Damn. I'm the GM of No Quest for the Wicked and it's absolutely buckwild to see our show on the Paizo blog. Lowkey freaking out right now. We're hoping we can make it to GenCon proper soon so that we can say hi in person!
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Hey all, I wanted to clarify how a turn would break down if an Alchemist were to use Delayed Consumption and Flash Forward. So, at the beginning of the day, the Alchemist drinks Delayed Consumption along with Flash Forward, effectively storing that spell to be activated as an immediate action. Later in the day, the Alchemist is in combat. On their turn, they activate Flash Forward as an immediate action. Does the Alchemist still get their full turn (minus an immediate action) after the triggered Flash Forward since activating it was an immediate action? If the Alchemist has the Grab ability and successfully grabs an enemy at the end of the charge Flash Forward allows, does that enemy come back to the Alchemist's original position as well since grappled is a condition and it says all conditions remain? Thanks in advance!
Hey folks! So, I was a PC in a campaign before our GM had to drop out at which point I killed off my character and took over as GM. We've since had the GM return and I'd like to start playing again (luckily, I only read the book I GM'd for and only know a few spoilers, but I'm big into not meta-gaming, so that's not an issue). Here's the problem, now that I get to play again, I can't really decide on what direction I want to take my character, so I'm looking for some insight into what some more experienced players would do or any suggestions in a different direction. Here are the details with an explanation afterwards. Human Rogue 5/Oracle 1
Feats
Rogue Talents
Oracle Revelations
Combat Strategy
The biggest drawback is that using a spear and bow means that I have to focus on both Strength and Dexterity to hit as opposed to taking the Weapon Finesse route and only using Dex (and later getting the Agile enchantment to put the entire game into Dexterity). Roleplay
For Brandt's return, I have two options. He was either revived by Sarenrae or by a new god (I'm favouring Ragathiel). Options for Advancement
I could keep going Rogue for the rest of the levels to boost damage output with Sneak Attack and use my minor spell casting abilities and channel energy to save the Cleric's spell slots for more useful things. Unfortunately, I wanted to start using Spring-Heeled Style to run around and smack people all over the battlefield, using the movement to trigger my Skirmisher ability, but Shot On The Run and Spring Attack are full-round actions and Skirmisher states that you need to use an attack action after moving 10 feet, so that squashes that plan. Alternatively... I could get tricky and pop into Prestige Classes. Mystery Cultist: Ragathiel
Evangelist: Sarenrae
Party Composition
So, thoughts? Suggestions? Insights? I know a lot of this would be what I would personally prefer, but I'd like to hear some brainstorming of ideas from people who know the game a bit better than I do as to pros and cons of various paths.
Thanks for the info! Really appreciated. Pure RAW, it's possible to use the SLA and summon the Eidolon with the regular ritual afterwards, but that's an oversight and the GM (that's you I take it) should be disallow it if the player abuses it. In that case, I'd suggest an exception for using the Summon Eidolon spell with an active SLA. As in you mean they can use the Summon Monster ability and THEN use their class ability to summon their Eidolon? Because from what I've understood from the rules is that they can only have one active at a time and when they activate the other, the first one ends. Drawing upon this ability uses up the same power as the summoner uses to call his eidolon. As a result, he can only use this ability when his eidolon is not summoned. My interpretation of that is that if the Eidolon is summoned while a creature from their Summon Monster ability is present, it disappears and is replaced by the Eidolon. Word of cauting regarding Eidolon rules because this part is often misunderstood: The limit on natural attacks includes the Eidolon's starting evolutions gained from the base form, and limits what evolutions can be taken, not the actual natural attacks made later on. So a level 8 quadruped Eidolon can not have the Claws evolution twice (no "I only use the claws and not the bite"), but it is allowed to make 5 natural attacks under the effects of Haste. Unfortunately, you've completely lost me here, haha. I'm going to try and break it down to see if I understand. So, right now, I believe my Summoner is using a level 10 Quadruped Eidolon. At level 10, it has a max attack of five. Meaning, that it can only gain four additional attacks (since it starts with a bite)? I'm pretty sure he's just growing a ton of heads, so it'll only be bites.
