Captain Zimri's page

Yeah, that sounds awesome! Thanks!

Well... They don't have a backstory as of yet. As far as I know, at least. What's your idea, though? Also, I agree: this kind of session works best if it focuses on the main PC's backgrounds.

First off, I really wasn't sure whether to put this post here, in Advice, or in Homebrew. I decided on here because the largest congregation of CC DMs will see this, I expect. If someone deems my post more appropriate for a different board, please let me know and I will comply.

Here's the rundown of what's happening and what I'm trying to figure out. On July 15th, I'm introducing two friends to Pathfinder for the first time. This session is intended to place them in Ustalav and lead into the next full session of Carrion Crown, in which the party is

In this intro session, the two new players will be in a party of 4 at 6th level. They are planning to be a Druid and an Oracle; the other two players are just one shot characters.

Does anyone have some input or ideas that I could percolate?

Travel Times

I was just about to ask about the walking times to the various places. Thank you so much for taking your time to collect these.

I've posted this elsewhere but I believe you need to keep the group INITIALLY away from the Prison. It should be a place of fear.

Oh wow...

I really wish I had thought of this when we started the campaign. If I ever GM this again in the future, THIS is what I'll do.

All haunts are mind-affecting fear effects. So... yes. ^_^

Man... Splatter Man is not gonna be happy on Saturday. :|

Thanks, Kalinlara!

Couldn't find this in here, so I would like to ask about Splatter Man and his Blood-Writ Haunt.

My party has a Paladin, who is now immune to fear effects, and grants his allies a bonus against that. So here's my question: would you consider the Blood-Writ name Haunt to be a fear effect?

See, I would because it's convincing them that their name is being written, in blood, on the wall, and name-writing is the modus operandi of the Splatter Man. I'd be scared out of my pants!

What do other GMs think about this?

Furthermore, if you agree that it should be a fear effect, chances are that the party is going to be quite resistant to the Haunt. If the whole party doesn't fail their saves for an entire round, then I'd say that Splatter Man bursts out of his hiding place and attacks, infuriated as he is that his haunt has done hardly anything to the party.

rkotitan, I feel very much like you did. I allowed game-breaking character builds, didn't encourage RP during the earlier books, and have gone far off the beaten path that I wanted to travel. I have grown to loathe the captain of our crew - because I dislike his character and I feel like he has done a poor job of being captain - and want to kill off his character. I realize this isn't fair or right as a GM, especially since I consider all these people friends (though this friendship with the captain and his wife is being tested through this campaign).

Right now, we've gone through several sessions of just combat. Very little roleplaying has occurred as a result, and that's the part I enjoy the most. Because one of my players expressed boredom in the mundane, I mixed things up and made new encounters for them to face, and he exhibited no appreciation for what I had done for him.

Another of the players has become irritating to play with because I've noticed a trend with every character she creates her husband creates for her (he's the one mentioned above): she has this powerful character with serious backstory, things that should leave a pretty strong mark on her, but she plays every character with this over-the-top cuteness that doesn't match the character at all.

It's really these two that I don't enjoy playing with anymore.

As far as breaks go, we don't play all the campaigns often. Carrion Crown hasn't happened since the beginning of July, the 5E homebrew has happened maybe twice this month, and Shackles has also happened only twice.

I've been GMing the Shackles adventure path for close to a year and a half now. This morning, as I remembered that we are scheduled to have another session this weekend, I was filled with disappointment, not excitement. It's gone from the simple four person party to now six players - one of whom has to Skype in every time - and while I feel like I can manage that many players, I also feel like the game is spiraling out of control. Despite my best efforts, it doesn't feel exciting anymore.

I've thought about ending the campaign. Quite a lot, really. But I feel like I owe it to my players who haven't had the chance to finish their character backstory quests. Then again, there seems to be no appreciation for the hours of work I put into setting up each session, except from my wife - who, by the way, is also not enjoying the campaign because of the way I've been feeling.

I'm GMing Carrion Crown also, and it's a blast. My party is involved in the goings-on within the first book and they show a real interest in immersing themselves in the world. I'm involved as a PC in a 5E homebrew campaign, and soon I'll be joining a 5E Tyranny of Dragons campaign in the beginning of book 2.

I want to keep this thing going, finish the Shackles adventure, but I feel so worn out at this point.

Are there other GMs or players who have experienced this same sort of feeling, of sadness and disappointment, toward their players or campaign?

Well...never mind, I guess. My player and I are already discussing something, now.

