Caryth Derellis's page

Thanks for the responses, guys! I appreciate it. I haven't had time to read through everything yet, but I hope to this evening.

In case my players are reading this, I hope to be as vague as I can while providing the desired insight.

To answer your question,Nowear, the campaign will be quite dark, particularly in the second half. The adversaries will be some of the darkest, most wicked souls ever to roam the earth and beyond. The measure of their resolve to destroy things is unmatched. I hope to really drive that home to each player.

The campaign is in a homebrew setting in a northern climate. Think taiga and tundra with a coastal fisheries lifeline for the people who dare inhabit these lands. Essentially, nearly a thousand years ago, a dark Abyssal force came to the land and corrupted one of the most prominent members of a Union of States that had created a rare and lasting peace. This corruption ultimately led to the deaths of many and the shattering of the alliances. In Elysium, a rare intervention of Angels halted the dark incursion on the material plane.

Nearly a thousand years have passed and the darkness, as it turns out, was not eradicated, but instead has lain dormant, waiting. The characters find themselves in one of two main kingdoms who are at war with one another. Two main plots drive the story. One apparent and one in the background that will eventually emerge, the true threat.

Essentially the players will be drawn into the inter-state conflict(s) and will be presented with choices to make. Whom to pledge their fealty to and such. In the background, dark forces stir and will eventually become apparent to the characters. Was the massacre a work of the enemy, or is this something more sinister??

AS more is revealed they will uncover more and more. They will encounter the agents of these dark forces, and the dark lord whom they answer to. Eventually the characters will confront these forces head-on.

Exploration and replaying will be major components for this one. Combats will be intense and focus on tactics rather than the sheer power of the enemies.

I hope that provides enough insight. :)

Hi guys!

I will be running a campaign that I've written in the coming weeks and months. I'm looking for specific advice, things which can improve the efficiency and enjoyment of game play for all. I am not looking for"remember, it's all about having fun, for everyone," or, "be sure to balance the difficulty!"

No, I am looking for specific tips for running games. This could be anything from how you suggest running combats, RP sessions, etc.

Thanks in advance, and I hope the question is clear enough.

For those that posted or anyone else out there as well:

Please rank (or state pick most important) content you would most like to see:

• Product reviews: Primary and Third-Party Publishing (As this may extend beyond Pathfinder)
  
• Player Advice: tutorials, build help, general adventuring tips, etc.
  
• GM Advice: help solving rules questions not covered by faqs and errata, Campaign design help (worlds, adventures, quests, etc), Solutions/advice on out of game topics for keeping the game fun, Game Balance issues
  
• New free resources to keep things fresh (new traps, monsters, plots/hooks, campaign setting, adventures)
  
• Random trivia/did you know facts for D&D/Pathfinder
  
• Personal favorites (monsters, mechanics, adventures) updated or converted for game use
  
• Everything!
  

This is not an immediate project, but it may come to pass before the end of the year (would like to have some content ready before jumping into things).

My top wishes:

1. New/free resource sto keep things fresh
2. GM advice
3. Play advise
4. Product review
5. Trivia
6. Favorites
7. Everything!

I also don't like to pick on PCs for having particular strengths. The paladin SHOULD have good saves, the fighter SHOULD be able to hit easily and hit hard, and the wizard SHOULD have good spell DCs.

Boosting enemy saves, AC, or HP seems almost predatory as opposed to challenging PCs tactically.

The LOTR films had a big impact on my view of the fantasy world(s). I liked the color-scheme that they used to portray the world as dark, gritty, mysterious, and melancholy.

I had also read the books around the same time the first film came out, and I have been a major fan since then. This has always impact my view of fantasy worlds, edging away from the "cartoony" look or feel and leaning much more so on the raw/gritty side.

83. Chinese hand-cuffs

78. Make them choose the wine in front of them

79. Make them choose the wine in front of you

80. Present them with something inconceivable

•Yes, I have read some blogs looking for RPG advice and would welcome a new one.