I've got a campaign coming up with a Summoner in the group and I've never played with one before, so I'd like to get a few rules sorted out before we hit the table. Here's the scenario: Summoner has her Eidolon summoned during a fight. An enemy spell caster uses Dismissal or Banishment on the Eidolon to send it back to its home plane. Can the Summoner then use Maker's Call to bring the Eidolon back without paying the hefty 1 minute downtime trying to bring him back during combat? My concern is that Maker's Call functions as Dimension Door, which, as far as I know, cannot be used to travel between planes. So, if the Eidolon is banished to its home plane, it cannot be summoned back to the Summoner's side using Maker's Call. Alternatively, if the Summoner attempted to switch places with the Eidolon while it remains in its home plane using Transposition how would the range restrictions play out on the Eidolon. For example, if an Eidolon is more than 10,000 feet, it's instantly banished. If they Summoner swapped places with the Eidolon while it was in another plane, would it instantly be banished because I assume another plane counts as more than 10,000 feet away? And finally, Summoner's gain the ability to use the Summon Monster spells as a spell-like ability. The ability says it only works when the Eidolon is not summoned and no other Summon Monster spells are active, but can she use that Summon Monster spell-like ability AND cast the actual spell(s) to have both active at once? Thanks in advance!
Hey folks, I've been running Rise of the Runelords with my group for about a year now, but our Cleric is leaving for a few months to do some travelling and since my group are best friends, we want to keep hanging out and playing every week. So, I've decided I'd do a short campaign that revolves around a group of strangers trying to escape a dungeon together. The basic premise is that our heroes wake up in individual cells with no gear, must find a way out, find their gear and break out of the tower. However, the tower is a magical entity and each floor has a unique challenge and can even change shapes, as in one floor could be a typical dungeon style level, but the next floor is a jungle and the one after that is a fiery volcano. The party must make their way to the surface above to escape. I'm giving my players a blank check to make the most ridiculous characters (no third party stuff) so most classes/races are allowed. Doing a 20 point buy and starting at level 10. I'm mulling over how to deal with gear. When they find their stash of gear, they'll find one weapon of their choice, but with a random enchantment, one armor of their choice with a random enchantment and one random slotless magic item. I'm thinking of starting them off with 10,000 GP to purchase other items that they'll find in their chests as gear they'd like for whatever their build is. What are you thoughts on this? Too much money or not enough for a level 10 party? All loot found during the adventure will be randomly rolled. Next, I'd love to hear about some of your favourite moments so that I can try to work them into the campaign. I want this to be just the most entertaining/ridiculous campaign to break up the serious doom and gloom of Runelords. So, what were your favourite fights, puzzles or scenarios you've experienced or run. Or have you always wanted to run something, but never got a chance? Let me know what you're dream campaign would look like!
Well... you typically wouldn't be able to move 10 feet and also make a full attack anyhow, as far as full attacks go. Skirmisher is there so that you don't have to charge to get a free Sneak Attack. Yeah, my initial plan for my character: Shot on the Run + Skirmisher to open my attack paired with Rapid Shot (an extra attack) and Manyshot (an extra damage dice) to offset losing a multiple attacks from BAB in exchange for the single attack Shot on the Run offers. So, I'd move 10 feet to get an angle, shoot, reposition with my remaining move to a good charge spot. Benefiting from Opening Volley and Jaguar Pounce, I'd charge in with a +6 bonus to attack and deal sneak damage and a higher critical threat. Once in melee range, use Spring Attack to pester the enemies with attacks and eventually Spring-Heeled Style's multiple attacks. That was before I realized the difference in language between full round action, full attack action and attack action. I thought any time you made an attack, it was an attack action and not a specific classification of action. So, my entire build has just sort of crumbled because practically none of that works, haha. I guess my next route of attack is to pump up Vital Strike to offset losing my extra attacks by tossing in extra damage die?
