BretI's page

I have not played all of them yet, but agree that Q20 The Dacilane Academy's Show Must Go On is the longest of them. I also agree it is about three hours.

We have been able to run Q14 The Swordlord’s Challenge and Q16 The Winter Queen’s Dollhouse in a two hour slot reliably.

One and a half to two hours is definitely a sweet spot for scheduling these quests. If they run much longer than that it becomes more difficult to sell them as short adventures. This can be a big deal for conventions and stores with limited hours.

It shouldn’t say basic reflex at all since it doesn’t do damage. It should probably be Reflex negates.

I would rule an attended object would use the Reflex save of the creature that has it while an unattended object would automatically fail the Reflex save.

avagdu wrote:

Now, if something has a skill or saving throw value of over 100, that's obviously an error, but if the number is "+112", should we assume that it's supposed to be "+11" or "+12"? Saying that GMs should fix obvious typos or errors is a great start, but there needs to be some sort of guideline for folks to refer to.

:AskYourGM:

sorry emoji don't work here

Serious answer: use your best judgement. If this is an attack bonus, I'm gonna look at what the monster is supposed to do. If they're a big bruiser, I'm giving them +12; a rogue or a spellcaster is getting a +11. I don't think I can give guidelines for how to correct obvious typos without going mad down an infinite spiral of possibility.

Perhaps the correcting errors could start with something being outside the expected values given in the GM Core.

You have a whole chapter of GM Core on Building Hazards and Building Creatures. If the Attack is listed as +132 for a creature, look at the Strike Attack Bonus table keeping in mind the Base Road Maps sidebar and figure out what the attack bonus should be.

You have an expected difficulty listed for encounters, you have challenge ratings. Using the information in the GM Core should help you not only figure out if the values are reasonable, but give an idea what the correct values should be.

People could also take guidance from the other tiers encounters to double check that the value is out of bounds.

This would also hopefully allow GMs to correct errors in either direction, where something is way easier than it should be. A Will save of +1 where you expect it to be double digits, especially if it is double digits in the low tier but +1 in the high tier.

umopapisdnupsidedown wrote:

I would also like to see a provision explicitly allowing GM discretion for enemies to retreat or surrender when it makes sense for them to do so. It's written into some scenarios but not others.

This is already explicitly allowed, though it could be clearer. Morale is a part of the tactics section, and tactics are one of the things GMs are already specifically allowed to change if the existing tactics no longer apply due to player actions.

I would like greater clarity on this as it wasn’t clear to me how much leeway a GM had in calling a battle.

I know how to do it. That takes two page loads.

There are other ways I could do it for myself as well, including things like making it a bookmark.

In order to make Play by Post more convenient on the Paizo forums, it would be nice if there were a “My campaigns” link under the My Account drop down that would bring me directly to the Campaigns page.

https://paizo.com/people/<insert user name>/campaigns

Hopefully adding to the drop down tab isn’t that difficult.

Yeah, I only have a few characters that have more than one of the mentor boons. Needing to get to Liked in two different factions means it takes a while — part way through 4th level at a minimum.

Each player receiving a level bump can receive the benefit from up to two mentor boons. Other than needing to qualify for each, there is no limit I am aware of for how many mentor boons a character can offer to those getting a level bump.

Note that the wording of the mentor boons states that the character receiving the benefit must be lower level, preventing those receiving the level bump from providing mentor boons to anyone.

The rules in the guide are here.

As for what the level bump gives, it is more than what you listed.

Any plans to update it for the Player Core 2 Remaster changes?

The big change is in generating Panache, but some feats changed names and there are other details that have changed.

How many Hero Points did we start with?

Two each.

If Tess is going to be our front line, that doesn’t leave a lot of time for healing in combat.

Why, what character were you considering playing instead of Atea?

So of the options mentioned, I think we are looking at:

Hmm
Tess, ancestry oracle 7

Bret
Tarcog, summoner 7 with dragon eidolon that can melee
or
Brekovi, wizard 7

Ira Kroll
BakBat, 7th level sorcerer

Farol
Xun Saburo, Bard 7 or 8

Jason R
Atea, cloistered Cleric 8, versatile font (harm or heal)

phaeton_nz
Luna Moon, witch 7

I can not see the Pathbuilder character sheet for BakBat so I don’t know what they bring to the table.

Atea and Tess both have Battle Medicine.
Atea and Tess have Heal while Xun Saburo has Soothe.

It looks like the group has fairly broad skill coverage although there are a few holes.

