Burnout's page

Heya, all. I'm fairly new at DM'ing, but I've been running my group through this excellent adventure path thus far; Currently, my party composition is- (After a TPK via Symbol of Insanity in the Rakasha's manor.)

Zindel, Half-Elf Fighter/Barbarian
Christopher von Edefelt, Human (Unaligned) Cleric of Chaos
Gerald Caine the Second, Elven Sorcerer
Vander, Rogue/Swashbuckler/Duelist

Vander, the last guy, is the current holder of the title of Blackjack- He's quite a bit of a showman, and has pulled off the role with real panache thus far. The party has recently returned to Korsova, and hearing about the 'people's hero' has fired him up- It'd inevitably lead to a duel.

From the module, though, Trifaccia is *significantly* more deadly than Blackjack- Even though Vander's tricked out with a wide variety of magical equipment. Is there any way, at all, I could tip the party off about the disguised Efreet? If it comes down to a one-on-one fight, I'm pretty sure he's going to get his face pushed in; Which would be a little disappointing, given that he's been itching to put the costume on after getting back to the city.

What do you think? Has anyone run this as a duel? A good, old-fashioned swashbuckling match sounds good to me, but this doesn't look like it'd go well for Blackjack. (I'm thinking that he *is* the better swordsman, but even when, say, stabbing Trifaccia in the chest- The Efreet's annoyed rather than seriously wounded, and his blood smokes, among other clues.)

Hah, reminds of the way my group handled him. The group's good-hearted but dense paladin (Intentionally) believed Avner's lies that he was indeed a brave, fearless duelist...And took him up on his offer.

Y'see. there's an attack by an aquatic hydra in the Sea Wyvern's Wake; As soon as the paladin heard that the rest of the group was in trouble, he mounted up his horse, ignored Avner's stammering protests ("Come now, good sir! No need to be modest- Our companions require our aid!") and DRAGGED him to the pool, and THREW HIM IN. Of course, he was promptly torn in half by the hydra's AoO. The paladin himself drank a potion of water-breathing, and dove in after him, heroically buying time for his teammates to get their gear.

The really ironic part? The paladin later gave a stirring eulogy ("Alas, he was the bravest soul I had ever known- A pity that his life was cut short. May he shelter in Pelor's merciful hand, till we meet again!") following a 'hero's burial'.

Yes, the *player* hated his guts, but it was a nice funeral, after all. Too bad they had to bury the coffin, as there wasn't much of the body left.

My party's Paladin/Kensai, who'd sworn his oath of service to the Vanderboren family, was particularly hard-pressed; He ended up praying a lot for guidance, and flat-out refused to enter Malachent's realm in 'Enemies of My Enemy', preferring to stay on the Sea Wyvern and guard the crew. The fact that the CN Bard who was a scurrilous, womanizing scoundrel (Who'd nailed Tyralandi, S'shara AND Iggwilv- I would definently call that abuse of Diplomacy ^_^) didn't help matters...

Of course, his way out was that he played gullible, and mostly laid low until it was time to leap out and kill things- The Death Giant didn't stand a chance, the poor thing.

The thing is, in the Savage Tide, 'Good' has to be very flexible- Some things like freeing a major succubus from her millenia-long imprisonment, making a deal with the lord of Shattered Night...That's hard to justify. Of course, 'Atonement' exists for that very reason...

Hello, everyone. I've been a long-time reader of Dungeon, ever since the Shackled City series was implemented- While I'm sad to see the magazine go, I'm at least glad that it's going out with a bang. Kudos to the staff at Paizo, but the Savage Tide is, without a doubt, *the* best AP out there; While the Age Of Worms was a serious improvement over the, well, incoherent at times, Shackled City, I'm amazed at the consistent high quality of this (and the last half-year's) issues to date. While I'm not a subscriber, my players have been seriously awaiting every installment of the AP- In fact, I'm currently running two groups through the Savage Tide on alternate weeks, and it still doesn't get old.

Case in point; Group 2, also known as, initially, 'Have You Seen These Men?', the Sasserine Skulkers, and finally, the Hand Of Swords- Named, ironically enough, after the card suit. While their names have been withheld to protect the innocent (You know who you are, guys!) I'll relate some of their adventures here...

The Bard:

There's one in every group. The guy who adventures not for money, fame or power- Though that's all good, too- but for, well, the women. The unofficial leader of the group, this former 'masked adventurer' and playboy gambler thought of the group's 'gimmick', by leaving the Ace Of Swords at *every* crime scene. With maxed-out Charisma, high performance skills and devious use of magic, he's the 'official' leader and instigator...And is perhaps the purest definition of CN out there.

