Shieldmarshal

Coinspinner's Song's page

Organized Play Member. 43 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Organized Play character.




Hello all!

So I am getting ready to run this a second time (first time made it through the first 3 books before it petered out). This group is just finishing Wrath of the Righteous (Of which I was a player), so I feel good about us actually finishing this AP, which I am excited about.

So on to the reason I'm posting.

I have a player who's going with the cross blooded sorcerer (aquatic) and elemental (water). Which allows her to make any element spell a water type spell, and then treat it as +1 caster level. Super clever! Thematically element water and aquatic are pretty close together, so the drawback of -2 to will saves seems a bit harsh, but such is life. I agreed that we could do something to make it a little easier. I was looking at the Peg Leg campaign trait that gives you a +1 to Fortitude saves, and a +1 to damage rolls against aquatic animals and so I thought about just creating my own campaign trait for her. So here we go:

Port Pauper: Orphaned at a young age, you grew up on the docks in Port Peril, and have worked every job from loading cargo to salvaging shipwrecks. Dealing with swindling merchants, shady pirates, and corrupt guards, has taught you how to deal with a multitude of miscreants, and as such you gain a +1 trait bonus to Charisma-based checks while you are on the docks or the shipyards of any port city, and the years of looking over your shoulder has also sharpened your wits and as such you gain a +1 trait bonus to Will saves. Because of the shear amount of comings and goings, you also "know a guy/gal" and gain 1 friendly contact that that can be named at any time and that can be in any port you are currently in.
You stopped into the Formidably Maid to have a quick drink after work and got to chatting with a few patrons there that you had met on the dock earlier that day. You indulged a bit too much and woke up in the cargo hold of a ship. Well, not your first time... I guess you’ll see if this was your own doing or someone else’s.

So, the breakdown of the three abilities compared to Peg Leg.

1) +1 to Will saves. Equal to +1 to Fortitude saves for Peg Leg.
2) +1 to Charisma-based checks on the docks or in shipyard's. Very situational. So much in fact that it won't even be used in the first book. My opinion is that this is far more situational than the +1 to damage against aquatic animals you get with Peg Leg, so add on another small benefit to balance it.
3) The "I know a guy/gal". Basically the Han Solo plot device. It's tough to value this, but having it be a one off, I'm thinking the three abilities here are on par with Peg Leg, or any other S&S campaign trait.

She loves it, and it fit's her backstory better than any of the other campaign traits do. But I told her it's not in stone yet. Still checking for balance.

Because it's a trait bonus on the Charisma checks, it keeps her from stacking any other charisma based traits, which I like. So a big part becomes meaningless if she picks up a +1 to diplomacy or something from another trait. It also keeps her from adding a +1 to will saves from any other trait.

What do you guys think? OP, right on, or UP vs. other S&S campaign traits?


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I'm starting to write an old west flavored adventure path. Just like the actual adventure paths, I am looking for ideas of cool NPCs, side quests, overall quests, settings (this may be the hardest), cool items (5-6 per book), etc.

So far I have written a few ideas down, and started working on some magic items, but I thought I would throw this out there to see if there are any particular tropes that you all would like to see.

This is obviously going to be taking place in the future(ish) of Golarion, firearm friendly of course, and I have been trying to come up with some NPCs that really have merged black powder and magic together.

Ideas I have so far - (I am horrible at naming these things by the way)

Items

The Smoking Gun (A Pistol that smokes more than the average firearm adding to concealment each time it is fired, providing the wielder does not move.

Wagon of Holding (A Wagon that you can use to set up a traveling blacksmith, Alchemist lab, etc.)

Galloping Saddle (A military saddle that provides its normal bonus as well as a +4 to strength or dex for 10 minutes (non-consecutive) a day. It also provides the benefit of mule back cords.

Masquerading Masks - (Act as disguise self as well as charm person)

Tropes

I have an idea for a magical train build for a Great Train Robbery moment.

The Big Card Game (used to get status among the higher ups)

A Ghost Town (Because, of course!)

Inventions (Nothing concrete, but definitely wanting to include something here)

A Bounty Hunter chasing the Party (Complete with updated Wanted posters as they go town to town)

Rule Additions

Different types of horses (Possibly a new feat or campaign trait to add a watered down animal companion to your character)

Mounted Chasing Combat (Looking for simplifying it, and getting it to be somewhat doable)

Wanted Level, similar to Infamy (Not necessarily because you're evil. Think corrupt governments)

Before I fill up a page, I'll throw it out to you guys.