Although Brekovi fills in the group skills better, I think we probably need someone to support Tess in melee.

Shall I bring Tarcog?

Players are:

Hmm
Bret
Atae
BakBat
Farol
phaeton_nz

phaeton_nz wrote as Luna Moon

I've got the following:

7th level healer/cleric
7th level Witch of the Night - this one which needs levelling.
7th level elementalist
6th level Angelic sorceress
6th level fey sorceress
5th level cosmic oracle
5th level Baba Yaga witch
5th level Magus
5th level winter witch
5th level poppet wizard

Do we want to go high or low? Also offering 3 glyphs

I have a few characters that can do, depending on need

5th level champon,
5th level ranger/acrobat
7th level wizard/magabayyan cascade bearer
8th level cleric, her :)

Copied from Gameplay.

One of my other options would be to bring two dragons.

Dragon-Scaled Kobold Summoner 7 with Dragon Eidolon

I may have missed it, has BakBat said what they have for characters?

I believe you are correct.

On the other hand, it has no effect on the rewards of the scenario. If you feel like they should get the information, I see no reason they can’t get an update after the mission about the site. The flood of scholars would presumably discover it.

Given the information in this blog, I expect to be retraining out of “After You” into something more interesting. The change to gaining panache will make a huge difference when trying to punch above your level.

This mechanism also opens the possibility of gaining panache from casting a spell if they create a feat encouraging a swash/sorcerer combo. It could be similar to the Magical Trickster feat that rogue had in the original CRB.

Jonathan Morgantini wrote:

More lasers please!

Starfinder Playtest Feedback Survey, Question 1: Do you prefer...

A) Lasers
B) More lasers
C) Most lasers
D) Entirely lasers

Mazer-Laser-Phasor-Taser-Doshko please!

It’s a A Brand New Dae!

As I said in a different campaign we share, always happy to hear from you Lady Ladile.

Take care,

Bret

Glad to hear from you, Lady Ladile.

Sorry life got hectic and then you got into a mental block. I will state that I am always happy when you have time for the game. Adventure Paths can be especially difficult as they take so long to finish in PbP.

Take care,

Bret

Here are some resources that Hmm and I put together for running this scenario.

Nellie’s case files
Player handouts for running MacAnvie influence encounter

and since the DCs for the influence are spread over several pages I also made a GM reference listing the influence DCs.

Hmm has a version of the Distract the Children handout with pictures. I will see if she is willing to post it later.

Thanks for the errata!

Quick question, is there any reason for a group to reconnoiter a hex that does not have a ruins or is the battleground?

Since the dagger reacts differently when they are in a hex adjacent to a sought after feature, they know when they just want to move vs when they need to search.

I didn’t see any reason to reconnoiter every hex when I played this, and reading the adventure I still don’t see a reason to do so.

Swiftbrook wrote:

On one hand I would prefer that the players of clerics of Gorum would need to figure out what is next for their PC and continue building from there. Do they become a fighter? Do they go to a new god? I think that would add a lot of good fluff to the campaign and characters.

Play a thaumaturge or a divine witch/sorcerer. Keep pretending to be a cleric. "Gorum's not dead. He's just sleeping!"

I did this with an Arodenite in 1st Edition. Honestly, now I'm kinda tempted to do it with a summoner having the time traveler background.

I believe that a Battle Oracle may also make the transition interesting for some people. “I was cursed for continuing to follow my god!”

Anyone rebuilding but trying to keep the same character may want to use the Sentinel archtype to keep their armor proficiency assuming they don’t get it some other way. The weapon proficiency may be a little more difficult.

Someone may want to suggest a boon “Former followers of Gorum” only available to those characters built worshipping the god before they died that gives proficiency with their divine weapon in order to help make these builds better. Allow it to scale with the weapon proficiencies given by the class. It should likely cost a class feat.

I made up three aids to help me run this scenario.

First, a list of the Tanuki along with what prank they pulled. This one is only meant for GM reference.

Second, a replacement for handout 2 that includes the descriptions of the area and the statues.

Lastly, the names and descriptions of the dances without a list of skills. This is set up to print two per page.

I’m going to recommend GMs use Forest flip-mat for C: Crashing the Party.

There are a number of the flip tiles that get reused for the various maps. There are only four tiles unique to the last map, the other eight are used in the other maps. You can save yourself time during the game by doing this substitution since it reduces the amount of searching for map tiles required.

I appreciate that not everyone has every map, but thought it worth noting for those who have that map.

