Chairborne Ranger's page

Forgive my ignorance regarding the game-publishing industry, but what prevents Paizo from simply excising the AoW adventures and Wormfood articles as-is from the back issues and lumping them together as a downloadable PDF? The stuff's already been published once, and I know that there are other magazines out there that publish in dual format. The issue of "permanence" resonates with me; my family and I tend to move a lot and I have had trouble hanging on to the AoW issues through 2 moves this past year. I won't be able to run it anytime soon, but to have that file would guarantee that I can dust it off and play it again long after the magazines would have crumbled into dust.

Am I missing anything, or is this a possibility?

The glass guys are called Nerra, they're in the Fiend Folio.

Sorry, none of my original SCAP files survived the transition to a new PC last December :( However, once they get the Archives link working again, I'll go back and dig up the old thread. In it, Chef's Slaad had directed me to a good 3rd-party website with alternate diplomacy rules. CS, if you're still on these boards, maybe you could post it again under this thread?

If your party has enough time to start looking for houses, you need to run Foundations of Flame. From the start of Lords of Oblivion to the final showdown with Dyr'ryd should be less than 72 hours, tops.

Afterwards, the party will have enough on its hands rebuilding Caudron and killing off the surviving Cagewrights. I'm of the opinion that House Rhiavadi, standing as it does on the edge of the gash from the eruption, would be a suitable reward for an adventuring party from a grateful city. Why worry about property value? The PCs will barely be there.

- Dream haunted for the elven scout
- Nobility for the human mage (member of the Vanderboren family)
- Long shadowed for the human cleric
- Scion of Surabar for the human rogue
- Wyrm Blooded for the human hexblade

I really liked the idea of incentivizing local characters with traits. Here are a few thoughts, you can take 'em or leave 'em:

-Your noble mage is a member of the Vanderboren family, so any conflict with the Stormblades will be a chance to shine, especially if the PC is good-aligned. Play up the tension between the "natural" heir to the family and the adopted Todd. I felt like the Stormblades were underused in the published material, and I loved the idea of another company competing for glory and jobs with the PCs. IMC, the Stormblades claim-jumped the PCs at the end of Chapter 3 and stole the wands of control water as they emerged from the Kopru ruins. The party suffered no lasting harm, but every chance I got thereafter, I tried to show the public hero-worshiping the Stormblades. It made for a great subplot.

-Your dream-haunted scout is "teched in the head" by Adimarchus, so perhaps the demon prince is calling him home. If the PC's get well and truly stuck in the Mirror Maze in Demonskar Legacy, or if they fail to take the bait at the end of Test of the Smoking Eye, you can tip your hand a little and give the solution to the scout, then let him figure out how to get it to the rest of the party. To balance this (esp. if he picks up the smoking eye template) you may want to worsen his condition as Adimarchus' madness continues to leak into the material plane. Talk it over with your player.

-Change Alakast from a quarterstaff to a dagger or a shortsword or something similarly rogue-y and give it to the rogue, that he might strike the final blow against Nabthatoron. Demonskar Legacy is that character's chance to shine, and the extra attention he'll get from demons will let the weapon go to good use. Also consider letting Nidrama appear to him and him alone after Demonskar legacy in dreams or something like that. It will be a useful tool for you to guide the PCs on the path you want.

-Your Wyrm-blooded hexblade should get the chance to talk with Dhorlot in the Kuo-Toan temple. If he can ever pick up a cohort, consider nerfing thet minotaur from Soul Pillars a little and adding him to the party after a role-playing encounter.

-Somebody smarter than me is going to have to figure out what to do with your long-shadowed cleric. Who is he a cleric of?

Hope it helps.

I'm not sure how far back they archive this messageboard anymore, but back in winter '04, I was looking at this same problem. Our solution was a chartered adventuring company, an idea which I probably picked up from the FR campaign setting. The PCs had to stand before a city board that represented nobles, merchants, and churches in Cauldron. Mine was campaign-specific, but a good board might include Embril Aloustinai, Jenya, Ankhin Taskerhill, Zachary Aslaxin I, Orbius Vhalantru, Terseon Skellerang, and Lord Mayor Narvalant. Start each off with his own attitude. The mix should probably be 2 friendly, 2 unfriendly, and 3 indifferent. Let the PCs make their case for why they ought to be a chartered company and award circumstance bonuses or penalties based on the points they make. Some issues might affect different members differently (for example, anything that pleases the Church of St Cuthburt will likely annoy the temple of Wee Jas). Make a diplomacy check. An unfriendly NPC votes against chartering the PC's; a friendly NPC votes in favor; an indifferent NPC votes with the majority or abstains.