•Yes, I have watched a few videos for advice on RPG games and would watch a new one.

My contention is that it doesn't matter at this point whether or not it is happening, and if it is, whether we are impacting it in some manner.

To me, at this point we ought to be taking steps to conserve and preserve resources, cut costs, create more efficient products, use clean and renewable energy, etc. REGARDLESS of whether or not we are impacting climate change and whether or not it is real.

These things are of economic, health, societal, ecological, spiritual, etc. benefit that will be felt for generations to come. We ought to continually think 100+ years ahead when we make decisions for our species and for the planet.

Edit: Purely from an ECONOMIC and perhaps traditionally conservative standpoint - it is in our interest to pursue more efficient methods of existence. The best long-term viability of our economy and profitability is dependent on such.

Due to GM madness in an awful place where things made little sense, my charisma permanently became 1. Don't worry about how that happened, that doesn't matter. I worry about how to RP having a charisma of 1.

A quick look through the bestiary the only creatures with a charisma of 1 are oozes, constructs, and SOME plants (assassin vines, giant flytraps and others have more charisma than I do). Based on this I can only imagine that to have 1 charisma you are completely void of personality.

I am a mute, who on the rare occasion that he might speak, would be intentionally arrogant and offensive when he makes his point. Even that seems like too much personality. Does anyone else have any idea on how to RP such a thing? I had hoped that I could RP my way out of the situation, but the RP would involve not RPing... HELP ME!!!!

I see a lack of Cha resulting in an absence of social skills. You are not necessarily rude(unless you want to be) but you do not have any sort of awareness of social norms, what is rude, or not. You do not pick up on body language and other subtle things that others do.

You might butt in line, not because you WANT to be rude, but because you don't understand it. I liken this to some children who haven't matured in some ways. Just because you have a low CHA doesn't mean you have to be nasty or out-right mean, it just means that there is a disconnect between you and what is happening around you.

Just like a low Int score does not make you an automatic idiot (you can be very wise and yet not intelligent), a low Cha doesn't mean you're a jerkface!

So I have been playing these sort of games since I was a kid. A good friend of mine is a generally great DM and has been hosting games for many years now. It's been a blast playing with him, and those games are the only consistent ones I have attended. We always have fun.

That being said, there is a chronic issue that has plagued our games in the background of every session. No matter what class of character or type of character, or the style I play them in, the GM seems to just loathe my characters. I am the type of person that enjoys optimizing my characters. I feel that picking a melee guy for example that can't hit things or kill them with his sword isn't much fun or very useful, so I try to make them as capable as possible.

We use a 20 point buy system, he is somewhat stingy on loot, so I have average wealth or at many times less than average wealth in terms of gold and investments in gear. This is not bad, because it makes it in some ways more fun to find loot. There is nothing that really sets the characters I have made apart from others beyond their customization/optimization. This has not, btw, detracted from role-playing and other aspects of the game...

I used to play fighters a lot as a teenager because I, as many others do, loved hacking and slashing things into tiny pieces with my characters. I would deck them out with a greatsword, max their strength, etc. Their feats would all go towards the single purpose of utterly destroying my enemies. Because of this, I sacrificed saves, HP, armor, etc.

The next character he complained about was a dwarf fighter who utilized full plate and a tower shield to simply not get hit. He would bull-rush with the shield and pin enemies against the wall while his allies killed them. He would railroad them off cliffs, into fiery pits, and all sort of other fun places.

I have since played many more casters. I really enjoy controllers and de-buffers in particular. He now complains almost every session multiple times about my character(s). No matter what I pick, choice I make, action I take, he HATES it because it is GOOD and playing a class to their fullest.

I don't think I should have to stop playing characters the way I enjoy playing them (and thus, in a sense, the game itself) because he can't seem to find ways as a DM to combat them properly. I have operated completely under his rules and expectations and yet he whines.

