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So I've finished the written part of the adventure and its a real relief I will tell you that. I need to read adventures in more detail next time to make sure everything makes sense. So in a Narnia kind of thing the last couple of parts of the game will revolve around the PCs versus Chorral (who's in a Star Warsian twist is one of the PCs' father) I wish I could use the mass combat system but that subsystem turned out really badly. So yeah, what would you do for a final showdown type event?
For the fighter archetype there is the 5th level power that allows them to disarm and do damage "without the usual strength modifier" Now this is supposed to suggest that the bonus damage done is just by adders and other riders but what about other stat modifiers (ie dex) to damage? http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fig hter-archetypes/aldori-swordlord-brevoy
So when statting monsters up, how do you deal with this particular confluence of huh regarding con increases during rage? Does it gain bonus charisma when raging instead or does that part of the power not count for anything? Should I just use charisma as the base for the rest of the other keyed stats like how hitpoints switch over?
Ok, I'm having a quandary here. I redesigned some monsters for my Kingmaker game to give actual challenges to my PCs. What I'm using is someone's fan-conversion of the Warlock because I really don't feel up to running a high level wizard as a main baddy yet. ( http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz5bg5?Master-Arminass-Revised-Warlock-for-the#1 btw) The problem of stacking Character levels on a monster became kinda evident in what I did. The output CR 9 creature has 162 HP and a 150 range touch attack that does 5D8+6 fire damage and forces Will saves or become shaken (the party is pretty bad at will saves it seems) The question is, how would you fine tune this so it doesn't just outright kill PCs? The thing that I don't get is that apparently that damage code seems actually about right, but I'm thinking the HP and the control rider on the damage might be the thing that takes the fight to crazytown. That being said, one of the players is a Cavalier who's damage code is up to 2d12+34 to 42 on a charge and another is an alchemist barbarian who's running a claw/claw/bite/gore attack routine that does a lot of damage when he's full attacking.
I've been doing a lot of digging around with Cavaliers and I was wondering, what is the interaction with the crit multiplier with the multiplier from Spirited Charge? Is it not a crit multiplier so its a case of 3x damage x3 or does a crit only add another 2x damage in the way Pathfinder deals with crits?
So interestingly my players are taking the narrative into their own hands and are interested in hosting a tournament in their lands as an attempt to show how awesome they are. I guess the idea is to introduce their kingdom to the rest of the River Kingdoms. This is amusing mostly as this was the point where a Song of Ice and Fire game I was playing in previously fizzled out. I've got some notes on how medieval tournaments go and I think running a ruleset so the joust resembles Full Metal Jousting's format. Also I think I'm going to take ideas from Green Ronin's Song of Ice and Fire RPG as it has some guidelines on that. What else should I include?
Sorry, my internet at home has decided to go insane. I'll be posting what I have as I can. They're not really finished so comments would be appreciated to fine tune these rules. Also there are spoilers and what not so yeah. The problem with running macro social encounters is that you kinda have to expand on the material given for the local kingdoms, which is kinda sketchy. The Guide to the River Kingdoms is a really cool book however and gives good pointers as to what the various kingdoms do. First things first is to outline stats for the kingdoms. What I have as a guideline is: Disposition: Does the country like the PC's country. Rate -10 to 10. Depending on your players you can keep this hidden and reveal it through narrative or show the number. The PCs can do some kind of interaction with the other kingdom to improve relations (ie quest or a diplomacy roll plus an expenditure of BP) Of course with Pitax their disposition should always be kinda neutral (barring crazy stuff the PCs do to them) until War of the River Kings. Let's guestimate some possible interactions Trade agreement: The PCs arrange some sort of trading setup that's beneficial to both sides. This acts like a revenue stream per month of the Power + Disposition of the other country. In addition the other country might have extra bonuses to this trade agreement in the form of more BP or some kind of other narrative discount. It takes a minimum of two months of game time to setup which sees the councilor in charge of it, usually the Ambassador, not providing his bonuses to your country. Furthermore it requires an extended Diplomacy test pegged at lets say the character's diplomacy + 10 to 15 (depending on how difficult you want to make it), with each check taking up 1 month's time, minimum 2 successes, more for people who want to provide hassle to the PC's country, like say Pitax. Your PCs might also want to quest to finish this somehow. Easiest solution is a "remove bandits" quest with several high CR encounters. War: This subsystem hasn't been explored well. That being said there should be ways for the PCs to engage in lower level skirmishes. If the PC's declare war on a country they suffer an unrest penalty of 3+disposition, minimum 1 unrest unless disposition is at -10. Research: Man I wish there was a research option. Sadly I can't think of one other than somehow providing the PC's prerequisites for building armies. Power: This is another soft rating. This is just to suggest the general level of NPC they'll be dealing with when they interact with the town. Peg the rating above the PC level to suggest they might want to hang back a bit from a place or lower if you want the PCs to try to invade/co-opt a place. Make revealing information about the kingdoms cost BP and/or face time. My guess is travel to adjacent kingdoms is something along the lines of 2 months (assuming travel, staying and hassles) with the countries farther out taking 3-4 months? Also with all of this don't forget Brevoy. It's likely they'll want some taxes and to check if there are any Rogarvian holdouts in your PC's country. For now we'll say the Greater Powers (Brevoy, Galt, Numeria, Kyonin, Razmiran) also fall within the purview of these rules, with greater bonuses and greater penalties and so forth.