So, when I made my character way back when, we were all new to the game and didn't really know how anything worked. So, imagine my excitement when I read you the Scout Archetype for Rogue. It was exactly the kinda build I wanted to do, whipping around the battle field shooting from afar and then charging in and repeat. But now that I'm more used to the rules, I've realized that I've kinda wrecked myself because of wording. For example, the Skirmisher ability:
I just want to make sure I'm interpreting this correctly: because it says "makes an attack action" that means I can't pair this ability up with Spring Attack or Shot on the Run because they're full round actions. And because they're full round actions, I can't pair Shot on the Run with things like Rapid Shot and Manyshot because they only trigger as part of full attack actions. So, now I'm worried I've crippled myself for future growth because if I want to take advantage of this archetype, I can never make a full attack.
Oh s&~&. You're totally right. Thank you!
I apologize, but I'm just confirming that you're saying all of her stat block factors in all of the correct bonuses/penalties and I should just roll with what it says and go: 1st attack: Main hand: +18
I agree, for someone who's supposed to be so good at manipulation and smart enough to orchestrate the whole Turtleback Ferry/Skull's Crossing scheme, she's awfully bad at planning her own survival. In my campaign she managed to escape to Hook Mountain, so they will be encountering her alongside Barl and a few Stone Giants (my players are running through the enemies, so I've beefed up most encounters).
That's what I've always gone under the assumption of, but then the Mage Armor spell was active even though there is a chance that she might not have active (if the characters surprise her/she's unaware of trouble). Especially when TWD always grants the +1 shield bonus, so long as you're wielding two weapons (or a double). Just seems odd that they'd include a spell that may not be cast in the stat block, but not not the bonus she gets from using the weapons she's listed as wielding. Similarly, when you come across the Black Arrows captain, his before combat tactics are "casts all his spells if he has a chance" and they're included in his stat block. I just kinda wish there was a clear clarification if they were indeed in the stat block instead of "if x conditions are met, they do this, but they're in the stat block anyway." Aaaahhhhh well! So, just to confirm, if she were making a full round attack, the proper stats would be: +16 main hand, +11 off hand, +6 second main hand attack. (-2 to all attacks from TWF)
Hey all, running the finale of Hook Mountain Massacre tomorrow and I've got some questions about Lucrecia's stat block and want to make sure I'm running her correctly. Unfortunately, the d20PFSRD site seems to have the old version of her, so I can't link the Anniversary Edition stat block. But I'll try to include all relevant info. For example the stat block reads: Melee +1 keen dagger +18/+13/+8 (1d4+8/17-20 +1 Wisdom drain on first strike in a round), mwk dagger +18/+13/+8 (1d4+7/17-20) If she's taking a full attack action, the first attack with the keen dagger is at +18, then her second attack with the mwk dagger is at +13 and her third attack is at +8? Or do I need to factor in the penalties of two-weapon fighting? Second, she possesses Two Weapon Defense but isn't listed as having a Shield Bonus to AC in her stat block. Finally, she's listed as having +4 armor, but isn't wearing any. Is that from her Mage Armor that her tactics describe as her casting on herself before combat if she senses trouble (as in, if she's caught unaware, it's not active and should be ignored from the stat block)? Thanks in advance!