Once the PCs have the charter, it will provide a vehicle for contracts (such as in chapters 2,3, and 4) and, in our campaign, it accorded the bearers special privileges, specifically the right to carry magic arms and armor and to cast 2nd-level spells or higher in public without fear of arrest. Administering the business of an adventuring company was almost as much fun for my party as crawling through dungeons, and really helped the setting come alive, since they got to interact with prominent NPCs so early in the campaign. I'll see if I can't find my original files for the campaign (I moved a year ago and haven't played since, so I may have file-13'd them) if you have an e-mail I can send them to.

Chris, thanks oh-so-much for saying that you 'worked' with said people instead of 'played' or 'gamed' with them :)

Wonder what Chairborne Ranger would say about this....hmmm.

Chairborne Ranger is too developmentally disabled to type these days...

Wissel, I figure you will read this thread, so I can ask here. Any hint on what the next installment of Wissel's Greatest might be? Maybe the Way of the Grommit?

Sorry, no internet at home, so I might not read it for a while. But still most curious.

I got this idea from the Running Gags thread, but some great lines don't quite make great running jokes. We've had some good ones recently, all in the Shackled City AP:

1. In SCAP, Module 2, vs Tongueeater. The fighter is getting wasted, and the cleric wants to try and talk the monster down. In homage to Pulp Fiction, the fighter says to the cleric, "Pretty please, with sugar on top, kill the $@#*ing monster."

2. Same encounter. The rogue is circling behind Tongueeater for a better shot. The fighter encourages the rogue to move in and flank Tongueeater. The rogue replies, "The hell with you, that thing could kill me!"

3. SCAP, Module 2, the ruins. The fighter seizes an opportunity for a cleave attempt in a hallway. His first mark is a thug brought down to about 1/2 HP by the cleric in a previous round. The cleric complains, "Hey, I want to kill that guy." The fighter responds, "Do I try to upstage you when you're healing?"

I can't think of any others right off the bat. Anyone else have any really memorable zingers that haven't quite appeared over and over again but are part of your table lore nonetheless?

And if there is a TPK and my players get mad at me, I can just tell them Mr. Jacobs told me to do it!!

After all of GlassJaw's famous AP tweaks, you expect your party to believe you ? ;-) Maybe an aquatic, undead Tongueeater...

The PCs eventually get a chance to hobnob with Cauldron's finest in AP3. Because of the nature of professional adventuring in my campaign, the characters needed wealthy and influential supporters to obtain the right to adventure in Cauldron's vicinity in the first place (See my "Free Company Charters" thread way back in March; it hasn't been touched in a while). With a little direction, the party has landed on two central patrons: Jenya, and Lord Vhalantru! Needless to say, the last has provided me with delicious opportunities to role-play with the PCs, who have no idea who he is. If your PCs are unfamiliar with the later installments of the adventure path, don't be afraid to introduce Vhalantru right off the bat as a wealthy and influential patron of adventurers. I was able to dispense with Celeste and the doppelganger "father" of Zenith in AP3 because my PCs trust and like Vhalantru so much.

Good-aligned druids become considerably more useful if they invest in the Spontaneous Healer feat in Complete Divine. If the party druid has access to spontaneous cure spells, they make flavorful replacements for clerics.

One of the big strengths of the new AWAP is that DM's are given a lot more tools with which to "tie" their parties to the initial setting. I produced my own "adventurer's guide to Cauldron" that gets updated as my PC's finish each module to help them feel more like locals, but they still felt "foreign" to the setting and played adventurers from Sasserine. Never underestimate the lure of cold cash, even for good characters; my party traveled to Cauldron because it is a cheap, relatively unexploited venue for professional adventurers. Their characters have developed since then, but that was the initial hook. I would have liked to make them locals, but Cauldron just wasn't fleshed out enough to make it their childhood home.

On a related note, James, I know it's kind of late in the game, but what are the odds of getting a "Player's Guide to Cauldron" in the hardcover, or better, as a downloadable PDF? Something that gives generic background and highlights sufficient for a player to play a "local?" And Erik, what about a player's version of the outstanding Diamond Lake backdrop in #124, either in Dragon or on this site?

I made a few modifications to "Racing the Snake" and I am going to drop it in as a side quest between "Zenith Trajectory" and "Demonskar Legacy." Substitute Maavu for the good merchant and Vhalantru or an intermediary for the bad one, and you're all set. If the players fail to kill Maliss, you can reintroduce him in "Strike on Shatterhorn."