So, I have a couple of super high AC people in my game at the moment, 1)Cavalier Alchemist, 2) Armored Hulk Alchemist and 3) Vivisector/Armored Hulk. With mutagens up they're running around AC 20-22 and have the option to use Shield extracts which push their AC up another 4 points. The thing is, they've just hit level 4. Apparently people are willing to club together to get the combat monsters full plate really early in the game and not a lot of monsters I was using previously, even Trolls were requiring 17s and up to hit them. I've run into some luck dealing with the party using Gunslingers with Muskets, but that seems to be only one part of a panapoly of things I should be doing. What else could I use to challenge these 3 rather crazy characters while letting the other PCs not instantly die? What other sources of touch attacks are there? Are there any good Will save spells to use? (Other PCs are, Conjuration specialized Wizard, Bear Druid, Oracle, and a Cavalier Bard specced for social)
I ran my Kingmaker game again on Sunday and several amusing things popped up which is annoying but I know how to fix. 1) Be worried when all the fighty types decide for that lvl 1 dip into Alchemist for mutagen.
Kingmaker is otherwise quite cool. I don't like running with minimal prep but I did this time around because of other obligations.
So, there's something great about the versatility between classes and the ability to dip into other classes to change what your character does. Unfortunately I am currently running into an issue with people in the game I am running where the Alchemist kinda proved the point that he is the greatest of fighters by slaying a troll more or less single handedly. Now the Cavalier and Barbarian are dipping into Alchemist (for Mutagen). This is annoying but not bad perse. I'm mostly annoyed as it shows that the 1 level dip into Alchemist really is the way to go for most melee characters. And mutagen stacking on top of Rage is quite awesome. How would you deal with this situation?
So I ran my first session of Kingmaker and came up against some odd mechanical issues. One is apparently Alchemists are so front loaded its not funny. In short: 1) It is perfectly possible for a party of 5 first level characters to kill 2 trolls, so long as the overpowered alchemist rolls 2 crits in 3 rounds. 2) Random encounters are weird deals (1d4 trolls is a possible encounter at any level) 3) I am going to have to overbuild my encounters from now on. 4) People do not like fetch quests.
So I'm starting a Kingmaker Campaign sometime in December and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the adventure path and the kingdom generation mini-game? It seems kind of odd regarding times to build things. Also are there any pitfalls I should be looking out for? Any ideas as to how to make the kingdom game more interactive?
"A rage prophet’s class level stacks with barbarian levels for determining the effect of his rage powers, oracle revelations, and his oracle’s curse. This does not grant additional abilities." Does this mean that Rage Prophet levels stack with Barbarian levels for Rage stuff, and with Oracle for Oracle stuff. or This keys both Rage Prophet and Barbarian to stack with Oracle for stuff?
How's this supposed to be adjudicated? A level 4 Invulnerable Rager has 4 HP left and is hit for 8 HP of damage. He has guarded life as one of his powers. Does he suffer:
2)6 HP, his DR soaking 2 points, and the remaining 4 is converted to non-lethal, which he soaks leaving him at 2 HP. I'm guessing its the first, but I was just curious about confirmation of this particular weird one.
Being a fan of Wuxia movies I had an idea to bring the monk more in line with those genre ideals. However I am struggling with the balance part of the mechanics so ideas are welcomed. Youxia translated means Knight-Errant. Its the term for the various characters in wuxia novels who participate in the wuxia ideal. Generally they wander around dispensing justice, much like some PCs. However the idea of justice is subjective, much like for some PCs. Gains:
Loses:
One thing I've felt ever since 3.0 is that ranged damage is far worse than melee damage. This is probably slid around due to a risk/reward theory on game stuff but it has gotten me thinking. I am thinking intently on is increasing the die size of all ranged weapons to go up 1 step. Also I am thinking about but pretty sure it would be to crazy is a way to add a feat that let you add your DEX mod to damage.
I've got a friend who's not played D&D in a while, but seems interested in joining my Pathfinder game. He's thinking of playing a Paladin, but doesn't really want to cast spells. Going along the lines of the substitutions that they did in the Pathfinder campaign setting, what else could I reasonably sub out for the spell powers? Would it be reasonable to say that he could get the weapon bond and a slightly less good mount bond? |