Okay, with the raised points, I've made a few revisions. Changes are marked in bold. This movement acts as a charge action. It's a full-round action and obtains all the bonuses and penalties that a charge gives (-2 AC, +2 attack roll) and allow targets to brace against the attack. The attacker also benefits from high ground (+1 to attack). The character must succeed a touch attack (not ranged as normal dropping rules, because the character is the weapon and therefore making contact with the enemy). The body will be treated as in improvised weapon, so a -4 penalty will be added to the attack roll. Since the character will be free falling, range penalties will be added for improvised weapons (which is 10 feet) and will take a -2 to attack rolls per every 10 feet beyond the first 10. The target gets an attack of opportunity for the charger entering his threatened space. If the hit is successful, the target will take half of the damage dice for that size category (most likely large in this case, which is 4d6, so it will be 2d6) if the charger is the same size as the target as per the rules of dropping objects of lesser density. If the charger is larger than the target, full damage is done. Dropping on enemies larger than the charger has no effect. The charger will then be able to roll acrobatics in order to soften the landing with a DC of 20 (DC 15 as per the acrobatics rule + 5 for landing in a severely obstructed space) in order to further reduce damage and remain standing in an adjacent square of their choosing. The acrobatics DC increases by 2 for every increment that the charger exceeds his natural base speed (ex. If fly speed is 30 and he drops for 40ft, the DC to remain standing and negate damage would be 22, if he drops from 60 the DC would be 24, etc). If the charger fails the acrobatic roll, he falls prone in a random square adjacent to his target and takes full fall damage. The target gets to attempt a DC 15 Reflex save in order to halve the damage. As per the speed increments increasing the charger's acrobatics DC, so too does it increase the target's Reflex DC by 2 in the same manner. If the targets fails its Reflex save, it falls prone due to the impact of the landing. Any magical effects, including items, that reduces to fall damage halves the amount d6 rolled as momentum is being sacrificed for safety. So, here's my current predicament. The character in question is an alchemist and therefore has "Throw Anything" which negates the penalties of ranged improvised weapons. However, since he's technically not throwing anything, I feel as though this shouldn't apply, but RAW, it does. Hence why I have the charger making a touch attack, as opposed to a ranged touch attack. It makes sense since nothing is being thrown and the character is the weapon, that a touch would be needed in this case as opposed to a situation where a rock is dropped on something and hoping your aim was right with a ranged touch. Alternatively, if the attack is considered an unarmed strike, the player would have to take Improved Unarmed Strike in order to deal lethal damage and to avoid another attack of opportunity (if the target has Combat Reflexes); one from attacking untrained with unarmed strikes and another for entering the threatened space.
So, here's what I think my official ruling is going to be. It's kind of a mish-mash of various rules and previous suggestions, but I think it makes the most logistical sense. I'm open to suggestions. Dropping Onto An Enemy: This movement acts as a charge action. It's a full-round action and obtains all the bonuses and penalties that a charge gives (-2 AC, +2 attack roll) and allow targets to brace against the attack. The character must succeed a touch attack (not ranged as normal dropping rules, because the character is the weapon and therefore making contact with the enemy). The body will be treated as in improvised weapon, so a -4 penalty will be added to the attack roll. Since the character will be free falling, range penalties will be added for improvised weapons (which is 10 feet) and will take a -2 to attack rolls per every 10 feet beyond the first 10. The target gets an attack of opportunity for the charger entering his threatened space. If the hit is successful, the target will take half of the damage dice for that size category (most likely large in this case, which is 4d6, so it will be 2d6) as per the rules of dropping objects of lesser density. The charger will then be able to roll acrobatics in order to soften the landing with a DC of 20 (DC 15 as per the acrobatics rule + 5 for landing in a severely obstructed space) in order to further reduce damage and remain standing in an adjacent square of their choosing. If the charger fails the acrobatic roll, he falls prone in a random square adjacent to his target and takes full fall damage. The target gets to attempt a DC 15 Reflex save in order to halve the damage. Thoughts on this monster of a ruling? Did I miss anything? Anything seem unfair or exploitable?
Thanks for all the well thought out responses, friends! I'm going to have to go through them all properly and mark down the most effective and propose it to my player so he can plan in advance.