Thoughts?


Ok. Numerous questions after a lot of reading and digging. I'm going to number them for easiness. But here is some background. I posted recently about a gunslinger build and trying to figure out the Feat tree for what I want to do and I got a lot of great responses. Thank you all!

I got the build done for the most part and so I started thinking about crafting my own guns, evolving and upgrading them as I go. So I figured a plan to get Master Craftsman and Craft Magic Arms and Armor as feats at just about the right time in game, but I am trying to figure out both costs in gold, required materials, and DC's of checks.

Also, I have Hero Lab and that is confusing me even more when it comes to crafting.

I also added the Spark of Creation trait to get the +1 and the 5% discount. So here we go.

1) In Hero Lab I added a Masterwork Revolver and then clicked the craft button and it went from 4300gp to 1433gp, 3sp, and 3cp. I am assuming that it is just defaulting to the 1/3 price for crafting items, instead of the 1/2 price that the Gunslinger trait gives you. But that got me thinking can I use the Master Craftsman Feat with Craft (Firearms) to make a revolver at 1/3 of the price instead of 1/2 the price for the Gunsmith Feat? And if so, does that then make it a DC check instead of being able to do it with no DC check? And if it does require a DC check, what would it be?

Moving on to magical crafting...

2) If I don't have the required spell as a caster (which I won't because I'm not taking a caster class), I see three options (I think). 1) Add 5 to the DC of the check. 2) Buy the number of spells and cast them myself (which I can do with a use magical device skill check or spell craft skill check correct?), Or 3) I need to do both - Add 5 to the check and buy the number of spells needed.

3) If I do need to have the spells, is that part of the cost of the crafting, or is that in addition to the crafting costs? I'm assuming the latter but I wanted to make sure.

4) How do I calculate the DC of the check? I listed a few examples and want to see if my math is correct. I am planning on adding one enhancement at a time at higher levels.

5) How do I calculate the cost? I got the 5% discount on the base crafting cost, and I'm assuming I don't get the 5% off of the Spell as that is an in game purchase between me and an NPC.

[+1 Distance Revolver #1 (Level 6)] (actually crafting it at level 7, but level 6 is the minimum to create it correct? Adding both +1 & Distance
DC = Base 5 + Distance 6 + No Spell 5 = 16 (I calculated it with both the cost of the spell and the increased 5 to DC, to play it safe for now)
3600g + (2 x 180gp) = 3960gp (with the 5% discount)

[+1 Training, Distance Revolver #2 (Level 9)] with the Feat Improved Critical which I won't have. (This is to add training to the previous one)
DC = Base 5 + Training 3 + No Feat 5 + No Spell 5 = 18
4500gp + (3 x 30gp) = 4590 gp

[+1 Reliable Distance Lucky Seeking Revolver #1 (Level 15)] Adding just Seeking to it.
DC = Base 5 + Seeking 12 + No Spell 5 = 22
8100gp + (7 x 720gp) = 13,140 gp

I think that's it for now. But I would love to see if I am on the right track.


Looking for advice on items and feats past the first level. I really like the idea of a drinking, smoking, lying, cheating, cowardly, but also charming, and secretly brave gunslinger. (Think Mel Gibson's Maverick Character). I don't care about min/maxing, just having fun and role playing the heck out of him. However, that being said, I also don't want to gimp him and have him ending up useless after a certain point.

I looked online but haven't seen this combo talked about, so I thought I would reach out to you all.

Specifically is there any way to increase his will saves until his luck bonus starts kicking in?

This is what I'm starting with:

Marcus "Dusty" Riggs

Human Mysterious Stranger/Maverick Gunslinger 1

Rolled Stats
STR: 14
DEX: 16
CON: 14
INT: 12
WIS: 11
CHA: 18 (Human Racial Bonus Applied)

Feats:
Extra Grit
Rapid Reload: Pistol

Traits:
Fortified Drinker
Iron Liver
Never Stop Shooting

Drawback:
Cowardly

Favored Class Bonus (1) - Skill Point

Starting Gear:

