Banesfinger's page

The news bulletin said this was the "first computer RPG for Pathfinder"???

What ever happened to 'Pathfinder Online' by Goblinworks back in 2012? It was also set in the Stolen Lands IIRC.
It was Kickstarter funded at over $1 million dollars and seemed to go nowhere.

Thanks for the overview kevin_video. Good to know. (And sorry to hear about your health issue).

On another (somewhat related) note:
The Kickstarter for "underworld Races & Classes for 5th edition and Pathfinder RPG" was successful ($50k of $1k goal).
So there will soon be lots of new racial, class, domain, equipment, and monster options.

Can you tell us more about how you crafted your scenery? Ships, water, buildings, docs, etc.
They are fantastic.

I would also like to thank Michael Clarke. I (foolishly?) backed this kickstarter at the $280 level. I DID get my custom piece of B&W art from Michael, that was so amazing that I no longer consider this kickstarter a "loss" (regardless of any more deliverables).

"...I'm releasing this on my blog as well..."

Can you post a link to your blog?

Sorry for the thread hijack, but this might be an interesting adventure to mine for ideas for the end-game of Way of the Wicked.

Descent to Ascension

"A 20th-level EVIL adventure"

FYI
A very cool article about (real life) glowing fungi:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/03/fungi-glow-dark-luminscent- mushrooms-conservation-enviroment-bioscience

Also don't forget Deadly Delves: To Claw the Surface for levels 1-3 from my company, Jon Brazer Enterprises.

[/shameless plug]

Are there plans to convert this to 5e soon? (Like "Along Came a Spider")

Momentary thread hijack - sorry

"Journey Through the Center of the Underdark"
This is a series of 10 different encounters while traveling in the underdark.
This is D&D 5e (not Pathfinder) but conversion would be easy.

(Available at the Dungeon Masters Guild website, which has a preview and several reviews of the product). For $1 you get some very unique/cool ideas for underdark encounters.

I've played games where rules back up the setting immensely. Including dark, gritty and horror. It's a fallacy to think that rules and setting can't support each other, because they can.

Hi Irontruth,

Can you supply a few examples?

I have read-through the Shadow of the Demon Lord rules (but not played it). The rules are very tight; very much in league with D&D 5e. The class/career path system feels like the next generation of Warhammer rpg.
I agree with previous posters that the world/setting doesn't feel too tightly intertwined with the rule-set (this can be a good or bad thing, depending on what you are looking for). For example, the rule system could easily be used for Pathfinder's Inner Sea world, or D&D's Forgotten Realms.

I guess this was more of a 2E thing cause if you remember back in the olden days "darkvison" was more like you did "see" heat signatures and thus then it was ruled that in the underdark one could not "read" normal ink as the heat signature of the ink and the book would not be any different from each other.

With modern darkvision there should not be any problem at all regarding this. You can read just fine.

Correct: it used to be called "infravision", seeing into the inferred spectrum, or heat signatures. A 1e-2e (or OSR) thing. My bad.

In Dark Suns (old D&D setting) where wood was rare (desert setting with little vegetation), spell books and scrolls were made from knot-work. A series of strings/ropes with intricate knots tied in them.

This method could also be effective underground if you rule that darkvision can't read ink from a page.

The strings/ropes in that setting were often made from woven Giant's hair, but for the underground setting could even be made of roots, preserved entrails, etc.

More or les just waiting on the local gaming convention to start next week.

How big is PrairieCon getting these days? Are the Brandon events comparable to the Winnipeg ones?

And I apologize to you, Banesfinger.

No offense taken Lord_Hyperion. I know everyone's patience has worn thin.

I was just pointing out the historic dates for people here (I know my memory has gotten foggy over the years).

As far as I can tell, this is the timeline of the project:

Throne of Night successfully funded in May, 2013.
Book 1 (pdf) released in Oct, 2013.
Book 2 (pdf) released in Apr, 2014.

That is roughly 6 months between book releases. The July 2015 update from kickstarter said they will release the remaining 4 books + the bonus adventure at the same time. 5 books x 6 months each = 2.5 years from the last released book.

Using that estimated schedule, the remaining 5 books be finished in approximately Oct 2016!

By my math, we should be getting the remaining books in about 6 months from now.

That was the month that Gary essentially name dropped during an update. It's all any of us have to go on.

I don't see any reference to that in the last few Kickstarter updates?...

It is getting pretty close to April.

Everybody cross your fingers for the next few weeks.

