd pleaser and favored of the nobility.
• Magical Display (2 FP): A simple light-and-magic show. Fun for the whole family.
• Melee (4 FP): Testing the strength of arms of a nation is best done through the melee, a free-for-all fight in a controlled arena. Appeals to the bloody minded.
• Menagerie (8 FP): Exotic beasts from the wilds and beyond, caught, caged, and displayed for all to see. Appeals to children, academics, and those with an adventurous spirit!
• Mummers’ Troupe (3 FP): Hiring mummers to stage plays and farces throughout the city. These plays tend to be simplistic and aimed at pleasing the common man.
• Parade (1 FP): From a military march to a parade of organizations in your city, the parade is a good way to show national pride.
• Religious Service (2 FP): A religious or cultural service to mark the occasion. It strengthens cultural bonds and appeals to those traditionalist among your citizens.
• Stage Play (4 FP): Putting on a stage play is complex business – from setting the stage to acquiring costumes – but these complex works of art, often including music of some form, appeal to the nobility.
• Street Performers (1 FP): Hiring a few dozen street performers in order to keep the visitors entertained – from jugglers to street magician to poets and comics. Simply walking around the streets of your city will be a pleasure.

We haven't playtested it yet, but the math is more or less solid. Each of the groups they're catering to has certain Likes and Dislikes, and interactions that occur with them in a particular location will be impacted by those Likes and Dislikes. The festival itself will be mostly RP, with some opportunity for skill checks which will impact how the groups react. (Similar to the 4E Skill Challenges, but nowhere near as limited or structured).

I'm also looking for ideas for more activities, if anyone can think of some.
Kingmaker Kingdom-Building Feats
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Hey all - my group's finally defeated the Stag Lord after a couple months' play time (and a large, computer-crash related hiatus) and is about to receive their charter from Restov to settle the Stolen Lands. As such, I ran them through the kingdom building rules and was immediately beset with requests and questions on how PCs could tailor their characters to improve their kingdom - so I figured some feats might be a cool idea!

So I sat down and worked out some feats I thought were interesting - at least one for each leadership role, sometimes two depending on function. What do you guys think? (I'm especially interested in hearing from more experienced groups who already have kingdoms up-and-running and could foresee the effects of some feats more readily than I, who have only tinkered around with the rules on paper.) (And also, I've been reading the Song of Ice and Fire, so many of the feats are... inspired by certain characters. Feel free to shout them out if you spot 'em.)

SOLOMON’S WISDOM (KINGMAKER)
Your rule is less a product of your cult of personality, but rather marked by your just and wise counsel.
Prerequisites: Must be a Ruler of a kingdom, Wis 13+
Benefits: You use your Wisdom bonus instead of your Charisma bonus to determine your leadership modifier.

VOICE BEHIND THE THRONE (KINGMAKER)
You have the ruler’s ear in most things, and as councilor can ensure that the will of the people is heard above all others.
Prerequisites: Must be the Councilor of a kingdom, 5 or more ranks in Diplomacy or Knowledge (local)
Benefits: Your bonus to your kingdom’s Loyalty increases by +2. Additionally, choose either Stability or Economy. So long as you remain Councilor for your kingdom, you can add your Wisdom or your Charisma modifier (the same choice you made for Loyalty) to that score.

ARTISTRY OF WAR (KINGMAKER)
Your ability to lead men into battles is not a product of your fame or strength, but rather your masterful knowledge of the art of war.
Prerequisites: Must be the General of a kingdom, Int 13+
Benefits: You add your Intelligence bonus to your kingdom’s Stability modifier.

WARRIOR KING (KINGMAKER)
Your people need no other General – and your Army needs no other King.
Prerequisites: Must be a Ruler of a kingdom.
Benefits: So long as you are Ruler, your kingdom suffers no penalty for lacking a General. You may also add your Strength modifier to your kingdom’s Stability. You are considered a General for purposes of feats and class abilities. Your kingdom loses the benefits of this feat if you assign a General.
Normal: An individual can serve only a single role. Not having a general decreases your kingdom’s Stability by 4 points.

FOREIGN MINISTER (KINGMAKER)
You are a notorious ambassador, famed for your diplomatic ability to negotiate difficult matters.
Prerequisites: Must be the Grand Diplomat of a kingdom, 5 or more ranks in Bluff and Diplomacy.
Benefits: For every 5 ranks you have in Diplomacy, your kingdom’s Stability score increases by +1. For every 5 ranks you have in Bluff, your kingdom’s Economy score increases by +1.