I am wondering what advice people have for these sort of situations. I really respect him and appreciate his friendship/DMing as mentioned before. Maybe it is a matter of bringing it up with him directly. It is getting really frustrating though, because I haven't done anything wrong, but he sort of treats me that way. I have also felt he unfairly punishes my character because of how he feels about him.

As a final example, I have been playing a witch lately. He hates my witch. Utterly and completely. He often forgets to apply misfortune hexes when he rolls. I try to politely remind him that he must reroll, and apply the evil hex for BOTH rolls. I try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but when I KNOW he has missed the reroll, I say something. I don't do this to be a total jerk, but because he would otherwise deny me the entire purpose of my character! If a fighter didn't get to go/attack in a round it would be the same as my hexes not being properly applied, right? He got really pissed at me for quite politely and patiently reminding him about it.

I am a little lost as to what to do.

542: The Lovely Orc Ladies Calendar Collection!

I found it, its the Deception Sub-domain under Trickery

Sudden Shift (Sp): In the blink of an eye, you can appear somewhere else. As an immediate action, after you are missed by a melee attack, you can teleport up to 10 feet to a space that you can see. This space must be inside the reach of the creature that attacked you. You can use this power a number of times each day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.

You can use this RIGHT away at first level. As a cleric you, I believe get 2 domains, so you could pair it with:

Love sub-domain:

Adoration (Su): As an immediate action, you can attempt to thwart a melee or ranged attack that targets you. This ability functions as sanctuary, but only against one individual attack. You must use the ability after the attack is declared but before the roll is made. The creature attacking you receives a Will save to negate this effect. If a creature has more than one attack, this ability only affects one of the attacks. You can use the ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier. This is a mind-affecting effect.

SO, when you use Adoration, they miss (hopefully), and you can immediately teleport to smash more baddies. ADd a reach weapon and you can still hit the other guy. Maybe the big reach dwarven hammer. Idk.

:D

Edit: The one downside is that you need to remain within the initial targets reach.

Edit 2: It is also worthwhile to point out that you only need 1 level of cleric for this to work. You can then continue on smashing things as a fighter, barbarian, etc. Whatever direction you want to take it from there. You can use the Dim Door build after this and be able to REALLY dart about the battlefield. :D

Another time, with the same party as mentioned above, we came across a different tower belonging to a band of petty thieves.

The rogue scouts out the entrance and confers with the wizard. They deem these villains to be of little threat and probably not even worth our time. However, the barbarian is itching for a fight...

After some discussion it is decided that we will unleash our barbarian on the tower just for fun. We figured if nothing else, it would scare the $%*#@# out of these bandits when they see a were-wolf hybrid dwarf foaming at the mouth roaring with rage and charging them with a mighty vorpal great axe lifted above his head, providing us with some great entertainment.

The bandits spot him crossing the field, panic, and retreat inside the tower. The barbarian crosses the field in two turns, using his fast-movement to close the distance quickly. He arrives to find the door locked (and unbeknownst to him, barricades from the other side and reinforced by bandits physically stabilizing the clutter used to block the door).

A party member moves behind him and casts Enlarge Person on the barbarian, who swivels, lets out a mighty roar, and charges shoulder-first into the door. He rolls a natural 20 on his str check. The door blows from its hinges in a cloud of dust and falling rubble as the doorway collapses on itself and splinters into hundreds of fragments.

Three or four of the bandits are crushed by falling stone and furniture, while the rest flee in sheer terror up the winding spiral staircase to the upper levels of the tower. The barbarian stops to laugh manically at the mess he's made and proceeds to run up the stairs screaming the whole way.

In the meantime, the party has crossed the field to inspect the scene, taking note of the destruction and delighting in the sheer beauty of their friend's destructive wake. From where they stand just at the base of the tower they can hear the panicked shouts of bandits hurriedly scrambling to arrange a defense.