Here's the interesting part. He has a thing for 'bad girls', which rapidly became more and more amusing as the series goes on. By this adventure ('Enemy Of My Enemy', which we'll be starting next week) he's slept with Tyralandi (He took serious HP loss on that. As they say, it's getting out alive that's the problem), S'shara (!) (Yes, I'm serious. Charm Monster, Practiced Spellcaster, Mind Fog...And a natural 1 on the save) and *almost* with Red Shroud...Though his plan was thwarted by the Cleric's refusal to abuse Death Ward in such a way.

When this adventure comes up, I'm pretty damn sure he'll try to seduce Celeste, or Iggwilv- I'll definently need suggestions for how a thousand-year old witch-queen would respond, of course- though he *was* smart enough to refuse Shami-Amaoure's 'offer'.

The Paladin/Kensei:

Lavinia's childhood friend and protector, he returned to help her family, far too late to do any good...And ended up conscripting the party to help him. While he loves Lavinia, he's placed her on a pedestal, and made her the recipient of his oath- Lots of unfulfilled angst over there, folks. Of course, he's a fearsome fighter in combat, with his dual-wielding Sun Blade and Signature shortsword style. Most famous for dealing the killing blow to Cold Captain Wyther, after an epic final conflict, and 'calling Vanthus out'...Twice. And, amusingly enough, killing him in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY- Critical + Smite Evil - twice. He just hopes he'll stay dead this time...

The Wizard:

The geeky, but ultimately good-hearted Wizard, and governor-in-absentia of Farshore. Unlike the others, he's a married man; To the sorceress Liamae, in fact. His secret is that he isn't even from *this* plane- His mother was Zulshyn, his father a Warlock, and he's been on the run from her ever since. (Understandably enough, he doesn't want to go home.) A straightforward old-school blaster, his favorite spells are Horrid Wilting and a Sonic Meteor Shower.

The Fighter/Rogue/Tempest:

The lovable rogue of the group, he's a swashbuckler in all but name, and was drawn into the whole story, hoping to find his father- Who, it was later revealed, was one of the many sailors 'silenced' after delivering the Shadow Pearl to Sasserine. He's the superlative fighter of the group, with Telling Blow, twin Keen Scimitars, Improved Critical, and the Tempest PrC...He's found a kindred spirit in Harliss Javell, though he's a bit upset that he's no longer the Captain of the Sea Wyvern. For him, it's very, very personal.

The Cleric:

Again, there's always one in every group...But there's no-one quite like this guy. He was a rogue priest, expelled from his Order for 'liberating' temple supplies- And was gladly received by the church of the Laughing Rogue. A good, albeit unconventional man. His greatest creation is the Fool's Gold, several gold coins that radiate a consecrated effect- Perfect to counter the Vile damage done much later in the campaign. He's greedy, but not mindlessly so, and has used his new powers to pretty much take over the space vacated by the Lotus Dragons...And who knows? In a couple of years time, there might be a new, benevolent presence in Sasserine's underworld, supplied directly from Farshore...

Hmmm, I have to go for now, but again, thanks for everything, Dungeon. This is a truly epic campaign, and one we've had enormous fun with.

Isn't she short an epic spell?

-- George Krashos

No. She has three, in fact- Epic Mage Armor, one that I can't quite remember (It brings her back to life immediately if she's killed) and 'Lover's Call', a particularly nasty one which summons an aspect of Grazz't.

Actually, I'm more interested in the poor player who actually tries to seduce her- Alas, like Zulshyn in the AoW path, I'm quite sure that it'll be a lot easier to get into her bed than to get *out* alive...Though, come to think of it, the same could be said for almost any NPC in the late campaign path. Hah, assuming you keep failing your saves, Red Shroud needs only 5 rounds to remove half your levels. Malachent needs about 2. Shami-Amourae, thanks to her 'Lust' ability, can keep you...*ahem* 'grappled'...until you're nothing but a dry, dead husk- The only 'safe' person to be around is, in fact, Celeste.

One question: how did the PCs destroy the Apostle of Kyuss before the "cocoon" disappeared by itself? Did Bozal lower it in his own defence, or did the players one of the described methods? I am just curious how big the chances are for the players to stop the ritual before the finals.

Bozal tries to lower the cocoon when he's near-death. If they kill him before he can manage it (Possible), there are several ways of destroying the cocoon, including Disintegrate, Wish, and Turn Undead. Of course, it's entirely possible the players don't manage it- And Loris buys a Rod of Absorption, and sets it free anyway.