After my party found out that I posted my version of Tark here for vetting and approval, they insisted that I recount the tale of their glorious defeat of the monster.

The fight started out badly for them, since the rogue was way ahead of the party proper. Their first glimpse of Tark in the lantern light got me the jaw-dropping "Cool!" I had hoped for (although, when I added the part about the tongue, my two veteran players were like, "Mohrg?" "Mohrg." So much for making them wonder). Tark uncoiled and jumped at the rogue, who apparently thought he was a zombie with a much slower movement, and paralyzed him right off the bat. That took out the party's light source, as well, creating a headache for me, but a really cool horror encounter where the party could hear Tark's chains jingling but couldn't see him. Tark tried to paralyze the fighter/paladin, but he made his save because of his Divine Grace class feature. Tark laughed off the cleric's futile attempts to turn him, and continued to trade blows with the paladin until he got zorched by a scorching ray from the party sorceror. I broke him off and went after her; he successfully paralyzed her, but by this time, the cleric had retrieved the bull's-eye lantern and the paladin had a clear target. He burned a turn attempt for a Divine Might, used his smite evil for the day, maxed out his power attack, and connected with both his bastard sword and his shield, inflicting enough damage to drop the monster. All in all, a tough, evocative, and visually entertaining encounter, and one that my PC's have been talking about ever since. Of all the encounters in the Kopru ruins, I feel that this one was the most appropriate challenge level for the players; not too much, not too little.

I've posted enough on how I beat up on these guys, so here's what I've got:

Tessius of Knightsbridge, now a Male Human LG Ftr 3/Clr 2/Prestige Paladin 2-a former soldier who has taken on a more contemplative attitude due to his deepening respect and affection for Jenya;

Dinoskepsi Ippota, Male Human NG Clr 7- a cleric devoted to a complex web of interlocking duties, he is a priest of secular humanism and doesn't believe in gods (the name is Greek for "Fist of Thought";

Ariadne Liadon, Female Elf CG Sor 6/ Ftr 1- a hot-tempered, foul-mouthed elven princess who never seems to learn that she doesn't have the hit points to mix it up like Tessius does;

Vergal, Male Halfling CG Rog 7- a reformed street urchin who still has strong survival instincts, instincts that mostly encourage him to pocket everything not nailed down; and

Brigitta, Female Human CN Brd 7- a wandering chronicler of adventures, she has settled in Cauldron to develop her "art" and has therefore wound up affiliated with the party.

Together they form the Malachite Fellowship, named both for their derring-do in the slave bazaar beneath Cauldron and for the many funny ways to abuse the intials MF. They have a great dynamic, with Tessius and 'Skepsi often forced to rein in the more anti-social proclivities of the three chaotic group members.

The rise of a god-king need not be a joyous occasion, either. Perhaps the primary adversary of the campaign has discovered from a bit of obscure lore that the one who unites the island will BECOME the god-king, and plans to use this for his own dark purpose. A good starting point for characters in this campaign would be a seemingly unrelated low-level dungeon crawl in which the scrap of evidence supporting the evil mastermind's interpretation is recovered by the party (who should not even realize its significance).

And PBEM DM, an Ur-Priest is a prestige class introduced in the Book of Vile Darkness that casts divine magic by stealing it from the gods rather than worshipping them. The 3.5 version is featured on p 70 of COmplete Divine. His ability to cast spells as a cleric without relying on a deity makes it possible for an evil mastermind to rise to power in a good religion.

If the players don't figure out that the beholder=Lord Vhalantru before LoO, how (and when) are they going to figure it? There's no event or scene where the PC see vhalantru shifting shape. any ideas?

The players don't need to know that Vhalantru is the beholder, merely that he is the next big player in the Cagewrights' plot. There are plenty of opportunities before, during, or after the battle in House Rhiavadi to drop that kernel. I personally want to keep it from my players that Vhalantru is the beholder until they find the well surrounded by statues, and realize why all those Free Companies with their names engraved on Skie's shop have "retired."

Some specific ideas:
1) Vhalantru was supposed to preside over the meeting at House Rhiavadi, but some other engagement has forced Thrifirane to take over the presentation for him. She opens the meeting by apologizing for his absence, linking him to the Cagewrights' plot for PCs discriminating enough not to just kick down the door.

2). In Rhiavadi's house is a crystal ball she uses to communicate with Vhalantru (like the palantiri in LotR). The PCs discover it, and Vhalantru, not immediately perceiving who is on the other end of the connection, reveals himself to the party.