Made some handouts that I am going to use when running it tonight. I will see how well they work before posting links to them here.

…and PDF is updated with pages for what tiles are used. :)

So does anyone have a tile list with orientation of each tile for the maps in this one?

Figured I would ask before trying to puzzle it out myself.

I actually goofed with the Persona Mask -- it only applies to either singing or performing comedy, not pipes playing... So I guess I'll go back to my old bonus :)

Assuming you haven’t already done your rebuild, found this on pg 275 of GM Core.

MAESTRO'S INSTRUMENT ITEM 3+

MAGICAL

Usage held in 2 hands;
Bulk 1

A maestro's instrument can be crafted in the form of any variety of handheld musical instruments. A maestro's instrument grants you a +1 item bonus to Performance checks while playing music with the instrument.

Activate—Charming Performance [two-actions] (manipulate) Frequency once per day; Effect You play the instrument, causing it to cast a DC 17 charm spell.
…

Still not all uses of Perform, but it might fit your character better.

BretI wrote:

Hilary and I are at a local Con this weekend. I will try to prod her to reply here sometime this weekend.

Which con is this?

Con of the North.

Hilary and I are at a local Con this weekend. I will try to prod her to reply here sometime this weekend.

Ick! Hope you are all doing better now.

Although I have my doubts as to how average you will be, congrats and enjoy Lady Ladile!

Is there a recommended age range for this game? Many games list on the back of the box recommended number of players, ages, and expected play time. It would be nice if the store blurb included this information.

Love the preview and look forward to seeing the changes to bring monsters more in line with lore.

I admit that there is at least one thing I hope they don’t bring in line with the lore. I would rather they keep the Pegasus and Medusa as types of creature rather than unique creatures. I don’t mind if they make the Medusa a type of Gorgon since it was the Gorgon sisters, but still would rather they not be unique creatures.

I wonder if this means they will bring in other creatures of mythology like man-eating sheep.

Bringing the creatures in line with lore will likely have an additional benefit. Assuming the tales are already in the public domain it becomes much harder for WotC or anyone else to make copyright claims against them.

So I don't quite know how this works, but I'm playing Defy the Dragon where you don't directly use your SFS character, but they're assigned to get the credit. I don't know if that means the actual SFS character is locked up during that time. Otherwise I would have a technomancer 10 who could jump in. I'm guessing that's perhaps not allowed.

So the sanctioning document for that module says:

Applying Credit

Players who play through To Defy the Dragon as well as GMs who run the adventure can apply the adventure’s Chronicle Sheet to any 9th- through 12th-level Starfinder Society Organized Play character. Players and GMs must decide which character to apply credit to when they receive the Chronicle Sheet.

Since the decision is made when you receive the Chronicle Sheet, I believe that the character is not locked.

I am sorry to say that I’m finding that I can’t keep up with the number of PbP that I currently have.

I am going to drop out of this group.

Take care all and hope to play alongside you at other tables.

BretI wrote:

[...]

I’ll leave it to others to highlight new items they were happy to see added.

Only items that never appeared anywhere else? That is, excluding (non CRB-)items copied from older books?

Well, that was my initial concept. Highlight things people may not have noticed that were new.

That said, if it is something that came from someplace else and didn’t used to be part of Core that is likely interesting to some folks. I’m not going to complain when the forum thread goes slightly off topic.

So looking through GM Core, I noticed a few items that were new to that book. There are a lot of threads talking about the changes to the classes, the rules, and things that got renamed. Thought it would be good to highlight some of the new items that are part of the Remaster.

Here is one that I was very happy with.

———

Shining Symbol Item 3+
DIVINE INVESTED LIGHT
Usage worn; Bulk —

If you worship a deity, this golden amulet transforms into your deity's religious symbol when you invest it. You gain a +1 item bonus to Religion. The symbol casts dim light in a 20-foot emanation.

Activate—Spiritual Light [two-actions] (concentrate, light, revelation) Frequency once per day;
Effect The light cast by the symbol becomes bright light for 10 minutes and shines through bodies to reveal hints of the spirits within. Creatures in the light receive a –1 status penalty to Deception and Stealth checks. You can Dismiss this activation.

Type shining symbol; Level 3; Price 55 gp

Type greater shining symbol; Level 9; Price 650 gp The bonus to Religion is +2. Spiritual Light's penalty is –2, and while it's active your enemies in the light gain weakness 5 to spirit damage.