I'm thinking that maybe a army of celestials isn't the way to go, but how about the use of a couple of handy artifacts- maybe the shield of Prattor or some kind of demon killing sword. What about just a couple of angelic servants to help in the battle- maybe a Planetar special forces squad. I haven't seen the final issue yet, but if you did grant the characters something lik e this I think they'd feel good and important instead of neglected and isolated. In the final battle those allies could be busy holding off Demogorgon's body guards leaving the PCs free to fight big D. That way they could still still do something useful without the game grinding to a halt because of all the extra characters in the fight.

Actually, any god would probably respond..."You're already a paladin, you already have my divine blessing and all those nifty class benefits- If you need anything else, it's your faith that's not strong enough, not me." Hell of a way to blow someone off, but yes, that's probably the answer they'd give.

Personally, though, while I believe that there's definently a moral conflict over this, the deity shouldn't penalize the paladin excessively. Yes, after the Adventure Path, he'll probably have to do penance, but the idea of 'For the Greater Good' should prevail. After all, the PC isn't betraying his god- And there's the very real chance the player may ask, IC: "Then do you have any better ideas?" Frankly, if anyone could dislodge Demogorgon, they would have done so before; This is a once-in-a-multiverse opportunity!

Also, 'Enemies Of My Enemy' seems to deliberately avoid a problem for the Paladin- Accepting the Queen's Kiss is evil and chaotic, but she kisses the character with the *lowest* Charisma- Who most likely will NOT be the paladin, at this stage.

Well, there was this paladin in my AoW campaign, who believed himself to be the living incarnation of Torm. In the final battle against Kyuss, with summoned Archons and a powerful half-celestial fighter to back him up:

(Summoned creatures, Cleric, Titan): FOR TORM!!!

Paladin: FOR ME!!!

Not in my game. The half-celestial bard/seeker of the song PC wasted little time in courting her. He's already bedded Lavinia and Tyralandi. He almost tried it with Iggwilv...but ultimately decided it was a BAD idea!

Oh, I have so got to hear that story. I wondered how he fared when he got to Red Shroud- Most likely, his Cleric works overtime with Death Ward.

Wow, thread necromancy. Really, though, it can work as a Catwoman-Batman dynamic...At least in most games.

In this game, about halfway through the Adventure Path, this player- A charismatic Fighter/Rogue/Tempest- is taken aside by Celeste; She warns him, quietly, that the search for the missing paladin (This was just before the expedition to the Demonskar) doesn't seem right, and that he should be careful...

-And the guy, thinking that she's 'coming on to' him, kisses her. Of course, Celeste is utterly shocked; She says something like- "Guess what he did? He kissed me! He actually thought we were having a moment!"

Cue maniac laughter from everyone except the player. Thank God this was an IRC game...

Oh, and later, just after they've saved Cauldron, Celeste points out that there's still a problem- After all, this is the kind of absurdly appropriate event, where (Names changed to protect the innocent) might choose to kiss someone- And then, *she* kisses him instead, joking that she's only pre-empting it. Cue even more laughter- And a few whistles- from the rest of us...Oh, and they *did* get married in the end, just FYI. ^_^

Well, it all started with a good, old-fashioned 'stick-em-up'. Karis, (CG Paladin of Olidamarra) had the serious misfortune of trying to rob a wagon containing, not bread, but several crates of highly contraband drugs, part of the local drug cartel's (The Lotus Dragons) latest shipment. Despite a well-planned ambush, he and his 'Merry Men' (CN Half-Elf Warlock Visage and down-on-his luck Fighter Zennith Swiftblade) found themselves rapidly outgunned; Despite the help of a crazed local vigilante (Sorcerer, Solomon Orphan-goes by the name 'Domino', thanks to his mask) and a frenzied exhange of Alchemist's Fire, they were promptly 'taken into' custody by the local Watch...

Fortunately, Father Maxwell (Lavinia's hard-drinking 'spiritual advisor', and slightly insane Cleric- One too many blows to the head) was right there to bail them out...With a job offer, to boot.

So, in the end, there were 5.

Karis, CG Paladin. (Think Robin Hood-style swashbuckler, and all round Merry Man.)

Visage, Warlock (Zulshyn's kid. His powers come from his lillend heritage- Though he's a half-elf, and he's on the run from his creepy Goth mother.)

Domino, Fighter/ Sorcerer (Think 'The Watchmen's' Roscharach. Feared vigilante and arsonist.)

Zennith, Fighter (Typical Fighter. A hit with the ladies, though.)

Father Maxwell, Cleric (Based on Hellsing's Alexander Anderson. A fire-and-brimstone preacher- Though it's not known which god he serves.)