3). Incriminating documentation in House Rhiavadi leads the party to Cauldron's government. They confront Vhalantru with evidence of his role in the plot at some official government meeting in front of his advisors and cronies or some other public venue (this could be good rehabilitation for the PCs' popular reputation after breaking into both the Temple of Wee Jas and House Rhiavadi).

A villain I've been fiending to use is an Ur-priest in a position high in the heirarchy of a highly structured LG or LN religion. Ferreting out such a mastermind could provide the plotline to an adventure path, especially for arc #2 from PBEM DM.

I think the diplomacy skill needs a little tweak. I don't like the fact that there's a flat DC, no matter what the PC's level is. A good alternative mechanic is presented here.

Thanks for the link, CS. I'll at least be applying the relationship and risk/benefit modifiers when I DM the Diplomacy skill.

In our campaign, chartered Free Companies must have names, even if it's only "Bob's Company." My group decided on "The Malachite Fellowship," although "Evil Monkeys (We Throw Poo)" came in a close second. In light of later AP modules, should this party disintegrate, I think that the second name will be up for serious consideration next time around.

b.t.w. Why is Jenya excluded from voting on the charter hearing, while anyone with less-than-indifferent attitude is not? Seems like someone is stacking te odds against the party

(dum dum dum....)

Narvalant and Vhalantru both started the encounter friendly, so the idea was to showcase the hostility between the Cuthbertite and Wee Jas churches while setting Vhalantru up as a friend and ally. Jenya can't vote because she is already an overt patron of the party, having contracted with them in Life's Bazaar (I was unclear: the charter hearing for my party took place between modules 1 and 2). But the set-up wound up making it too easy; the party cleric rolled high enough in the first round to make Ike Iverson friendly! I let the whole bit go on for a few more rounds just to give some sense of drama and accomplishment to the PCs when they were done.

I'll check out those alternative rules in the link, CS. I don't want to stack the odds, but I do want there to be a legitimate chance that they fail, just like they could in combat. In other words, I feel that a challenging encounter winds up giving the cleric with the high diplomacy check the same enjoyment and sense of fulfillment that the fighter had when he struck the killing blow against Kazmojen.

To be specific: I don't want to punish a PC for investing in Diplomacy when it comes to an encounter like this (one of my own favorite skills on the other side of the screen). Indeed, I want the encounter to practically mandate a PC with such a skill to have any chance of success, to give such a character a chance to really shine! Any thoughts on how to beef up a non-combat encounter without just tweaking ridiculously high DC's? I thought the mechanic of circumstance bonuses based on audience sympathy would help, but it just wound up snowballing on me.

Where do you want to start, Squid? With a campaign arc, or a setting, or what?

As it stood, the cleric's ridiculously high diplomacy modifier made this encounter much less dramatic and challenging than I had anticipated. How can I make this more difficult for a future party? Any other thoughts are also appreciated.

These are the notes for my company's charter hearing:

The Board of Charters

This seven-member panel is responsible for the issuance of Cauldron Free Company Charters. Its membership is drawn from regional nobility, clergy, and local leadership, as well as an Imperial representative. A party must be approved of by four of the panel’s seven members in order to become a chartered company. Of course, each of these board members has his own agenda.

The Churches-
This quarter, the Priesthood of the Triumvirate and the Cult of Mammon represent Cauldron’s faiths on the board.
· Jenya Urikas- Jenya must abstain from voting in this case due to her personal relationship with the PC’s. She acts as an advocate before the board, essentially adding a +2 aid another bonus to all the party’s Diplomacy checks, unless she is called upon to make one herself (but see below).
· Ike Iverson- In a blatant snub, Embryl Aloustinai has sent her lieutenant, Iverson, to represent her in the council. The Cult of Mammon and the Church of the Triumvirate are theological rivals, and a personal dislike has blossomed between Sarcem Delasharn and Embryl. This mutual loathing has infected the lower priests of both churches, and so anything that Jenya favors, Iverson is predisposed to oppose. His starting attitude is unfriendly, and any time the PC’s make use of Jenya’s aid another bonus, they suffer a –2 penalty on their check to influence Iverson.

The City-
· Severen Narvalant- The City’s Lord Mayor, Severen has enjoyed the good publicity afforded by the party’s rescue of the kidnap victims. He has been seeking an opportunity to appear publicly as their patron for the past week, and to distance himself from his own government’s failure to find the victims. His starting attitude is friendly.
· Terseon Skellerang- Captain of the Town Watch, Skellerang’s force was made to look incompetent when an unchartered, unlicensed band of freelancers solved a two-month-old mystery in three days. Skellerang’s starting attitude is unfriendly.

