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So last session my players reached start of the road to Xin-Shalast. Such is a cause for song and celebration (or so says our party bard).

We're off to fight the Runelord,
The terrible Runelord of Greed
He hear he was a ruler of Xin
If ever an evil wiz there was
If ever, oh ever an evil wiz there was
The Runelord of Greed is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the horrible things he does

We're off to fight the Runelord,
The terrible Runelord of Greed

Anyone looking for a game in Kenya at the end of July?

Members of the UAE Lodge will be running Scions of the Sky Key Part 1 under core campaign rules on the rim of the stratovolcano Mount Longonot.

We'll be running one table. Well, I say table, but it depends if we can find one light enough to lug up the volcanic slopes.

Event details

If you can't make the crater rim, we'll see about running some sessions in Nairobi or Mombasa during the first two weeks of August.

You can contact me via email in the event listing if interested.

... or even better, a volcano in Garund.

Some of you may remember the UAE PFS lodge running games in the Arabian desert a couple of years ago, and the boards provided some great ideas for desert-based scenarios we could run.

This summer we're going abroad. I won't reveal the whole of the plan just yet, but if anyone could point me to a scenario set in or around a volcano, or the Garundi savannah, it would be very useful.

I've a player who's taken Enforcer and Orc Weapon Expertise (Thug) for his half-orc inquisitor. By his interpretation the combination is devastating.

Quick overview:

Enforcer allows Intimidate as a free action when you do non-lethal damage. The amount of damage done is how many rounds an opponent is shaken.

Orc Weapon Expertise (Thug) means you always do 1 point of non-lethal damage on a successful attack in addition to the regular weapon damage.

My player's interpretation is that if he hits with his greatsword, doing say 11 pointds of damage, plus his 1 point of non-lethal damage, a succesful Intimidate makes the target Shaken for 12 rounds.

That's true by RAW. I wonder if the Shaken is only for 1 round under RAI, as he only did 1 point of non-lethal damage.

Reviewing the build, I also note that Orc Weapon Expertise applies only when using a weapon woth 'orc' in the name. Are there any beside the orc double axe?

For my Runelords campaign I've prepped a little songlist for Ameiko to play at various times in the Rusty Dragon.

I've decided to use the Yorkshire folksinger Kate Rusby as a stand-in for Ameiko for a couple of reasons (not least of which is I love her work and have a good deal of it).

1) Rusby works exclusively acoustically.

2) Her repertoire being primarily traditional folk songs, it's in keeping for a fantasy game. Rustic songs, old love songs, sea shanties.

3) She has an amazing voice, which is very much in keeping with Ameiko.

The downside is that Rusby doesn't play the samisen. ;)

I'm not planning on overdoing it, because not all my players share my taste in music. Just enough to give them a taste and do some scene-setting.

Here's a description of the songs I'm planning to use (including the version; Rusby's done several recordings of some of her songs), and links to YouTube performances in case anyone else wants to follow suit.

The evening before the Swallowtail Festival

I'm planning this as a kind of pre-session so PCs can meet and interact with Ameiko and other Sandpoint locals before the festival.

Sir Eglamore (studio version from the Hourglass album)

An upbeat nonsense song about a knight fighting a dragon. Cheerful, and sets the scene for what happens to Sandpoint later. YouTube link to this version.

Matt Hyland (studio version from the Little Lights album)

Heaps of foreshadowing. A story of a beautiful young noblewoman whose father disapproves of her choices. There was a lord, who lived in this town, who had a handsome lovely daughter... The secret love angle helps introduce one of the rumours about Ameiko (and I have no hesitation about having an NPC turn round as Ameiko's playing it and telling the PCs the rumour). It could have been written for Runelords. YouTube link to this version

Optional addition: Sho Heen (re-recorded studio version from the 20 album)

This version has a gentle banjo backing that's about as close to a samisen as anything in my music collection. It also lets Rusby's voice soar. However, it's optional because it's just a beautiful song and doesn't serve to foreshadow or introduce any background. YouTube link to an earlier version without the banjo

The evening after the goblin raid

Who now will sing me lullabies? (studio version from the Hourglass album)

A deeply emotional song of mourning and grief. Grown men will weep. An NPC will turn teary-eyed to the PCs and explain Ameiko wrote it after her mother's death. Ameiko will play this song, then close the Rusty Dragon early. Since the PCs are staying at the Rusty Dragon, that gives them a chance for some interaction time with Ameiko and Bethana.YouTube link to live version

Subsequent evenings

Let Me Be (studio version from Underneath the Stars)

A jaunty song about a woman wishing suitors would leave her alone fits Ameiko quite well. (They say a girl like me should wed, take a man to lay in my bed, but I would rather stay young and free and, oh, I wish they would let me be...) YouTube live version.

The Duke and the Tinker (Studio version from Sleepless)

All the slow, sentimental stuff needs a lift. A bit more upbeat and funnier. YouTube link

The Wild Goose (studio version from Sleepless)

A rousing sea shanty that Rusby, in her own words, "coloured pink and made girly". If you want something closer to the original, you'll find your pirate crew singing it in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. YouTube link to live version

Bring me a Boat (studio version from Underneath the Stars)

Just a lovely song. This version has the samisen-like banjo. The disadvantage is that there's an inappropriate geographical reference, to the River Tyne in England. I think I'll get away with it. YouTube link to this version

As part of a Gulf Roleplaying Community social trip to the desert outside Dubai, several of us in the UAE PFS lodge played a couple of sessions.

Here's the story (and pictures) - The Dice Must Flow: PFS in the Desert.

In a PFS game, a player wanted his PC to use his lucerne hammer (10-foot reach) in a fairly small area - a 20ftx30ft cavern littered with sizeable stalactites and stalagmites. It's the stalactites and stalagmites that made me wonder how easy it would be to use such a weapon among them.

On a judgement call, I told him to make a DC10 DEX check to alter direction, or he could make it part of a move action. Post-game research leads me to believe my judgement call was wrong.

The issue of threat zones for reach weapons has been fairly well duscissed in THIS POST, and there has been some discussion of two-handed weapons in confined spaces (there are no special rules), but I see nothing of reach weapons in confined or restricted spaces.

I can't find anything in the FAQ to cover it.

This leads me to believe that there are no real restrictions on reach weapons in confined spaces. He could attack a creature 10 feet in front of him, and get an attack of opportunity against another creature leaving the threat zone behind him with no penalty, despite the fact that he's standing betwene to stone columns.

Am I correct?

Please note that this is a PFS situation, so I'm looking for Rules As Written answers.

What we believe is the first PFS game held in Dubai took place earlier today, and it was a rare treat for me as I usually sit behind the GM screen. This time I actually got to play, as our UAE Venture-Captain, Mike, was in the hot seat. Huzzah!

So that's our first milestone achieved for the UAE PFS branch.

Thoroughly enjoyed the game - we played Confirmation - and Mike's an excellent GM. Playing in one of his games was another new experience for me - he's been playing in mine.

It was also nice to meet a roving PFS player, who squeezed in the session just before flying back home from a holiday. I hope we're able to run more games for PFS members passing through or visiting Dubai - it's great to feel part of a larger community, and to meet fellow Pathfinder enthusiasts from other parts of the world.