Hey! So, I want to sort this out before it comes up in my game. I have a player who will be gaining the ability to fly shortly and has stated that he wants to fly up and then, essentially, dive bomb/body slam/land on the enemies as a means of dealing damage. I told him that would also deal damage to him considering he's slamming himself into the ground/enemy as well. This is a big one, so thanks in advance! Here's what I imagine his reasoning is:
And then to use the falling object damage list to deal 4d6 points of damage (since he's usually under Enlarge Person]. I want to clarify how to approach this tactic. For example, the player's plan is to fly up 30 feet and then deliberately fall onto an enemy and deal 4d6 points of damage. At that point, he'd be taking 3d6 (1d6 per 10 feet), but the first d6 would be non-lethal and if he succeeded his Acrobatics check the second d6 would be negated, so he'd only be taking 1d6 points of damage. At that point, I assume the enemies, so long as they're not flat-footed, would get a Reflex save as per dropping an item on an enemy does. My problem lies in a few details. First, in order to land on an enemy in such a way that would deal damage, you'd have to enter their threatened space. If they're aware of you, would they get an attack of opportunity on the falling creature? Second, since you're entering a character's square should an Acrobatic check be made similar to tumbling (5 + enemy's CMD) to see if you can even enter into it. Third, again, to land on an enemy, you would have to end your turn on their square, which you can't do. What do the experts think?
I'm having a discussion with one of my friends in regards to the wording of "Feral Combat Training" in terms of it's use of prerequisites. Feral Combat Training says:
Choose one of your natural weapons. While using the selected natural weapon, you can apply the effects of feats that have Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite. He's understanding that as once you take Feral Combat Training, you can now apply ANY feat that has Improved Unarmed Strike as a prerequisite without a) taking that feat or b) having any of the other prerequisites. Implying that Feral Combat Training is a shortcut to things like Jabbing Master without having to take Jabbing Style, Jabbing Dancer and the other feats that come before. Whereas I'm trying to explain that all Feral Combat Training does is now allow you to apply feats that only affect Unarmed Strikes to your selected Natural Attack (since Unarmed Strikes are not the same as Natural Attacks) and that you still need to a) take the feat in order to apply its effects and b) have all other prerequisites to take that feat.
Well, the AP says that the south gate is guarded by three ogres along with Minktuck. Other than that, you're correct, the rest of them are just causing mayhem.
So, currently, I'm having the Black Arrows give them some insight on the base and possible tactics, but because of their wounds they suffered from their time at the Grauls', they are unable to aid in battle (I don't want to give them extra help, nor bog down battle with NPC turns). However, my plan is to have Kaven away from the recovering Black Arrows and make it to the Fort ahead of the PCs and set traps. One of them being, if the PCs get close enough to the tower, having him collapse it on them before trapping some important doors within the base before alerting Lucrecia. Now, some more logistical questions because I can't seem to find the info anywhere. How deep would you say the river around the fort is? I'm thinking 10 feet and then increasing in depth by the waterfall to 20-25 feet. Also, are the ogres stationed at the gates on the walls or are they guarding on the ground outside the walls or inside the walls?
That's what I thought too, but never thought of adding them to the battle! The alliance with the Eagles is never really expressly talked about in the actual story, but it's such a nice little flavour. Perhaps, during the planning phase when the Black Arrows are detailing possible tactics, they can mention the Eagles could have helped, but are likely all dead now. That way they're introduced and can be an option to drop in if things get hairy in the courtyard. Also, I'm trying to think of some environmental things that could happen, like having one character need to manually close a gate to stop more enemies from coming (I know this wouldn't work well in this scenario, but something along those lines). Suggestions on that?
Thanks for all of the suggestions! My big plan was to avoid a lot of the "you enter a room and there's x amount of ogres" here because the Graul homestead felt REALLY stagnant. I'm hoping to have somewhat of a large, wave after wave, courtyard battle (adjusting Ogre numbers and strength as needed). I really want my PCs to feel like they're retaking the fort, but I also want them to have to work together and use their environment to their advantage such as the crumbling tower and the sketchy barracks. I already planned to leave the Black Arrows out of most of the fighting, playing up the horrors of their time at the Graul's, they'd be in no fighting condition any time soon to avoid, as people said, bogging down the combat with a bunch of NPC movement. I'm looking forward to toying with my party with Lucrecia as their fight with Xanesha ended up in two deaths and the party temporarily disbanding after our fighter turned on the party to help Xanesha (she promised him power to save his people). He's since found Sarenrae and is on a path of redemption and I'm sure he's eager to settle the score and Lucrecia is just as eager to twist that knife of betrayal again. Assuming she knows of this from the chain of command, since Xanesha was wearing a Sihedron Medallion and that would all scrying from Karzoug.