The Imperium-
· Aetius Calgary- Aetius represents the Ran Imperium in the city. His area of responsibility is quite broad, and his office is quite small. He has bonded hundreds of adventuring companies, most of which have gone on to meet untimely ends. He is bored and impatient with the whole ordeal and figures he has better things to do. His starting attitude is indifferent.

The Nobility-
The noble members of the board also rotate quarterly. This month, two of Cauldron’s most influential nobles sit on the board.
· Ankhin Taskerhill- Taskerhill is one of the city’s wealthiest nobles, with a seat on the advisory council, a stranglehold on the lucrative obsidian trade, and title to many of the city’s businesses. He is a rival of Zachary Aslaxin I and of Maavu Ardlintal. His own daughter, Annah Taskerhill, leads a free company known as the Stormblades. His starting attitude is indifferent.
· Orbius Vhalantru- Vhalantru is an enigma in the city, and it is suspected that his place on this council is due in large part to his cozy relationship with the Lord Mayor, since he owns no land or business in Cauldron proper. Nevertheless, he has been caught up in the popular esteem for the party, and is very knowledgeable about their exploits. His starting attitude is friendly.

Mechanics-
For the company to be officially licensed, four of the board’s six voting members must vote for the PC’s.
· Hostile- An NPC with a hostile attitude will table further discussion and call for a vote when he senses there are enough votes to reject the party’s bid. Such a vote ends the encounter in failure. For each hostile board member, the PC’s suffer a cumulative –2 penalty on Diplomacy checks due to the negative “vibe” coming from the offended board member.
· Unfriendly- An unfriendly NPC will vote against chartering the PCs if a vote is called, but will not seek to end the hearing, giving the party time to influence attitudes.
· Indifferent- An indifferent NPC will abstain from voting should a vote be called, and will do nothing to help or oppose the PC’s efforts.
· Friendly- An NPC with a friendly attitude will vote for the PCs should debate end. He remains unsure about the party, however, and so will not seek to end debate on his own.
· Helpful- A helpful NPC will seek to end debate when enough friendly attitudes have been amassed to guarantee acceptance of the party’s bid. Such a vote ends the encounter with success. For each helpful NPC, the party enjoys a cumulative +2 bonus to Diplomacy checks due to the enthusiasm of the supportive board member.

The task before the party, therefore, is to adjust the attitude of at least one NPC to helpful, and the attitudes of three others to at least friendly. A party who succeeds in winning a charter pays the fee and is bonded as a licensed Free Company, with all the associated privileges. A party who fails may appeal the decision after a 90-day probationary period.

I had asked ifv anyone wanted to look at this in another thread, and I got one reply, so here goes (ignore the campaign-specific stuff like the Ran Imperium and mind flayer presence around Cauldron; Mammon also represents something totally different here):

Here's some material from my intro on Free Company Charters-

Spanning nearly an entire continent, the Imperium covers lands once claimed by a variety of nonhuman races. Spell Weavers, mind flayers, kuo-toa, yuan-ti, and kopru all built mighty empires of their own in the forests, jungles, and mountains of the Imperium. The multitude of hostile, alien civilizations that came before have led to a proliferation of dungeons and ruins throughout the empire, as well as the occasional threat from inhuman marauders who fail to realize their time has passed.
Many of the tributary states of the Imperium have addressed this problem through the chartering of free adventuring companies. Though the fee for a charter varies from city to city, from as high as 4,000 gold in Rannath to as little as 250 gp in Redgorge, the purpose is the same: both to encourage the proliferation of freelance adventurers to address problems beyond the capability of militias or auxiliaries and to allow the governments of the tributary states to monitor the activities of various adventuring groups, thus curbing brigandine and lawlessness. Free Companies are usually assessed an annual renewal fee for their charter, but they are not taxed on whatever booty they find in their adventures, and they enjoy extra rights to possess powerful magic items and other items deemed illegal among the general populace.
In Cauldron, the fee for an adventuring charter is 1000 gp, with an annual renewal fee of 100 gp. To obtain or renew a charter, the company must present itself in full before a chartering board, containing representatives both from local and Imperial governments. This board reviews the company’s membership and history, and it may, at its discretion, choose to lower the charter fee (to companies that have rendered a valuable public service) or to deny a charter altogether. Once granted, the charter must remain with the leader of the company at all times. They are written on magical paper that is both waterproof and fireproof. A lost charter can be replaced for a fee of 1000 gp (essentially re-chartering the group). An unchartered company’s booty is taxed at 30% by the Lord Mayor and the Procurator, and members of unchartered companies may not carry any magical weapon nor cast any spell above first level within the city walls. Any violation of these public safety protocols carries with it a stiff fine and possibly jail time, so wise adventurers charter themselves at the earliest opportunity.
A fringe benefit to the rulers of cities with free companies is the provision of a short list of powerful adventurers capable of undertaking quests beyond the scope of most normal militias or auxiliaries. Should an adult red dragon ravage the countryside, the local sovereign has at his fingertips a list of parties that could be equal to the task of hunting it down and killing it. Many companies supplement their treasure-hunting income with state commissions, as the latter are often a more secure source of income. States often deal with rogue parties by commissioning another free company.