Think positive (I know, I know) and try to visualize those books arriving at your door in a big volcano shaped box with a bow on it.

May I ask why everyone is suggesting we'll get something in April?

Also to copy Papa DRB:

Q1. If I wrote an Adventure Path, would you legitimately support it?
A1. Yes, if it looks like something I would want to run. However, my group has now moved to D&D 5e, so it would need to support that system (duel stated?).

Q2, If I did this, what level would you want it to go up to?
A2. 1-15, but any range would be nice.

Q3. Is having it supported with Hero Lab files a deal maker?
A4. No. I don't use H.L., but "downloadable" media (e.g. maps in .pdf) will always find a use at our table.

Q4. Some APs, like Castle Whiterock, have pregens. Would you want these added?
A4. I don't care either way. We only use pre-gens for short, one-shot adventures.

Fire Mountain Games would get all my respect back (no matter how long the delay) if he delivered a little more than promised:

E.g. double (triple?) stats the adventure for 5e. Added a book of NPC 'extras', etc.

Our group desperately wanted to play this, especially after having so much fun in WotW.

However seeing the delays, we elected to wait...

In the 2 years since, we have switched over from Pathfinder to D&D5e and our group loves it. I think it will be a hard-sell for our group to go back...so it looks like ToN missed the boat....

FYI: a new update for Throne of Night was sent today (Oct 29) regarding an 'overview' map of the entire campaign area.

I know someone mentioned it in the Kickstarter comments, but it is worth repeating here:
WotC's (5e) Rage of Demons: Out of the Abyss, is filled with underdark goodies: fantastic encounter tables and locations, great NPCs, etc that can easily be mined for use in Throne of Night (or any underdark setting).

I just received my custom art from Mr. Clarke. (He mentioned I was pretty early in the line for this, since I contacted him right after the Kickstarter funded).

I'm blown away by how awesome it is. It was definitely worth the wait (and the expensive pledge level).

Would you like me to PM you the full text and contact email?

Thanks so much Mark, that would be helpful (I have not received any such email). Hopefully you weren't an isolated incident...since there were only 10 of us who bought that "Overlord" level on Kickstarter.

As there might be others interested in the news - I thought I'd just pop in with a mention that Michael Clarke (the artist) just got in touch to confirm the custom art piece that came along with the $250 pledge on the campaign.

Hi Mark,

I don´t buy into all the excuses made here for the benefit of Mr. McBride....

I agree with you Mr. Lord Hyperion that Fire Mountain Game's lack of communication regarding these (HUGE) delays is deplorable.

However, the fact that he is still (paying?) for artwork indicates the project is not dead. But he has no 'binding' constraints for deadlines (except for "personal honor and integrity"), so F.M.G. can take their time finishing the project.

I'm like most (?) people who've back this project: I've written it off and possibly in a few years (?) I'll be pleasantly surprised to get a package in my mailbox.

Do they?

I cannot get them to work.

Neither can several others.

Contact links work for me. However, it is just an email address (which we know goes into a black hole).

The newly announced 'Rage of Demons' (5e adventure path, due Sept 2015) looks like it will have tons of underdark fun!

ENWorld just posted (May 7th) some art previews, including a very colorful cast of characters:
- OUGALOP, kuo-toa cave cricket catcher extraordinaire.
- YUK YUK and SPIDERBAIT, goblin adrenaline junkies.
- GLABBAGOOL, awakened gelatinous cube.
- RUMPADUMP and STOOL, myconid followers.
- TOPSY and TURVY, svirfneblin wererat siblings.
etc.

It looks like they have added a lot of "character" to what would normally be just another bunch of underdark monsters to kill. At the very least, a Throne of Night game could mine this adventure for lots of interesting NPCs.

Just got another update from Kickstarter today (April 22).
It is more of what we are used to:
Sorry about the delays. Updates coming soon. Here is some nice art to look at in the meantime. Blah, blah.

Oh well, at least we know the author is still alive...

I wish. I SO BADLY WANT TO GO!!!! >_< That, and Paizo Con. You guys are so lucky having access to those kinds of conventions down in the US. No, mine's a little small town Canadian convention that's somehow managed to celebrate it's 36th year. We hold our own well enough, I suppose. Last year we even managed to get a few people from North Dakota to come visit and participate. It was a nice experience.

Kevin_Video, what convention in Canada do you go to? I'm in Manitoba.

Has anyone taken a shot at converting these adventures to D&D 5e/Next yet?