I figured this would be the best place to ask because there may need to be some tweaking on an actual class (and I definitely don't have the time or ideas to create a class from scratch).

An acquaintance has asked to play in one of my pathfinder campaigns, and I'm allowing him to hop into Skull & Shackles as a temporary player with the intent on making him a permanent member (barring approval of the party; he may not be someone that meshes well with my other friends). His idea for a character is this:

A person who has a collection of magical masks. When he puts one on, he gives an area of effect to his friends. I was also thinking that his sword could change based on what mask he is wearing. I came up with this idea based on the Lego Bionicle series.

As my gears started turning, I considered a few things:

[1]He could be a bard, and his bardic performance could be triggered by wearing these masks.
[2]He could simply make these masks and wear them as magical items
[3]He could be a bard archetype that replaces some bard abilities with other abilities which would focus on item creation, specializing on masks

This conversation started this morning and ended shortly thereafter, so we haven't gone into specifics. I was curious if anyone had seen something similar or had any ideas that could make this work or be an interesting choice.

I like ingenuity and interesting character choices. With Pathfinder being such an open world, full of possibility, I wouldn't say no to this idea if there is a way to make it work within the system.

A description of the Ethereal Plane, which is home to the Dimension of Dreams, says:

This plane has very little of what most natives of Golarion would call geography. It is a place of ever-shifting mists with little hard matter to obstruct the traveler. (source)

That makes me think that there would not be any sort of "terrain" to encounter while traversing the Dimension of Dreams. And this begs the question "How do things survive?" I picture this now as a VAST plane of flat land, with nothing obstructing ones sight except distance. I guess one could easily assume that the swirling mists offer some protection, but that kind of cover isn't reliable.

I'm trying to wrap my head around what this place looks like.

My party of 5 might be traveling to the Dimension of Dreams in an upcoming session, drifting way off the beaten Adventure Path. Because this isn't included or even a suggestion within the book, I need to do a considerable amount of planning. Here's what I have so far, in regards to creatures:
I found the Nightmare Creature/Lord templates in Bestiary 4, so I'll be putting those to good use on various creatures within the Bestiaries.
There are a handful of interesting creatures in the Occult Bestiary, like Dreamthief Hags, that could be present.

Are there any players or GMs who have been to the Dimension of Dreams?
What did you encounter there (or, in the case of the GM, what did your party encounter)?
What was the landscape like? Were there any places where they could find treasure? How should I describe the setting?

Any tips and advice on the Dimension will be incredibly helpful.

By the way, I'm having a bit of trouble figuring out how the party can defeat the piper without his flute. Based on the phrasing of the Piper's haunt, he never actually manifests in such a way that he should be susceptible to positive energy - can't hit what you can't see, especially since it manifests as "a mournful dirge."

I've read through this as best as I could but found nothing of note. Perhaps I missed something, so does anyone have any advice?

I also compiled this pdf of the big bads in the prison, including the secret weapons and pictures of each BBEG: The Villains of Harrowstone

My party is about to encounter the Smoldering Revenge event. Because I've drawn my maps on paper, I can't draw and erase fire that comes up during this event. So, I made this hot item: 1 inch by 2 inch figures of fire. I printed them in color on some cardstock and cut them out - this did take about an hour. After I was done, I just folded them down the middle so that the bottom edges of the fire could meet.

If anyone takes an interest in this, I'll try to keep the link up and secure for a year. If it doesn't work, for some reason, please message me.

Because I don't want any trouble, I did not create the original work, just the reverse copies. The original image can be found here.

Moral of this story....

Don't allow the words "Rule of Cool" to shut down your critical thinking process.

This is a lesson I have learned the hard way.

As for the others' input:
I guess that makes sense, in a way. As I was thinking about it, any door that he's opened would have to be repaired because none of them can lock anymore.

I set myself for disaster some time ago in my run of the Skull & Shackles campaign (no spoilers). Short version is that a PC has an adamantine dagger that he uses to break open locks. For three books, I have allowed this because I was too lazy to look up rules and I strongly believed in the "rule of cool." After watching episodes of Critical Role and being a player again (I'm now playing in a campaign for the first time in four years, instead of GMing), I've come to think that I shouldn't have given this PC so much power. Doors and chests are no problem for him now.

What could I do to change the mechanic that I have allowed?

I don't know if this was carried over into the Pathfinder rulebook, but in D&D 3e there was a guideline of giving characters a +2 or -2 modifier to a roll if the GM wasn't certain what value to give for a situational modifier.

