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Do 5 level 13 characters (Paladin, Rogue, Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid) have a chance against Karzoug? I mean, as written but without the minions.
I'm not experienced enough with Pathfinder high levels to really know if I need to tone him down first. I'm after challenging but not unwinnable.
Hi, I sent an email to customer servers a few days ago but as yet have received no reply. My order, sent as two shipments, was sent to an old address and was returned to sender - Paizo - before I realised. I have two addresses in your system but neither were set to default, and it seems the older one was picked, I've set my current address to default now. So what happens now? Will you let me know when it gets back to you (from Australia - I estimate about 1 week to go?) and we sort out getting it re-shipped to my current address?
SPOILER WARNING Our group is finding it increasingly difficult to get together to play. This is leading to months of time between sessions, which in turn leads to a disjointed recollection of events and the overall story. And the sense that it's all just dragging on. I'm in no position to wish away the real life responsibilities of the players but I may be able to streamline the path to the end by cutting anything extraneous. We're about half way through Hook Mountain Massacre. I've already ditched Black Magga and am thinking of removing the trek to the dam also. Once the witches are killed the rain will stop and Turtleback ferry will be safe. What other parts of the RotR aren't really essential to the main story and could potentially be removed?
I thought I might relay the fairly surprising end to my groups foray into the Manor. Part of The Skinsaw Murders:
To set the scene, the 5 character group has managed to work their way into the bowels of the Manor. One of the group died by their own hand as a result of the suicide haunt. The rest of the group sustained a fairly constant level of small wounds, leaving them feeling quite battered - though in reality they were not doing too bad, except for the Paladin who was badly injured and almost out of Lay On Hands. The Sorcerer was out of spells entirely. I've allowed the dead character (a monk) to continue as a spirit, trapped by Vorel's spirit in the house. He can attack undead normally but can only interact with the group via a limited poltergeist ability. He uses this to scrawl out messages using a quill. They have just finished an epic battle against the goblin ghasts and 4 ghouls in the large cavern just outside Vorel's lab. They decide, to my horror, to camp. In that room. I think the seawater made them feel it was somehow less dangerous than the rest of the house.
My hints that this was in no way a good idea go unheeded. I think they need a lesson, and also think when Aldern emerges for his killing this evening there is NO WAY he would just ignore the fact that the target of his ire is camped right on his doorstep. Aldern stealths right up to the paladin with an insanely high stealth roll and makes to backstab the paladin who has all of 12 hits.
So, what should have been a lesson in "don't camp on the Big Bad's doorstep" becomes "hey camp where you like and maybe it will save you the hassle of finding the big bad". Then, when they found Vorel's lab, they took one glance and just razed the whole room with a scroll of burning hands. They think it's all over and done with, so they leave the manor. Leaving their spirit friend still trapped in the house - he knows the house is far from cleansed. They will be back, though, when a Raise Dead fails to bring him back, because his soul is effectively trapped. But there again, a cunning plan of mine has been turned back on me - instead of helping the dead character by allowing them to continue to participate NOW they are in an awkward spot if I play things through logically. This group have an uncanny ability to turn my cunning plans back on me, even when they don't know what those plans are!
So, the healer (Druid) in our group is bored.
How do other GMs avoid this? I'm tempted to just hand her character a Wand of Cure Light Wounds so she can explore her other spells a bit. Druid spells are *so* situational she really needs to be able to fill her spell slots with a few spells. As a gnome, her combat skills are sub-par (although, her bear tears things to shreds!). That being said, she now has Wild Shape - dual wield bears! Maybe that should be her route but I suspect furry combat machine wasn't what she intended with her character. Any advice?
Since this will be littered with spoilers for The Skinsaw Murders and wrapping the whole thing in a spoiler tag seems silly: *** Spoiler Alert *** One of the characters died to Traver's suicide compulsion. It was a tragic, tragic incident involving rolls of 1, 2 and 1. Seriously. I was so flummoxed I simply followed the AP and pronounced the proud monk dead.
However, in trying to make something better of the situation, I wondered what being dead inside Foxglove Manor might be like. Clearly, the dead here do not rest quietly - so why would a PC? Having a PC in the house as a spirit could be really interesting. I imagine things look completely different on "the other side", and the PC could very well then interact directly with the other spirits like Traver, Cyralie, Iesha and Vorel. The first thing I'll need is to understand what a spirit PC is capable of, especially how they can interact with the rest of the party back in the real world. Any suggestions/advice? Has anyone done, or seen similar done, before?
Hi all, I've struggled a bit with balancing encounters in RotR (currently about to wrap up Thistletop). The encounters as written seem laughably easy for my 5 character party, which includes a paladin, monk, sorcerer, fighter (Archer)/rogue and a druid whose bear companion is quite effective in combat. Both to make things a little tougher, and inject some realism (the party have not been subtle), I've tried combining encounters into larger battles (e.g. Bruthazmus, Lyrie and Orik hitting the party as a group). The result has not been what I had hoped. Whilst more challenging (certainly for the poor paladin who bears the brunt of the damage) the combats take ages to play through and leave the party bereft of healing. As a result, they've taken 3 days in-game to work through Thistletop and are likely to take one more to complete it. The result feels more like a siege than an adventure. Have I missed the intent of the authors and should I revert back to the encounters as written?
Any advice or observations will be appreciated.
Hi all, I'm GMing RotR and we're just past the Glassworks in RotR. I'm finding the work to sufficiently flesh out Sandpoint quite a burden. But I really want to "bring it to life" rather than simply leave it as a 2D backdrop to the story. The community content provided here has been immensely useful, but not quite enough. I've read that there is Sandpoint related content in the first part of Jade Regent. Is it worth buying that just for the parts that might be useful in RotR?
Any other suggestions to help me fill out my depiction of the town? |