Here's another one the WerePlatypus ought to remember:

I was playing a CG elven ranger named Aramil. He was my first character, and I was fresh out of the Army, so he was dressed to the right and covered down, foul-mouthed and aggressive. He would take on foes with relentless aggression, regardless of whether it was the smart thing to do, because I wasn't 100% on the rules back then (hell, I'm still probably only 50% now).

At any rate, one day Aramil and the party were ambushed by a wizard who neutralized the sentry with a sleep spell before taking most of our stuff. Aramil took off after him, doing a sort of Aragorn-on-the-plains-of-Rohan number, until I blundered headlong into a second ambush. I was only 3rd level, so when the wizard cast Melf's Acid Arrow, the spell made a mess of things. The paladin in his heavy armor caught up a few minutes later to find Aramil in dire straits, at -8 HP. "Hey, guys," he called out, "I just slipped in something."

"What was it?" asked the monk.

Brian came back, "I think it's the ranger."

"I just slipped in a puddle and I think it's the (party member)" is the standard warning now that the party gets when one of their number is discovered clobbered away from the main group.

Another option is a charter tax. Just have the adventurers pay every year (or month, if you like) to renew their charter. You should probably increase the fee depending on their succes, (i.e. the party level). Of course, it's off to the stockades if the party is found adventuring without a charter.

Adventuring charters are maintained with an annual licensing fee, and the expense varies by location (someplace like Cauldorn is cheap, while a metropolis like Greyhawk or Waterdeep would be prohibitively expensive). This ensures that retired Free Companies with expired charters are removed from the list of hireable adventurers.

If there's enough interest out there, I can post some of my rules for the chartering of Free Companies. A friend of mine and I are working on it for possible submission as part of a campaign workbook. Feedback is appreciated.

WerePlatypus, you ought to appreciate this one.

About a year ago, our party was inflitrating a goblin stronghold; I can't remember why. Bashing down the door took a little time and effort, and alerted the denizens to our presence. Waiting for us inside the front door was a box with a note on it that read, "DeaR HumiNz. THis iz nOt a tRap. It iz a PrezInT. PLeeZ open it."

Faced with that, our party's reaction was to check it for traps. A natural 1 convinced our party rogue (my wife) that the box was clean. Still sensing something was not right, my paladin rolled a Sense Motive check, just to provide some in-game pretext for not opening the box. Another natural one, and we all felt pretty happy and honored to be offered such a generous housewarming gift from the goblins. Of course, the box contained an explosive rune of some sort that set my wife's character on fire. Good times!

Since then, since our PCs usually do their own rolling, even for Spot and Disable checks, when they roll a natural 1, and I say, "The door looks clean," someone always pipes up, "Dear Humans: This is not a trap..."

Since other folks seem to be getting good feedback for their ideas here, I thought I'd run one of mine up the flagpole and see if anyone would salute it.

As a DM edit, I've instituted the idea of Adventuring Charters in my campaign-- sort of an adventurer's license, if you will, that allows characters to wield magic items and be capable of casting powerful spells and still walk amongst the normal populace. It also has provided a great way to insert hooks-- all chartered companies are registered with state government, so folks in need of special talents can contract them-- and to introduce NPC's (my players met Orbius Vhalantru for the "first" time at their charter hearing).

To give the party a more direct stake in the events surrounding Zenith Trajectory and The Demonskar Legacy, I was thinking about having good old Lord V cook up a plot to tax adventurers not affiliated with him and get Skellerang to pass it. My only problem now is, how does one tax adventuring booty? Where do oyu get it assessed? I'm thinking a fairly low tax rate (5-10%) will be enough to piss my PC's off, but the logistics are boggling my mind. Should I abandon this altogether, or is their an easy way?