If that seems to be the norm, then I'll incorporate that with my campaigns. I guess I needed confirmation from a third party about whether there should be a bonus/penalty and how much it should be.

After experiencing 5th Edition Dungeons and Dragons, I've become fond of the advantage and disadvantage rule. Particularly, I like how it can allow roleplaying to add an effect to dice rolls rather than add a vague bonus to one's skill check.

To put it simply, Advantage allows you to roll twice and take the higher result; Disadvantage forces you to roll twice and take the lower result.

For instance: In 5E, a PC tells the DM that she would like to ask a stranger for directions by showing him a map of the city. She passes herself off as innocent and confused as she sidesteps to give the stranger a good look at the map. Meanwhile, she is reaching for his coin purse. A DM could reasonably say she has Advantage on a Sleight of Hand check to steal the man's purse.

Alternatively, in Pathfinder, if a PC were to attempt the exact same strategy, what is there to give besides a bonus, the amount of which you need to determine on the spot? How would you calculate a bonus or penalty in such situations?

This is my predicament: I see no reason NOT to incorporate Advantage/Disadvantage to my Pathfinder game(s), but do other players think it is balanced?

Day 1
- Lift and carry wood, Raise frames: DC 10 Str*
- Hammer nails (framework): DC 10 Perception
- Sawing and chopping lumber: DC 10 Str
- Ladder work (hammering and setting): DC 10 Climb/Acrobatics*, DC 12 Perception

Day 2
- Lay timber for loft (frame and flooring): DC 10 Str/Acrobatics*
- Hammer nails (loft): DC 10 Perception
- Sawing and chopping lumber: DC 10 Str
- Set roof frame: DC 10 Str*

Day 3:
- Set roof: DC 10 Climb/Acrobatics*, DC 12 Perception
- Hammer nails (install siding): DC 10 Perception
- Install shingles: DC 12 Climb/Acrobatics*, DC 10 Perception
- Sawing and chopping lumber: DC 10 Str

Day 4:
- Painting! No check required

Checks marked with a * mean they can be aided by another PC or NPC. I consider all NPCs, for the sake of this event, to have:
Str +1, Con +1, Acrobatics +4, Climb +6, Perception +5

After each check, the PCs must also roll a Con check (DC 10) to avoid Fatigue. I can't really think of a reason to include this other than the fact that 1) it adds flavor, and 2) it makes sense that some people might be exhausted after working all day and some wouldn't. I took the inspiration for this from

As mentioned in the first post, Success on a Task Check grants +1 Trust Point; Failure means the job was done, but not well enough to earn Trust; and Failure by 5 or more means the task was performed horribly and loses 1 Trust Point. Failure of Con checks to avoid Fatigue do not result in a loss of Trust Points.

Also, I've decided to inform the PCs of which tasks will be performed during the day and what checks they will need (not the DCs, obviously). This allows the individuals to choose how best to help out, as people tend to work to their strengths. [Example: someone who knows he can't hammer nails straight wouldn't offer to hammer nails, just like someone who struggles with carrying heavy loads would prefer to help in some other way] I don't think it should matter how many PCs assist in the same task; they are here to help, after all, in whatever way they can.

I hope you enjoyed this, and I look forward to 1) seeing how my players handle this event, and 2) finding out what you all think of this.

Feel free to include other skills, too. Craft (woodworking) and Knowledge (Engineering) came to mind, but none of my players have ranks in either, so I didn't consider them as logical options when other skills would suit them better.

I can't remember if I read about this on the forums or heard one of my old friends mention this: barn-raising. Ravengrow is a farming settlement, so naturally there are barns. Well, it's also likely that there would be a need for a new barn to be built and raised during the time that the PCs are stuck there.

Over the past three weeks, I've pondered and considered how to go about including this for the game, with two things in mind: it shouldn't be an incredible challenge because 1) the party is low level, and 2) it's not canon. As such, I finally put fingers to keyboard and came up with this framework for earning Trust and getting the job done.

Based on a video of a modern day barn raising (construction starts at 0:16), I decided the following would be appropriate for each day's work, considering a setting that doesn't have access to modern day equipment:

Day 1 - Set the foundation, construct and raise the frames, sawing and chopping lumber, hammering as needed
Day 2 - Lay timber for loft, lay loft flooring, set up roof supports (chopping and hammering as needed)
Day 3 - Set the roof, install shingles on the roof, install the sidings (chopping and hammering again)
Day 4 - Painting and a Pot Luck!