Thank you everyone, for your consideration.

The intent of this map is indeed an 'escape' scene. The extent of the map reflects that (an entire city would be too large, but a few individual streets would be too small).

The idea came to me with the thought of using Pathfinder's "Chase Card Decks". Larger streets (in white) would get you to an escape route faster, but have more encounters/cards, while less used streets (brown) would be slower/less cards.
I was tempted to paste a cover picture of the Chase Card deck in the legend but wasn't sure if that would disqualify me?

As many have speculated, the large open are is indeed on-purpose: I imagined herds of human chattel and task-master crowding this open-air flesh market. Parade lines of slaves await in chains for their new owners. Etc.

I take no offense by any of the critiques. Indeed - I hope to use the criticism to improve my next round submission.

As for other options for slowing down the enemy (wands, grease spell, etc), dwarves have never been known for abundant arcane skills. Items that fighters (most typical defenders) could use would be best.

Others have commented on the short duration. There was little wiggle room to increase that and keep the price-point of the item down.
However, even delaying an enemy for a round or two can help a defender re-group and put up a stout defense.
(In game terms - the defenders can use a few rounds to stand back from the door/barrier, aim spells/missile weapons and hold (ready action) for the first invader to break through - - imagine the LotR scene in Mordor).

Again, my thanks to all those star voters!

The low/entry level cost of this item was purposeful: a city of dwarves could not afford to distribute them to their guards otherwise.

I wanted to add a little more "oomph" as Liz Courts mentions; I was going to include an ability that 4 (or more) of these shields could be locked together to 'hold' a portal that did not have a lockable door/shutter (like an open archway, for example). The larger the archway, the more shields would need to be locked together.
Alas, the word-count of the contest prevented this addition.

Thanks everyone,
The idea of this shield came to me as the group I was GM'ing were trying to escape a horde of monsters in a dungeon complex. PCs were desperately trying to find a way to slow them down at each doorway as the slower PCs continued to run.

I imagined the same condition happening in an underground dwarven city if Drow or other monsters broke through the walls. The valiant dwarven guards would need some way to momentarily hold back this horde so the children and weaker dwarves could have time to escape.

I saw that too. I figured it was just options based on how well or poorly the PCs did. Regina wouldn't want her daughter to be taken out by mooks and will likely fight alongside her if things get hairy.

As far as I can tell, this epic battle would be split into 3 separate combats:

First: against Brontes (Titan) plus his planar ally Tassia. (CR21)

Next: the Dragon Regina (CR22)

Finally: the Princess and the Angel. (CR24)

With the "Veil of Mitra", there will be no teleporting to rest/refresh between battles.

Is that typically how other DMs approached this battle?

A question regarding Antharia Regina (silver dragon):

The text on page 82, as well as the map on page 79, shows the dragon is perched invisible on the lesser spire.

Yet, the "tactics" text in her stat-block (page 85) says she is in disguise (as a typical knight) alongside her daughter the princess.

Clarification?

Can someone point out what the differences will be with this new kickstarter version, and the original 2 books from Adventureaweek (besides combining them)?

The product discussion threads (here at Paizo) are great resources, answer lots of questions, give alternate builds for NPCs, etc.

Of course the downside is: you have to go through thousands of posts to pull out the good stuff...

Myself personally: our group is currently on Book-6. I have 'adjusted' the setting of this adventure path to be in Paizo's campaign setting: the Inner Sea (specifically Mendev).

My group completed the final battle with Thorn, and it was...

...not fun (from both the players AND DM's opinion). Let me explain so hopefully other groups avoid this pit fall.

Problem #1: Thorn has watched the PCs from the beginning, so he choses his tactics/spells to best defeat them. At the same time, the PCs have also tailored their spells towards countering a lich/cleric's spells.

In play this ends up in a very frustrating (on both sides) series of "counter this, counter that, didn't work on him, debuffed, etc"

Problem #2: Thorn uses Anti-life Shell. This frustrated all the melee-types in the group (who had to basically 'sit-out' the entire encounter (I tailored Thorn's spells to include Fickle Winds which also countered all missile attacks).

Problem #3: We had a lich PC in the group (but I'm sure vampire PCs would equally apply here).
Undead are immune to all Fort saves, and mind affecting spells (that's about half of the spells made useless right there).
A lich vs lich fight sounds cool, but it was horribly boring as the two liches ended up with a minor "slap fest" reduced to using "cure" (read: harm for undead) spells against each other.