What is the makeup of your PC party ? I've got a Fighter/Alchemist, a Rogue/Shadowdancer, a Cleric (Luck/Air) and a Monk/Wizard.
Hey all! I'll be running the Fort Rannick encounter soon and from my point of view, it's one of the coolest instances in the AP, probably the best one at that point in time, and I'd REALLY like to give it a power punch. So, I'm looking for some suggestions (changes from the AP are welcome!) from GMs on how to really make the re-taking a blast for my PCs.
A little update, I've finished the little side-quest with Tarimm and it went favourably. Just waiting for the next session with the rest of the players to see how they cope with everything (Tarimm will be absent from a few sessions, so his in-game absent will actually be felt!). If you're all interested, I'll happily write a brief summary of how it all plays out and hopefully, how I pieced it all back together again!
I get (and think we all get) that the character's origin and some development happened before you took the wheel. But you have the wheel now and you're driving the car. Where it goes is on you. And you've gotten a lot of judgement disguised as feedback (from me included.) We're all reacting to the player v. player activity and our experiences with how distasteful and destructive it can be. That you openly invited the outcome only threw gasoline on the fire. Yes, dark forces would make corrupting offers to the pc's and having that happen increases the authenticity of the world etc. But a GM had better be really confident in how it's going to play out if he goes down that road. You're absolutely right, I goofed hard on this one. I was banking on the fact that I had a very specific conversation with all of the players about moving forward as a cohesive group (to keep character tension, but still have a unified goal) and everyone seemed to be on the same page. I wanted to use this as a story reason where Tarimm finally solidifies his allegiance to group (which was slowly building prior to this). But, alas, it went haywire and here I am. And as a first time GM, I guess I learned a valuable lesson. In case any of you are wondering how I'm dealing with this currently, here's what I've been doing. I'm actually roommates with Tarimm's player, so it lends itself to easy "solo sessions" that I've been running in hopes of guiding him back on track. I'm hoping by running him through these sessions he has suitable character motivation to not only work with the party again, but be willing to do what they need him to do in order to trust him again. The conditions I'm going to set in order to move on are: - Renounce Lamashtu, as many have said, she's a recurring villain in this AP and would not ally herself with a character who frequently disrupts her plans. Not to mention, she's crazy evil.
It is my hope that the tables will then change. Instead of the group urging Tarimm to do good or care about the problems of others, it will then by Tarimm urging the group to trust him again in order to fulfill their destinies. Wish me luck, friends.
A lot of these decisions were made when I was still a player at the table before I assumed the role of GM. I spent whatever time I could trying to guide Tarimm to the light and had even had out of game conversations with everyone about working with me to ensure they (and their characters) cared about the story and the group moving forward. And by "best roleplayer" I mean that he stays in character the best. When he's at the table, he's Tarimm the entire night. But that ship has sailed, and now you have to deal with it. Tarimm has to change, or he has to go. Fortunately, there is a way out of this that can satisfy the other PC's if Tarimm's player agrees to it, and that's the Atonement spell. You should have zero problems in Magnimar finding a high level cleric (I like the suggestion of a clerifc of Sarenrae) to raise the characters who died in service to the city, and also to do an atonement for Tarimm. He fell under Lamashtu's influence, and can be saved. Problem solved. Atonement can be the motivation for the next step in the adventure, which is Fort Rannick. I wasn't aware of the Atonement spell. I like that! Thank you for that suggestion. Oh, and I'll add this as it might serve as some solace to the players whose characters died: the fight with Xanesha is quite deadly. If you go read the many RotR journals, you'll see it is pretty common for this encounter to end in at least one PC's death. Two deaths is a little unusual, but one is not. It's one of the best, and toughest, boss fights out there. Our rogue had a series of unlucky roles and suffered to massive damage via the bell on the way up the clocktower, which burnt through some of the clerics healing spells, so they were short handed heading into Xanesha. But the battle was incredibly epic, especially with Tarimm's betrayal (despite that fallout that ensued).