Chairborne Ranger wrote:

If you have access to the Draconomicon, a skeletal fang dragon works well

Well once again, it has more than 20 HD. I don't like fudging things that much. I think I'm going to stick with a normal (Huge) T-Rex.

The Black Dragon skeleton in Draconomicon has 22 HD. Are skeletal dragons an exception to the 20 HD rule?

Thanks, Glassjaw. They probably appreciate your concern! I've got a party that's a little higher-level than normal (6th level going into the ruins, thanks to a side quest) and with 5 players. But if you want to nerf the CR a little, just don't use the elite ability scores or take his HD back down a notch. The original CR for Tark was 9 anyway.

My players have no idea. In fact, because I've used Vhalantru kind of aggressively in my campaign, making him into a sort of patron for the adventurers and a foil to the Stormblades, my party cleric is pondering confiding in him that there is a beholder beneath Cauldron! I'm having a hard time keeping a straight face.

GlassJaw, you sound like you have done enough legwork for your pary, but just in case anyone wants another twist on Tarkilar or just doesn't like Huecuvas:

Tarkilar
Male Gnoll Mohrg; CR 10; Medium Undead; HD 18d12; HP 130; Initiative +10; Spd 20’; AC 26 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +9 natural); BAB/ Grapple +9/+16; Attack- +16 melee (1d6+10, slam) or +16 melee touch (paralysis, tongue) or +17 melee (2d4+11, spiked chain); Full Attack- +16 melee (1d6+10, slam) and +16 melee touch (paralysis, tongue) or +17/+12 melee (2d4+11, spiked chain); SA- Create spawn, improved grab, paralyzing touch (Fort DC 21, 1d4 minutes); SQ- Darkvision 60’, undead traits; AL CE; Sv- Fort +6, Ref +11, Will +13; Abilities- Str 25, Dex 21, Con --, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 10; Space/Reach 5’/5’
Skills- Climb +12, Escape Artist +12, Hide +23, Listen +14, Move Silently +14, Spot +23, Search +10, Swim +8 (includes armor check penalty for chainmail)
Feats- Ability Focus/ Paralyzing Touch, Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip, Mobility
Equipment- +1 spiked chain, gauntlets of ogre power +2, wand of inflict light wounds (35 charges; Tarkilar could use it when he was a cleric, but no longer), masterwork chain mail (embedded in Tarkilar’s hide, removing it takes 1 hour)

Description
Tarkilar was a gnoll in life. His transition to undeath was recent, and he is not yet finished rotting. His furry hide hangs in loose, torn folds from bare muscle and sinew blackened with decay. One side of his head is still covered in fur, with a glassy, lifeless eye; on the other side, it has rotted off, leaving a sunken eyeball burning with eldritch light in an otherwise empty socket. His abdomen is gashed open, and purplish loops of wet, pulsing intestine hang from the wound, but they do not drop. His thick tongue is the same color, and it ends in a three-pronged claw.

It's kind of a twist on a conventional mohrg. I'm springing him on my players this weekend, and I'm hoping for a similar experience where they don't know what to make of him for the first minute or two. This conversion sacrifices all his spells in favor of making him a straightforward tank, but it should still be a memorable encounter, and besides, the Kopru ruins already have a cleric. If anyone catches any math or rounding errors here, please point them out, so that my PC's aren't unfairly put upon. Tark uses the elite ability score array here.

If you have access to the Draconomicon, a skeletal fang dragon works well. If not, any other dragon skeleton will work as well (the fang dragon is just a meaner customer as a skeleton because his attacks are all extraordinary abilities, and skeletons keep those. Stats are included below:

Tarkilar’s Guardian
Very Old Skeletal Fang Dragon; CR 9; Gargantuan Undead; HD 27d12+27; HP 202; Initiative +4; Spd 60’; AC 12 (-4 size, +6 natural); BAB/Gapple +13/+35; Attack- +23 melee (4d8+10, bite) or +23 melee (4d8+15, crush) or +23 melee (2d8+15, tail sweep); Full Attack- +23 melee (4d8+10, bite) and +21 melee (4d6+5, 2 claws) and +21 melee (2d8+5, 2 wings) and +21 melee (4d6+15, tail slap); SA- Enhanced damage, frightful presence (DC 26), Trip; SQ- Blindsense, DR 5/ bludgeoning, immune to cold, increased damage, keen senses, undead traits; AL NE; Sv- Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +15; Abilities- Str 31, Dex 10, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 16; Space/Reach 20’/15’ (20’ bite)
Skills- None
Feats- Improved Initiative

The CR is high because I ran a side quest for my party and they're going into the Kopru ruins already 6th level. But this will give you a gargantuan monster that still has personality and won't fit in the northern passageway.