Overall, it was a long, frustrating, drawn-out fight. Not the 'epic' battle that everyone was hoping for.

Before I try it on my GM I wanted to ask people here what they thought. I want to use the nameless demilich on the Nythoggr's Cairn. I was thinking of dropping the skull in that hole above the cairn. Would they battle each other or would i be adding another enemy to fight?

An interesting plan.

You have to remember, the Nameless Tyrant has been trapped for centuries (and is very smart). If it knows this will be a losing battle, it may just try to escape (finally free at last)...

This next session should be interesting:

The Anti-life Abettors against a party with a "Undead Lord" cleric with the "Death's Kiss" ability (Undead sub-domain).

Hmmmmmm.

If Thorn had enough notice (i.e., the PCs made several assaults against the Agathium), would he begin to trap his area with "Symbol" spells (e.g., Symbol of death, Symbol of Insanity, etc).

What other preparations would he make?

Due to his paranoia, I'm guessing he wouldn't join forces with his allies (Wolfram, Grigori, etc) even if he heard them fighting near by...

How did the cleric make a lesser demi-plane?

That is a new 7th-level spell, from Ultimate Magic.

Truly Evil:

The PCs usually take refuge in the cleric's (lesser) demi-plane (made permanent).

But after gaining Thorn's phylactery at the Cairn, they are very fearful of Thorn locating them due to the connection he has with his heart/phylactery). They are especially fearful of Thorn finding out where their "secret" demi-plane is.

So, not wanting to leave the phylactery unattended, but needing a way to transport all that loot from Nythoggr's Cairn, the party did something truly evil (and paranoid):

They called for 10 of their minions. And with the promise of a share of loot, the minions were "asked" to haul all the treasure through a (temporary) Gate to the demi-plane. Meanwhile the PCs remained at the Cairn, guarding the phylactery.

But much like the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the PCs decided they couldn't let anyone live who had seen their secret hoard/lair. So while the minions were taking the last load of the loot to the demi-plane, the PCs "dispelled" the Gate, leaving the minions trapped inside the demi-plane to die of starvation...

This shouldn't break anything, but add teleportation to Grigori's spellbook, have him memorize that twice, scry the party with Thorn, and have him take a bunch of graveknights to the location or even one of the dragons.

It is a fault of the system, but the GM can think of ways around it. Especially if Thorn is aware of their standard tactics.

Actually, the players have taken precautions against this. The group's sorcerer always uses his highest spell slots (8th-level spells) to give everyone in the party Mind Blank. They can't be scryed on.

That is a big chunk of the party's resources they've used to be cautious. As a DM, I reward them for that caution.

I think they are pretty much sacrifices to be tossed out to test the PCs abilities. The real stuff happens down below.

I'm not too concerned at making this initial encounter a little more challenging for the Players (by throwing in a few potions).

After the Giant encounter is over, my players will predictably just step back outside, teleport to a safehouse, heal, wait a day to refresh their spells, and try again at full strength.

(This "15-minute work day" tactic is not a reflection on the player's tactics, but instead it is a glaring loophole of the game system: all versions of D&D had this problem).

Unless you change the giants and give them flying items (such as potions), there's nothing stopping the PCs from doing that.

Thanks kevin_video. That's what I thought.

I'm guessing since Thorn had placed king Ingolfr Issox at the atrium as his 'first line of defense', AND Thorn knows the PCs tactics very well (via Scrying), he would at least supply the giants with a potion or two.

(I may have to change Grigori's feats to give him Brew Potion...hahahah).

My PCs are about to assault the Agathium soon.

I have some concerns about the first encounter: with the Frost Giants and King Ingolfr Issox.

It states the battle with the Giants will be in the Atrium (room 1-2) with vaulted ceilings rising more than 100-ft in height.

What's to stop my players from flying to the ceiling (they almost always have Fly spells running)? Even if Ingolfr is considered 30-ft tall (and has a reach of 15-ft), the PCs would be out of melee range.

The best these giants could do would throw a few rocks...

And don't forget that increasing the linnorm's stats will also increase the curse. That's the only reason I'm not increasing any of this stuff. I know full well my PCs would never be able to do anything about that save. Granted the obelisk will be cure that, but you'd need PCs will a really good knowledge check. Although, your PCs could probably pull it off.

Is the boxed text (page 40) supposed to mean that the Death Curse of Nythoggr supersedes RAW (rules as written)? Because a RAW Linnorm's curse can simply be eliminated with a 3rd-level "Remove Curse" spell...