I have to ask because the answer to this is important. Has Tarimm always been a worshiper of Lamashtu, and this is something that was just revealed? Or was this "pray to Lamashtu" bit a one-off thing that Tarimm's player chose as a result of these events? It's the first time he's openly done it. However, because he is obsessed with power, and he saw what Lamashtu did "for" Nualia in Sandpoint, he ended up taking a fancy to her. Also, our previous GM (who I took over for) allowed our party to attempt to save Nualia from Lamashtu's influence. We captured her alive at Thistletop, brought he back to the cathedral and attempted to free Nualia, however, it failed and Nualia ended up becoming a conduit for Lamashtu who just wrecked a bunch of s$&% while trying to kill us before my character summoned a favour from Sarenrae to banish her. During that "encounter" Lamashtu said she saw promise and strength in Tarimm and, presumably, that's where the connection began. Tarimm is also an Alchemist who is slowly undergoing a monstrous transformation. He uses the feral mutagen, growing extra arms, etc. So, the Lamashtu thing isn't too far off from his actual character.
I agree, I've sat down and chatted with the cleric and rogue and I'll be sitting down with Tarimm tonight to chat and to run a small little one-on-one "what next" session. As much as I'd love to turn Tarimm into a villain, I know his player won't want to abandon him. He's the best roleplayer in the group and probably the most dedicated to out-of-game research. He's been building Tarimm for months and I doubt he'd want to just flush that all away. Although, I feel like an ultimatum is going to have to be proposed. Tarimm needs to change or you're going to need a new character.
Hey all! So, I'm running my first campaign of Rise of the Runelords and I've got a bit of a dilemma on my hand. My party just fought and (barely) defeated Xanesha. Since Xanesha is all about manipulation and control, I thought it would be cool for her to target one of the characters, Tarimm, (who is obsessed with getting more powerful to avenge his father's death) and invade his dreams with promises of immense power. She'd often tell him to avoid places that would further reveal her plans in an effort to stop him and the party. When they climbed the Shadow Clock and reached the top, the party wanted to rest for a second and rebuff themselves up, sensing a fight incoming, but I had the Major Image demon rattle them and threaten them from above and also had Xanesha charm Tarimm to lure him onto the rooftop with more promises of power. The rest of the party followed. PERFECT. On top of the roof, the Major Image demon offered Tarimm all the power he could want IF he killed his companions. I was hoping this would be a turning point for the character, having to choose between revenge and the companions he's been adventuring with, and finally giving him the chance to make the group a cohesive unit! Or so I thought... until Tarimm willingly choose to attack his "friends." Immediately, this put a rift in the party. Assuming the illusion was controlling Tarimm, our cleric flew up to it and tried to attack, succeeded his will save and recognized it as fake and informed the group. Annoyed, Xanesha engaged them. Tarimm, furious he had been duped, rejoined the group to fight Xanesha. During the fight our rogue and our monk both died. Towards the end, when it looked grim, Tarimm began praying to Lamashtu for help (something he's never done before in front of the group). The cleric and Tarimm finished off Xanesha with some lucky crits, but when the battle was over the cleric confronted Tarimm for not only attacking them, but worshipping Lamashtu (the cleric is from Sandpoint and obviously resent Lamashtu for her plans for his home). They briefly fight, the cleric nearly kills Tarimm, but being of good alignment, he allowed Tarimm to leave on the condition that he never shows his face to the group again. So, now I've got two dead players and a cleric who's sworn to kill Tarimm if they cross paths again and Tarimm himself has denounced the group. It all spiraled so far out of control and I'm at a loss of what to do next. My current plan: - The cleric can appeal to the Church of Sarenrae, having just destroyed a bunch of evil artifacts from the Skinsaw Cult, they should be willing to revive his dead friends.