I struggled with developing specific rules for this four day event, so I asked myself questions and answered accordingly:
What is the purpose of the barn raising?
- To gain Trust in the town. It is also a way to spend time during the 30 Day Stay
Where is the challenge?
- The PCs have to succeed at Skill and Ability checks
Okay, but in that case, what are the consequences of failure, the rewards for success?
- Success on a task grants +1 to Trust Points; Failure means the job gets done but no Trust is gained, as the work was helpful, but not impressive enough. Failure by 5 or more means the PC screws up his/her work throughout the day and is unhelpful, resulting in a -1 to Trust Points.
[That last question was a tough one to answer, especially at 1:00 AM with ten hours before the session]

I've spent the last hour or so putting the finishing touches to the idea and its structure, and I will post that next.

An update:
In talking with a good friend and fellow player (but not involved in my campaigns currently), I told him about this situation. He suggested, if my wife wants to leave the party for player-to-player reasons, she could still stick around by co-GMing with me. What are your thoughts on allowing her to work with me for the rest of this campaign as a fellow GM? If we decide to do this, what would you advise us to do?

Thanks for everyone's input. I spoke with the Captain and he said he would back off. The point is almost moot, though, because further discussion this afternoon with my wife has led us to the possibility of her leaving the campaign anyway. This decision is not solely based on this situation, but has much to do with her fitting the dynamic of this particular party. She has told me before that she doesn't really connect with Captain's Player and Bloodrager's Player - who are married in real life. So, she'll come up with a definitive answer before our next session.

To be honest, though, it's been difficult having my wife in this party. Yes, she doesn't fit with the dynamic of this party, but also two of the other players are quick to understand what's going on in the game. My wife constantly forgets that she has abilities that she can use, and she's complained about not being effective in combat. It's just a game, so I don't feel like hitting her over the head with "Well, you choose to be a ranger even though you didn't like it the first time." Doing that puts the game before our marriage.

She loves the Carrion Crown party we have and connects with the couple we have in it, so she's not leaving Pathfinder altogether - just this Shackles party.

The party is level 10.

Handle this situation out of game. Talk to people and ask them to handle it better, offer suggestions, etc.

Would you all recommend that I approach the Captain first, separate from everyone else, or bring this up sometime out of the game or the day of the session?

Preface to question is first paragraph; the situation as it stands is second.

My players for Shackles are comprised of three friends, a player's sister, and my wife. My wife has told me often that she hasn't enjoyed playing because one of the other players - who, I should I mention, is the Captain of this crew and the defacto leader of the party - is consistently refusing to let her (my wife) have a say in the party's course of action, or even let her get a word in edgewise. It's been hard for me to see what she is talking about, but I noticed it in our previous session: they encountered a pirate ship whose captain was hell-bent on killing my wife's character, Nala. Once defeated, the party interrogated him, and to sum it up: "Where are my axes? Give me my axes! Where is she, where are my axes?!" he ranted and raved (Nala had taken both the handaxes in question). Our Captain (Galadon) asked "Do we want to keep this guy around?" Nala said that she wanted the man sent to her quarters, bound and gagged until she could deal with him. At this, our Captain said "Let's just keep him in the brig until we can deal with him later." My wife pointed out to me secretly that was what she had been talking about.

So, after session, my wife discussed the possibility of starting a mutiny against the captain. As her husband, I fully support this decision - he has been acting like he is the most important person in the party and that every decision falls to him; I feel like he needs to be brought down a peg. As the GM, I understand that I must not tip the scales in her favor, in order to be fair to all members of the party. Additionally, my wife considered changing characters - she hasn't been able to explore Nala as a character very much because, as my wife puts it, "I just don't feel like I can do anything when everyone else is grandstanding." If she decides to roll up a new character and leave the mutiny to Nala, I will take control of Nala and consider her an NPC. Here is my question, then: Have any other GMs or players encountered a situation like this, whether in Shackles or any other campaign? What should I do in this situation?

We aren't playing for at least another three weeks, and I would greatly appreciate input on this matter.

Thanks for the hex ideas, all. I didn't do much planning last week because our session of Carrion Crown happened. Once I get more work done of our Zelda campaign, I'll give another update.

Having considered the problem of overland exploration, turning the overworld into a hexploration game could be fun. It would allow you to seed the world with various thematic encounters (think Stalchild attacks or the peahats from OoT, or the Takkuri bird from Majora's Mask), adding some spice to the rest of the world between dungeons.