A scenario I worked up in advance (fits with my campaign) is a longer search for Skullrot. The marilith who gives away the goods on the asylum is underdeveloped and I've been dying to use the Paeliryon from Fiend Folio. Trying to cajole the location of Skullrot from such a high-powered devil precludes combat unless the PCs are suicidal, and that means that you can insert a side quest of your choosing. Doing a fiend's scutwork in order to save a friend's soul is also bound to create delicious alignment dilemmas (which my group enjoys, though yours may not). The storyline after Foundation of Flame gets really combat-intensive, without much exposition or development thereafter: "There the bad guys are; go get 'em!" This option lets you interject some diplomacy or storyline if the game is devolving into roll-play. Nevertheless, for combat XP, the whole plane is crawling with fiends, which the door-kickers ought to appreciate. Mix and serve.

With respect to side quests:

The AP will provide enough XP for a party that suffers no incredible mishaps, but I plan for the worst (I guess I just have to account for headstrong players). I've got some adventures from other issues of Dungeon tucked away with integration notes in case my characters fall behind in XP or treasure. Two great candidates are "The Devil Box" from 109, as part of the Flood Festival, and "Racing the Snake," from 105 (replace Trend with Maavu- it makes a good opportunity to introduce this NPC early- and Vasilis with a sinister NPC of your choice, like Vhalantru or Taskerhill). Both provide a break in the generally oppressive mood of this adventure path, as well. Warduke, from 105, can make a handy standalone cut-and-paste encounter late in the campaign, as well.

Mark, apologies if this gets to you too late to matter.

1. My players used the 4d6/best 3 method of character creation, and it has worked out pretty well for them so far.

2. This is copied from my handout for my players. Ignore the stuff about Free Companies and Adventuring Charters; these are specific to our campaign:
"Inns- The Drunken Morkoth is the classiest inn in town, located just lakeward of Obsidian Avenue in the Inn quarter. Lady Ophelia Knowlern owns the establishment, but Halpeen Welvihk handles its day-to-day operation. A night at the Drunken Morkoth costs 2 gp. The tavern’s kitchens are famous, and lunch is 2 sp, while dinner will set one back about 4 sp. An array of ales and wines are on hand, but the cheapest drafts are 5 cp per mug, and a bottle of wine is 10 gp. For adventurers of more moderate means, the Slippery Eel Tavern, located rimward of Magma Avenue, is a common watering hole for local citizens, traveling merchants, and adventuring companies, and is a great place to hear tales, rumors, and news of faraway lands. The owners, themselves former adventurers, offer a 20% “Free Company Discount” to registered adventuring companies. A stay at the Slippery Eel will set an unchartered citizen back 5 sp per night, and food and drink are priced at the common rates listed in the Player’s Handbook. For the poor and the less-than-savory, the Tipped Tankard, rimward of Ash Avenue, is a seedy bar near the city’s waterfront. Many members of the city’s Thieves’ Guild, the Last Laugh, frequent this establishment, and it is a venue where one can hire all manner of scum and villainy, as well as a place where secrets can be bought and sold. The Tipped Tankard is as much a black-market shop as a true inn, and all sorts of illegal wares can be discreetly purchased here, beyond the watchful eyes of the town guard. Lodging, food and drink at the Tipped Tankard are substandard, costing only the minimum listed prices in the PH. However, the idea of hygiene is somewhat foreign to many of the establishment’s staff and patrons, and customers sampling the inn’s rotgut alcohol have a 2% chance per night of contracting blinding sickness."

Jenya also acts as a patron for the PC's, and so the Church of St. Cuthbert has been a de facto headquarters for their forays.

3. I limited my players to the standard races, but there are no bad races in the Adventure Path. Classes, however, are another story- the party will definitely need a divine spellcaster for healing, particularly a cleric. A rogue will be indispensible for detecting and disarming the array of traps below the city. Every party needs a bruiser, and my personal recommendation for that is a dedicated fighter, although any of the combat-oriented classes would work reasonably well. Though we have one, I think that arcane spellcasters are overrated in this adventure; a ranger would be far more valuable (assuming the divine spellcaster is a cleric, not a druid), especially later on, in "The Demonskar Legacy" and "Test of the Smoking Eye." If the party lacks one, however, the Striders make a convenient place to pick one up. I'm grooming Fellian Shard for that role.