If they help him, that could sway his disposition towards them. Owing them a favour for saving his life. But there's a VERY likely chance that they'll leave him to die, hell, the rogue could even finish him off. So... anyone got any thoughts?
I always just say that everything (within reason) is available. I guess my fear here was that because we're all fairly new to the game (and I don't know how purchasable items end up panning out towards end game), I don't want them to be able to over-power themselves too early on. I know that's somewhat locked by the amount of gold they receive (which is the one thing I'm following the AP strictly on). But if the general consensus is to just let people browse online resources for magical items and let them buy whatever they want, so long as they can afford it, then that takes a whole workload off of my back.
Hey there! I'm a new GM running Rise of the Runelords and we're just about enter Magnimar for the first time. I picked up the GM mantle mid-game because of scheduling issues with our last GM, so I already had access to the Sandpoint shops he had created/found. We use Google Drive for most of our information, but play in person. Our Sandpoint shop was an Google Sheets file players could look at in between sessions and buy from, but I've been trying to find something made for Magnimar with no luck. Is there an easy way to create shops? Is there one for Magnimar that already exists I could just pull and use in my campaign? How do YOU make a shop? Cheers!
Thanks for the info, guys! Ran the session with a lot of your notes and suggestions and it went great! It was a tough way to jump into the roll of GM, since it seems the Misgivings is pretty widely accepted as the least favourite part of Rise of the Runelords, but I added some extra flavour from the character's backstory to keep them intrigued and invested in in continuing the investigation. Thanks again, my players ended up loving the session!
Hey all, So, our GM recently backed out and being a natural story-teller and most familiar with the rules, I'll be transitioning from PC to GM. We just got started in Foxglove Manor, exploring most of the main floor and having just moved into the hallway with all the paintings when we ended our last session. Now, I was part of the PC party for the first chunk of the mansion and now that I've got the GM book in my hands, I don't see how players are supposed to function after progressing through all the haunts. When we last played, we had pretty much given up exploring the manor due to the severe penalties we all were accumulating. A bunch of us contracted Vorel's Phage, not to mention repeated failed will saves hammering our wisdom. How are you supposed to guide your PCs through this encounter while still leaving them in capable fighting and functioning condition? And how do you make sure they want to keep exploring despite the risks? A couple of unlucky rolls and our Cleric could be puttering about with -8 wisdom?! As a first time GM, I'd love some advice. Thanks!
Hey all! I'm a fairly new player. Just hit level five and completed the first chapter of Rise of the Runelords. My entire group is totally in love with it so far (we're all first time players), but we're getting a little frustrated with the lack of gold we're receiving. Browsing the shops, we see there are tons of expensive stuff (that we'd like to get!), but we just haven't even come close to accumulating the wealth to do so. Our GM usually squashes any attempt I make, as a rogue, to sweet talk NPCs into rewards and the loot we've found rarely covers our expenses for our potion supplies. None of us have really surpassed the 1000GP limit yet. We split all gold found evenly amoungst our five members unless it's award to a specific character for a specific reason. Our biggest pay out was a hidden chest in Thistletop, so far. But we figured beating the final boss (not naming names for spoiler reasons) would yield a higher gold payout than 15GP each. Granted, we haven't appraised or sold any of the gear we looted off her yet. I just feel like we'll be leaving Sandpoint soon and we haven't had the chance to accumulate the wealth needed to buy any of the more useful items in the stores yet! Is this a standard thing? Is our GM not scaling the gold drops for the size of our party? Or should we just expect to be scraping by for awhile? Is there something we're doing wrong as a party? |