(4) Alchemical cartridge (paper) 24gp (50% Reduction for crafting before campaign begins)
(12) Firearm Bullet 1gp 2sp (90% Reduction for crafting before campaign begins)
(1) Pistol Free
(1) Terbutje, steel 20gp
(1) Leather Armor 10gp
(1) Animal-repellant sack 1gp
(1) Bachelor Snuff 1gp
(3) Belt pouches 3gp
(1) Canteen 2gp
(1) Cards 1sp
(1) Coffee Pot 3gp
(2) Coffee, Mwangi 6cp
(1) Dice 1sp
(1) Bag of Fake Coins (25) 5gp
(1) Filter Scarf 5gp
(1) Flint & Steel 1gp
(1) Gunsmith’s Kit 15gp
(1) Hat 2sp
(1) Hip Flask 1gp
(1) Inside pocket 4gp
(1) Insulated flask 2sp
(2) Jungle Coffee 6cp
(2) Leechwort 6gp
(1) Loaded Dice 10gp
(1) Marked Cards 1gp
(1) Oldlaw Whiskey (per bottle) 20gp
(5) Paper 2gp
(1) Pickpocket’s Outfit Free
(1) Poncho 5sp
(1) Powder Horn 3gp
(1) Reagent Black Powder 10gp
(1) Snuffbox Tin 5gp
(1) Tindertwig 1gp
(1) Tobacco 1gp
(1) Wolfsbane 5sp
(1) Wrist Sheath 1gp


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One year into the campaign and my group finished book 2, "Raiders of the Fever Sea." Now they are off to Port Peril to get their Letter of Marque.

When I finished book 1 I made them a map so they could take to the Shackles in search of treasure and glory. They have loved it, and I keep sneaking it back every few session and aging it and burning it to make it worn as the game progresses.

Here is the Map

Shackles Map

So now I went and made a Letter of Marque to begin book 3. I hope my players appreciate it as much as I do. It was super fun to make and if anyone wants to know the steps I;ll list them out for you.

Letter of Marque

Of course it started as this:

Letter of Marque1
Letter of Marque2
Letter of Marque3


Ok, so first some basics.

1) I'm a new DM, and back at playing tabletops from a 20 year break.

2) I thought it would be fun to play through an already made adventure (which it has been).

3) I am already changing some things in the adventure, mainly minor things, and my players are all mostly new to tabletop games as well, but we're all having a blast.

4) We have had some near TPK's and I have had to fudge some rolls, frankly even with just the encounters in the book. I had a previous GM (remember; 20 years ago) that would give us anything we wanted, and it ended up not being very fun. So I followed the book for all the magical items (if they found them) and then for the sandbox portion I used what the encounters suggested and used a random item generator.

So far, it seems to have left them a bit underpowered and while they're still having fun and the encounters are challenging, our battles are taking forever because no one wants to make a wrong move with their actions. It also might be because I nailed them with the "This is a skill heavy adventure" pretty hard (which it is), and so the roleplaying portion has been awesome to run, and they are doing quite well on that, but it may have sacrificed more combat readiness than I previously thought.

So... I decided to make some awesome items/weapons they can each have, that should take them through the whole adventure and become family heirlooms.

Let me know if I am going way overboard. They were fun to make, thematic, and I put them on adventures gathering materials in order for them to be gifts from a "Hermit" they met at a small fishing village.

(I also have no idea how to price these things, so I told them they are invaluable and cannot be sold or traded)

Now on to the MEAT

Character 1 - Human Hunter 3/Fighter 2

Quest

A piece of wood from the Strongest Tree (She knows that the strongest trees are those that survive on the islands near the Eye of Abendego)

7 Feathers from the following birds:

The Wisest, (Obviously an Owl)
The Most Intelligent, (Can be multiple ones, but they are traveling with a talking parrot, so..)
The Most Loyal, (There is a Witch in the group with a Raven animal companion, very loyal)
The Toughest Bird (Can be any, waiting to see what she chooses)
A Reborn Bird (A Pheonix, obviously)
The Prettiest (Peacock, toucan, or parrot)
The Oldest (They have found "The Lost Messenger" side quest and I have dated the bird to 100 years old just for fun, she can unscrew one of the feathers if she tries)

and a barb from the greatest evil she faced (currently a Manticore spike that she's harvested from their narrow victory over it)

When she presents the feathers I'm going to have her make two piles. One with 4 feathers, one with 2 feathers, and one to throw away.