Interesting... What do you mean?

Do you have one or two friends who can play occasionally? ... I suggest trying out the on-on-one but also making some serious inquiries to wrangle some extra players in.

The nature of this campaign is mentioned in my first post:

My wife still hasn't gotten the hang of Pathfinder, and she hasn't played Ocarina of Time all the way through - both Pathfinder and Zelda are methods of entertainment that I hold close to my heart. As such, I've been thinking about running a solo campaign with just her as the legendary hero from the game. This way, we can work at a slow pace to familiarize her (and me, surely) with the rules.

Even though she's already in two campaigns that I'm running - Skull and Shackles AP that is currently in book 4, and Carrion Crown AP that hasn't started yet - she still has a difficult time grasping the rules and pace of a session. For this reason, I want to play with her only and help her learn how to play the game that comes so naturally to me.

As far as the campaign setting goes, I initially intended to have her play as her own reincarnation of Link and progress through the story of OoT. But after thinking about it some more and talking with her, I've decided to generate my own story line within the lands of Hyrule, Termina, Holodrum, and Labrynna. Layers of plots will exist within the campaign setting and generally wait for her to encounter them. There may be an overarching plot, but until an opportunity presents itself, we'll just play to have fun.

Thank you, by the way, for all the comments and ideas. Each of you has presented something I hadn't considered or seen before, and they all will help this experience for my wife be amazing.

After thinking about it some more, and conversing with my wife, I've decided not to run a campaign for her that is based on Ocarina of Time. However, so as not to waste all the valuable information provided by you wonderful people - and to keep in theme with Zelda - I will be creating our own plot and story for her to play. I already have some ideas of what might be going on, in Hyrule at least:
- There is a plot to overthrow the king of Hyrule and turn the kingdom into a democracy. While this may prove to be progressive and a good idea, the men and women behind the plot want the democracy to execute their nefarious deeds.
- A sacred gem – one that was created to make the harsh environment somewhat sustainable for the outcast thief women – has been stolen from the Gerudo desert. If the gem is not returned and replaced, the people living in the desert may find their homes destroyed and their lives at the hands of fate once more
- Kakariko Village has become a literal ghost town as its denizens have been chased away or captured by the horrific creatures that have risen from the graveyard. Survivors speculate that the event may have something to do with the cursed house within the village.
- The guardians of Kokiri Forest – the deku scrubs, babas, and various other creatures – have attacked the Kokiri, despite the Deku Tree being as tall and health as its forebear. Something dark and mysterious is happening within the forest, and some believe it is coming from the Lost Woods.
- All contact with the Gorons on Death Mountain has been lost. Their portals have been shut and no one is admitted into their tunnels. Is there a power struggle between the normally docile stone-eaters, ever since their leader disappeared?

I actually intend to include several other lands within this campaign, other than Hyrule - Termina, Labrynna, and Holodrum, to mention three.

Your wife plays pathfinder with you?? Lucky!!

Well, it's actually been a bit difficult to have her play. I'm running the Skull and Shackles AP , and she's one of the players. Unfortunately, she doesn't really RP as much and she isn't active in the sessions. This is why I want to have a solo campaign with her so that she can learn different facets of the Pathfinder rules.

As someone who has literally been planning to run a Zelda campaign for years, here's a few Links you might find useful.

You are a hero.

"Lure the Iron Knuckle into the path of the Beamos beam to stun it, or something like that."

Oh, that idea is brilliant! I'll have to come up with some other clever mechanics for the various dungeons, sub-dungeons, and temples.

As far as character build, I'm giving her free reign to choose a class, and in fact gave her a brief description of "the hero as that class." Fighter, for instance, goes like this: "She trains every day so that she can protect her friends. When the Great Deku Tree summons her to begin a quest of epic proportions, her years of training are put to the test." All Core and Base classes are available to her, and if she feels like multi-classing, I'll allow it. Right now, though, she's leaning toward Fighter or Sorcerer.

I'll take a look at the top-down games for puzzles; that's nifty too.

One thing I haven't decided on is death: should I end the game if she dies, or respawn at the dungeon/temple entrance or last entrance to an area?

My wife still hasn't gotten the hang of Pathfinder, and she hasn't played Ocarina of Time all the way through - both Pathfinder and Zelda are methods of entertainment that I hold close to my heart. As such, I've been thinking about running a solo campaign with just her as the legendary hero from the game. This way, we can work at a slow pace to familiarize her (and me, surely) with the rules.