THEOCRATIC RULE (KINGMAKER)
Your kingdom needs no mortal ruler, for the gods themselves have blessed the faithful with leading your people.
Prerequisites: High Priest of a kingdom without a Ruler, Wis 13+, Cha 13+
Benefits: You can act as both Ruler and High Priest of a kingdom, granting the benefits of both offices accordingly. Your kingdom suffers no penalties for lacking a Ruler, so long as you are High Priest. You gain alignment bonuses to your kingdom according to your patron deity as well as your kingdom’s alignment.
Normal: A kingdom without a ruler cannot claim new hexes, build improvements, or purchase city districts, as well as gaining Unrest every turn.

DIVINE RIGHT (KINGMAKER)
Your ruler has this office by divine right – mostly on your say so.
Prerequisites: High Priest of a kingdom, Ruler and High Priest must have the same patron deity.
Benefits: If the Ruler of your kingdom is within the allowed alignments for your patron deity, your kingdom gains alignment benefits as your patron deity’s as well as (stacking with) your kingdom’s alignment. You may choose to deny the kingdom this benefit at the beginning of every turn, at your say-so.
Special: If you and the kingdom’s Ruler do not have the same patron deity, you do not lose this feat, but your kingdom cannot gain the benefits of the feat.

ARCANE HEADMASTER (KINGMAKER)
You (or a close associate) are the headmaster of the kingdom’s very own School of Magic, increasing your kingdom’s magical resources.
Prerequisites: Magister of a kingdom, access to an Academy or Caster’s Tower building
Benefits: One Academy or Caster’s Tower of your choice grants an additional magic item slot for 1 major magic item. Additionally, you can build a number of academies equal to your Intelligence modifier at half cost. These academies need not be built immediately, and if your Intelligence modifier increases, the number of academies you can build at half cost also increases.

FRIENDS IN THE WILDS (KINGMAKER)
Your ties to the natural world allow you to better perform your job as Marshal.
Prerequisites: Marshal of a kingdom, Druid or Ranger with an Animal Companion, ability to cast charm animal or charm monster.
Benefits: You grant your kingdom a +2 bonus to its Economy and Stability scores.

SECRET POLICE (KINGMAKER)
As Royal Assassin, you head an entire organization dedicated to eradicating crime and radical elements. This organization is so feared, its name alone inspires dread in the hearts and minds of the citizenry.
Prerequisites: Royal Assassin of a kingdom, Leadership feat.
Benefits: You add your Charisma bonus (if positive) to your leadership bonus to Loyalty. Additionally, your kingdom’s Unrest is reduced by 2 during each Upkeep phase.
Normal: Your kingdom’s Unrest is reduced by 1 during each Upkeep phase.

EYES AND EARS (KINGMAKER)
You’ve cultivated a network of eyes and ears which you use to your kingdom’s advantage.
Prerequisites: Spymaster of a kingdom, Leadership feat
Benefits: You gain a +3 bonus to whichever kingdom statistic you decide to modify on any given turn. Additionally, whenever your kingdom rolls an Assassination special event, you – or a handful of guards, at your choice – are able to be present.

RUMOR MONGER (KINGMAKER)
Spending your days in taverns and markets, you pick up a lot of stray rumors, which you’re trained to sort and sift through to find morsels of useful truth.
Prerequisites: Spymaster of a kingdom, Diplomacy 5 or more ranks
Benefits: You can choose two of your kingdom’s statistics to modify with your leadership modifier. You can still choose to change which values to modify during your kingdom’s Improvement phase (you may change only one per phase.)

MASTER OF COIN (KINGMAKER)
You have a gift for procuring, producing, and maintaining gold in your kingdom’s coffers.
Prerequisites: Treasurer of a kingdom, Profession (Accountant) 5 or more ranks.
Benefits: Your kingdom’s Consumption is treated as if it were lower equal to your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier (your choice). This still cannot lower your Consumption below 0.
Special: Should you no longer serve as the kingdom’s Treasurer, the consumption of the kingdom rises to its normal levels.

ORGANIZED WATCH (KINGMAKER)
You’ve organized your cities’ watchmen and guardsmen into professional organizations, with regular training and personnel supervision – and a fancy name, too.
Prerequisites: Warden of a kingdom, Leadership feat, access to a Garrison.
Benefits: You add +2 to your kingdom’s Economy. Additionally, all Garrisons and Watchtowers – either presently built or in the future – reduce unrest by an additional point