The Item

Hunter's Barette

Gust of Wind Spell 1x a day (From the piece of wood)

And then 4 of these enhancements added to it:

+2 Wisdom Enhancement Bonus (From the wisest bird)
Nerfed stats from the Treasure Hunter's Goggles (from the most intelligent bird)
Barkskin Spell 1x a day (from the toughest bird)
Darting Retrieval Feat (from the Most loyal bird)
1 auto-use of reincarnate spell (from the reborn bird)
+2 to all Charisma based skill checks (from the prettiest bird)
Protective Spirit spell 1x a day (from the oldest bird)

One will be burned up, and then her smaller pile of two feathers, I am going to make an
amulet for her Gorilla Animal Companion

Character 2 - Sylph Investigator 5

Quest

Deep Water Platinum (This stuff is in the adventure at certain points)
A Masterwork Rapier
A small alive Octopus
Wind from the Eye of Abendego
And then 50 of his inspiration points. These must be given to the rapier every morning (a little meta-gaming but he gets it. Basically he has to choose how many inspiration points to ditch every morning, until he gets to 50)

The Item

"CLICK"

a +1 Called, Inspired, Countering, Keen Rapier with the Legend Lore spell once per week, that glows gold (C.L.I.C.K. = a synonym for insight, intuitiveness)

We're big Star Wars nerds, so it definitely has a lightsaber feel.

Character 3 - Half Elf Swashbuckler 4/Oracle 1

Quest

Deep Water Platinum
Sand from 20 islands
7 drops of a drink bought for you after recounting your tales (Basically 7 successful Infamy checks, as it is assumed afterwords that someone would buy you a drink)

The Item

The Swanky Scabbard

+2 Charisma Enhancement Bonus
The stats from the Scabbard of many blades plus
Tap Inner Beauty Spell 1x a day
Disguise Self Spell 1 x a day

Character 3 - Undine Witch 5 (The Captain)

Quest

50 pages of Fine Noble Parchment (25 from Tidewater Rock, 25 she has to buy)
The Blood of a dozen evils
The stories of a dozen Captains (basically meeting 12 non hostile captains and engaging with them)

The Item

Captain Grimm's Log

+2 Intelligence Enhancement Bonus
Detect Expertise Feat
The stats of Book of Extended Summoning
and this part of the stats of the Corset of Dire Witchcraft "If the wearer is a witch, each day when she communes with her familiar to prepare spells, she may enhance one hex she knows, increasing its caster level by +2 for 24 hours. This enhancement ends if the corset is removed or if she uses it to enhance a different hex."

In order for the Book to work, she has to create nursery rhythms that she speaks while she casts Summoning spells, uses her Detect Expertise Feat, and the Hex she uses to enhance.

The first one was given to her:

Monster, monster, under my bed
come out to play and make them dead

It also contains a key filled with blood ink to open it, than when worn around the neck, acts as an amulet of natural protection (+2 to AC)

Anyway, there you go,

Let me know if I am completely overpowering them. or destroying the game, or if they are fun and you have any suggestions for some changes/fixes. Any feedback would be good.

The quest has taken them from level 4 to almost level 6 and they are about 3/4 of the way through it. They are trying to figure out a way to get to the Eye of Abendego safely, and back to the "Hermit" (17th level Oracle)

Thanks for reading


Here is my idea for a couple cards to help move through a location quietly.

They give you a great bonus when you come across a monster, but do take up a spot in your hand for non monster explorations.

Boots of Lightest Step

Card Type: Item

Card Traits: Accessory, Magic, Finesse, Stealth

Check to Acquire: Stealth, Survival 6 or Intelligence 8

Power:

You may display this card before you explore on your turn. If you
encounter a monster on this exploration, discard this card and draw two
cards from your deck; if you did not, return this card to your hand.

Discard this card to succeed at a Stealth check for any character at your
location.

Recharge this card to examine the top card of your location deck; if it is
a boon, you may immediately encounter it.

Silence

Card Type: Spell

Card Traits: Magic, Arcane, Finesse, Stealth

Check to Acquire: Intelligence, Arcane 7

Power:

You may display this card before you explore on your turn. If you
encounter a monster on this exploration, discard this card and draw two
cards from your deck; if you did not, return this card to your hand.

Discard this card to succeed at a Stealth check for any character at your
location.

After playing this card, if you do not have the Arcane skill, banish it;
otherwise, you may succeed at a Arcane 9 check to recharge this card
instead of discarding it.

(Not sure what Adventure Deck Level these would be, I was thinking 1, but let me know if they are too good for that)

Here are the card images

http://cf.geekdo-images.com/images/pic2277648.jpg