The barbarian surges up the stairs, encountering scant defenders pathetically attempting to delay his advance. He cleaves them, bites them, rushes right over them, and annihilates them, bellowing laughter the whole time. There may have been some howling thrown in here and there. His party can hear all of this echoing out the many windows scattered along the stairway and can only wonder at the brutality taking place inside.

Moments later, as they stand huddled in a circle, perhaps getting a bit bored by the situation, the keen elf rogue's ears perk up. She spots a shadow on the ground at her feet and looks up just in time to see a mangled corpse rocketing toward the party as it is tossed out the window.

The barbarian, having slaughtered near 20 bandits takes a break from the destruction to toss the bodies out the window, loot and all. He figures he will save the party the burden of climbing a few hundred stairs. What a nice fellow, eh?

The barbarian finishes the task, the party begins to say a few prayers for these poor souls and takes what little loot remains on their bodies. The last of the bandits are now holed up in the very top chamber in the tower, an iron door bars the room. The enraged axeman charges this door, but to no avail. His axe deflects off its solid surface.

By now his rage has worn off, but his bloodthirst has not waned. He speeds down the stairs, grabbing all the wooden furniture he can find along the way and tosses it off the stairwell into the base of the tower. Here he piles it all together, creating a wonderfully stacked pile of fuel.

The barbarian runs out of the tower to safety. He is now visible to the party. His body is covered in blood, guts, bits of broken weapons stick in and out of his thick flesh, and a massive grin spreads across his face. "Light em' up!" He says.

The wizard with no hesitation at all, pitches a fireball into the pile of broken furniture. The group moves back from the blaze and watches as the entire tower is engulfed, slowly slanting as the support beams burn away. Soon, the entire structure collapses into a massive heap of charred rubble and bones. Proud of his work, the barbarian takes the entire party to the nearest tavern. There they recall the glory of the day and enjoy round after round of drink.

I hate when a GM provides the guidelines for character creation, and then complains when my character shines in the area he was designed to shine in because he easily overcomes challenges in that category the GM throws at him...

A lot of GM's can't come up with creative ways to change up combat, so if the fighter with the great-sword is hacking everything to bits, throw something at him he can't hit with his giant sword...?

Don't hate a class or character for being good at something. Period. The whole point is that everyone is good at something and poor at others. The game would completely suck otherwise.

There should be goats. Lot's of goats.

I had a rogue who was a bit of a dare devil. He was the typical back-stabbing shanking type.

After a few sessions he began to carry a small journal around, taking notes of this and that, connecting plotlines, and taking sketches. Little did he know, but this later came in handy in several ways.

What started as a little thing to pass the time developed into a critical habit and a central piece of his character.

There are too many instances where this came into play in interesting ways, but it certainly changed the character!

I can see your point about how this can potentially lead to a broken class, or classes, but I think that this is offset by the witches extreme vulnerability.

Especially as the players advance in levels, the witch becomes more and more at risk of being killed. This is partially due to low HD and AC, but also because they need to be in range to cast hexes.

Wizards and sorcerers can wear armor (albeit light), cast from further away, and have a host of promising utility spells that allow them to circumnavigates most obstacles.

A great example comes to mind of a witch that was in our party. AT level five, the witch moves in to a combat against some ogres. She slumbers one on her turn, but then they get to act. The book said they would target casters first, so they both charged the poor witch.

Having no armor and few magic items to boost AC, she was just butchered. They barely had to roll to hit. Two hits and she was unconscious. I know this can happen to wizards and sorcerers as well, but I don't think it would be as frequently.

I don't think the witch has a leg up on other casters in this respect.

Dwarf barbarian tried to jump off a cliff onto a dragon that was pinning our wizard under his claws. He raged mid-air and ended up missing the attack and acrobatics utterly. Lost 99% of his HP and only survived because of going enraged mid-air.

Dragon proceeded to wipe most of the group when the neutral drow ranger rolls an instant death (20,20,20) on the dragon, which the DM said "no" to.

Fighter and rogue who are left manage to revive downed cleric and burn the dragon down.

Good memories!