Type major shining symbol; Level 17; Price 13,500 gp The bonus to Religion is +3. Spiritual Light's penalty is –3, and while it's active your enemies in the light gain weakness 10 to spirit damage.

———

I’ll leave it to others to highlight new items they were happy to see added.

I agree that the three actions is to pull out the magazine, get a new one ready and then put it in.

I don’t know of anything that says how long it takes to reload a magazine, but I would expect it to be something only done in exploration mode.

Sounds like I didn’t miss anything and it is an open question. I guess for 1 sp per pellet it really isn’t a huge deal, just would like to know.

So the Air Repeater and Long Air Repeater use a “container of pressurized air instead of black powder to propel small metal pellets from an attached cartridge.”

We know how many pellets are in a magazine (depends on which air repeater) and we know how long it takes to reload a magazine (3 actions).

Out of combat can we combine pellets from multiple magazines into one, or do we get stuck with magazines with 1 or 2 pellets left in them. It isn’t clear to me from the description if the container of pressurized air is part of the magazine or not.

So if you read some of the better Pathfinder and AD&D professional stories, they do not exactly match the mechanics used in the game at the time. They will mention by name some magic items, but they never say exact class and level of the characters. Assuming you aren’t using the isekai trope of a status screen, there is no need to even mention class or archetypes. Instead describe what they do.

One of the complaints often (rightly in my mind) leveled at bad fantasy fiction is that you can hear the dice rattle. In that sort of fiction, it is as if someone was just keeping a log of the game. Try not to do that.

With the change over to remaster, I would like a set of inexpensive boons that recreates the training past characters got from dedicating themselves to Spells, Scrolls, Swords or being a generalist. A lore that replaces the free Pathfinder Society Lore and at 5th level a feat. The boons should be mutually exclusive — which might mean it is all piled into one boon.

It should also count as meeting the prerequisites for Scrollmaster Dedication, Spellmaster Dedication, or Swordmaster dedication depending on the choice.

Thanks, I eagerly await answers to the many questions asked and unasked.

2. If a character option has been reprinted with the same name, use the new version as if it were errata. No additional retraining is necessary.

So I have heard that the gnome ancestry feat Animal Elocutionist is now 1st level. Does it take retraining to change Burrow Elocutionist to Animal Elocutionist? Assuming a character had both, would they then be able to replace the 5th level ancestry feat?

I’ve heard that the various weapon proficiency feats like Elven Weapon Familiarity/Elven Weapon Elegance have been combined as well.

Sorry if I have details wrong, I am going off what I’ve heard from various sources.

Bolding added.

Champions will be fine, promise. Here, let me leak two (not final) sentences from the document.

Note how he said it isn’t the final version.

I think it is fine to suggest improvements. I would guess just pointing out something isn’t covered without constructive suggestions of how best to fix it are not nearly as useful.

Oh, another thing: If we do do the Remaster rebuild, do we also have to completely get rid of the Pathfinder School stuff when we do so?

It is the optional Pathfinder Training.

I would also like to know if the rebuild requires removing that. I think it does since that is not an available option on or after Nov 15th, but would like this clearly stated. Call it wishful thinking that I might be taking too strict a reading.

I still wish it was an option since I used it on all my characters. New players I would initially tell “Add Pathfinder Society Lore now, there are more options if you are interested. Ask me if you are interested after the game.”

This looks like a very well thought out way to handle the Remaster rules. I do hope we will get a preview of the Recall Knowledge rules before Nov 15th so that GMs can prepare for the transition.

Add me to the list of those who enjoyed the Pathfinder Training option. Most of my characters are more connected to that than their primary faction.

I think Hillcross Roundup (Bounty 10) is probably the most straightforward of the bounties. Cleanup Duty (Bounty 7) and Witch’s Winter Holiday (Bounty 5) are also very easy.

Find the one with a plot that the kid likes. That is likely to have a bigger impact than any rules elements in the bounty,

BretI wrote:

@NotEspi,

Would you allow the Tamchal Chakram or the rope dart as a weapon? They are both Uncommon weapons with Thrown and Finesse on them.

If not, I can use a regular dagger. It being a simple weapon would give me the dice increase.

If you burn a feat on proficiency/unconventional weaponry, sure.

I will just use a dagger then.

@NotEspi,

Would you allow the Tamchal Chakram or the rope dart as a weapon? They are both Uncommon weapons with Thrown and Finesse on them.

If not, I can use a regular dagger. It being a simple weapon would give me the dice increase.