Since there are 20 potential Hearts to have in the game and 20 levels to a character (typically) I figured each Heart Container would level her up instead of gaining experience.

I realize there cannot be a complete and true conversion of OoT to Pathfinder - it would simply be too time consuming for it to be practical. However, I feel like there is a way to execute this idea of a Zelda campaign within the Pathfinder rules.

Any and all advice or tips on how to design the dungeons and traps will be appreciated because I don't have any idea how to do those as of yet. If I need to move this to another thread, I will gladly do so because I don't know where this topic/question would fit appropriately.

Hmm... Okay, thanks. That makes sense. We don't have heavy casters in this party, but buffs, placement, and other preparation will do. Thanks, Matt and John.

When my party gets back together, they will be pretty close to finishing this book. The Regatta makes sense for the most part, but I don't understand what is said about the "Lightning Storm" event just before the end of the race:

What can the PCs even do to act before the energy becomes a lightning elemental? By the way it's written, it sounds like the thing isn't fully there for three rounds, and therefore would be unaffected by anything that attacks it. How have other GM's handled this event?

My players in the Skull and Shackles adventure path have come into the possession of a Ring of Charm Animal - not a spoiler, as I don't recall if I put it there myself. When I threw a sea creature at them to combat while sailing, they used the ring effectively and charmed the monster into their alliance. Is there a way to change an animal's type to something that ISN'T Animal? I know by adding any undead template turns the creature Undead, but that can get old pretty quick. Any advice would be helpful.

Disclaimer: I didn't think this needed to be posted in the Adventure Path board since this is specific to a situation that could reasonably be encountered elsewhere, not only while sailing.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. Unfortunately, you all were too late... The party interrogated her four days ago. They did torture her and I ran with it being somewhat successful. She tried to convince the party that Krelloort had sent her as a last resort, but they didn't buy into it. I gave them grief when they got to Mancatcher Cove, though.

It's a pretty common question.

Thank you, Valor!

My wife and I are creating characters for a one shot, and we had this fun idea that I would act as her mount. She is a halfling, I'm a half-orc, and she would normally ride on my shoulders. She is planning on using a lance or a polearm of some sort - as a fighter - and I'm going to wield an orc weapon, most likely - I'm a bard.

Are there any posts out there that I could take a look at? My initial search yielded no results. Or, what are your thoughts on these mechanics?

I started Wormwood Mutiny about two months ago, and the party is finally at the end. They handled things differently than how my part did when I played three years ago, such as

Often, I find that there is not enough explanation about an event or an area for me to follow like a script. I feel unorganized which leads to a lack of confidence. I don't know what to do to make the sessions more enjoyable and more fluid.

Any help on this matter is greatly appreciated.

Sorry for being late on this, but I'm new to pathfinder and I was wondering this : if the party splits, and half the party fights and half just do stuff elsewhere, do they also gain xp, or do I split xp just to those present to fight?

I have run it so that the members who fight are the ones who earns the xp.

So, theoretically:
A Bard of 20th level with Spellsong casts any spell with a duration of Concentration. He continues the spell without needing to concentrate because he continues performing. Could he then cast ANOTHER spell with a duration of Concentration?

In the Drizzt Do'Urden books, he has a figurine that summons a panther from the Astral Plane. A specific panther. Whenever she "dropped below 0 hit points," she would return to Astral Plane and recover. I believe in one of the books, it's mentioned that if a summoned creature "goes below 0 HP," it returns to its plane to lick its wounds; but if its killed ON its plane, it actually dies. This was 3.5ish era.
Don't know if that helps.

Thanks, everyone!

So a friend is running a campaign, and the bard in the party likes to use Displacement. In a recent battle (or a battle the GM is considering, I didn't quite catch the truth), a dragon used its breath weapon in the area where the bard stood, while he was under the affects of Displacement.

"The subject of this spell appears to be about 2 feet away from
its true location. The creature benefits from a 50% miss chance
as if it had total concealment. Unlike actual total concealment,
displacement does not prevent enemies from targeting the
creature normally. True seeing reveals its true location and negates
the miss chance."

I just reviewed the rules on Concealment, but I can't find anything hard and fast that will give my friend a definitive answer.

well for starters...you know the Now Releasing ...Wrath of the Righteous AP is doing just that right?

No, I wasn't aware of that. I'll have to look into that.