CrazyGnomeLady's page

Okay, so my party is still on Smuggler's Shiv (level 2 characters), has explored much of the upper part (including the Brine Demon and the Treasure Pit). Their current base camp is at the abandoned village close to the Treasure Pit (I3, I think).

Unfortunately, one of my players moves in January and has to leave the group. She is playing a human ranger from the Mwangi Expanse, and will only have one more gaming session with us. I want her to have a memorable last session, and to kill her off in a way that is more than "Oh, crap, our ranger died. Let's move on."

I also have to take into account that the group is in possession of a Raise Dead scroll, so the ranger needs to get killed in a way that Raise Dead isn't an option.

The other party members:

a human oracle of war
a human sorcerer
a halfling/oread rogue

Apart from Ariel, all NPCs are still with the group and alive, all friendly or helpful (Ariel stormed off on Day 1 and got killed by now; the group doesn't yet know of her fate). Sasha has a baby dimorphodon, which the ranger is also fond of.

There's another, customised NPC in the camp, but she's mostly there to get the PCs into a side quest I'm planning for later; she hasn't yet been relevant (apart from taking one of the camp roles).

I'd appreciate any ideas on how to kill off the ranger in a way that my players will still talk about it in years to come ;)

Best,
your crazy gnome lady from next door

So my sweetheart and I have been discussing the issue of scrolls and their casting requirements lately. The trigger was that my group (a Sorceress/Oracle and a Rogue/Cleric) found some scrolls, one of them Dispel Magic, which I could actually need at this point. When I found the whole batch, we figured it wouldn't make sense for Dispel Magic to be the only arcane scroll in a batch of Cleric spells, so we agreed on it being divine too.

Now, my Sorceress is usually the one casting spells from scrolls, but I realised that, hey, if the scroll was written by a Cleric, wouldn't I need Wisdom to cast it?

The RAW don't seem to give a definite (and satisfying) answer to the scroll problem (who scribed it, which stat is needed, which CL, etc.) and after some back and forth, I came up with a solution I like (I still don't know whether he will houserule it the same way for the campaign he's running for me, but I definitely will in my campaign):

Back in NWN, scrolls usually came with all possible caster classes and spell levels on them. Now in that case, I will treat each scroll (either bought or found) as if it had each possible caster class and spell level on it too (more to pricing later), and whoever tries to cast that spell can choose which casting class he wants to use.

For example, my Sorceress could choose to cast Dispel Magic as a Sorcerer spell with the appropriate CL 6 and the casting stat Charisma, while my Rogue/Cleric could choose to cast the same scroll as a Cleric spell with CL 5 and Wisdom as casting stat.

Now, if a Wizard wanted to cast a Bard spell, for example, he would need UMD to use the scroll since the spell wasn't on his own spell list, and--if necessary--he would need a second UMD check to emulate the appropriate ability score for the casting stat (Charisma). He would NOT be able to use Intelligence as casting stat, since Bards use Charisma!

Pricing:

If scrolls list all possible caster classes and spell levels, that also means that most scrolls could be cast at different CL (sometimes even as different spell levels).

To stay with Dispel Magic as an example:

Cleric 3 / Oracle 3 / Wizard 3 / Sorcerer 3 / Bard 3 / Paladin 3 / Druid 4

We have three spontaneous caster classes with basically CL +1 (6) in here (Bard, Oracle, Sorcerer), two casters at normal CL 5 (Wizard, Cleric), the Paladin at CL 10, and the Druid at normal CL 7 (4th lv spell!). To determine the spell level and CL for the price, add together all CL (6+6+6+5+5+10+7) and divide it by the number of classes (45/7=~6.5). Then do the same with the spell levels (3+3+3+3+3+3+4=22; 22/7=~3). To make things a little easier, round to half levels.

The price for Dispel Magic would be 6.5x3x25gp=487.5gp

I know that pricing gets a little more complicated with these houserules, but honestly, think about this: If a Druid found a divine Dispel Magic scroll (usually worth 375gp=as scribed by Cleric), would he cast it as 3rd or 4th level spell? If he'd cast it as 3rd level spell, why? It's not on his spell list at that level.... If he'd cast it as a 4th level spell, he'd get the benefits of a 4th level spell for the price of a 3rd level spell. Or, let's get more extreme: If a Paladin cast Dispel Magic from this scroll, would he use his own minimum CL (10!!!), or the Cleric's? If the Cleric's, why? And if he cast it at the Cleric's CL, would he have to use the Cleric's casting stat too?

The point I'm trying to make here is that while my pricing might seem too complicated, the RAW are actually open to a lot more confusion and arguments.

If we just went with the assumption that each scroll is either scribed by a Cleric (divine) or Wizard (arcane), then, for consistency's sake, characters would also need to use either Wisdom (Cleric) or Intelligence (Wizard) as relevant casting stat, which would basically screw Sorcerers, Bards, Paladins, and Oracles (all of which use Charisma).

Now, just for the sake of completion, in my homebrew scrolls can be specifically written for just one class (e.g. a Wizard scribing scrolls for his own use) at the normal price specified for that class. However, a Sorcerer could not cast a Wizard's scroll without UMD and Intelligence.

Okay, and now roast me ;)

your crazy gnome lady from next door

So...my sweetheart has been a GM for quite a while (and is good at it) but also loves to play, so I agreed to run the Serpent Skull campaign for him and two (maybe three) new players (experienced gamers, just new to Pathfinder).

We've had the character creation session and the first gaming session so far, and the group dynamics are great! All four of us had fun, which is the most important thing in my eyes.

Anyway...I'd like to make it a really great and memorable campaign for them and will probably add in some side quests/custom materials at some point. Each player got a secret mission or background story part based on their background stories from me, which may or may not lead to side quests for the group, and I also created an NPC with her own side quest when the time comes (right now she's playing only a minor NPC role).

The group consists of an Oracle of War (basically their tank/front-line fighter), a Shadow Sorcerer, and a Ranger with ranged weapons and hunter's tricks instead of spellcasting. I've invited another player we know from a different group to join us from game session two on, but he hasn't decided yet. Since I don't want to change too much for their encounters, I granted each character a bonus feat at first level, and let them start with above-average stats (more an accident than intention, but works for me) to balance the small group.

So far, I didn't need to change anything, but they haven't explored much of the island yet. They managed to get every NPC but one to friendly (one stormed off right on day one after a failed Diplomacy check--none of the PCs has Diplomacy) and even solved one of their side quests, and another NPC has offered to accompany them at least for a while (a Rogue).

One question I have is: How should the NPCs level up? They're currently at lv. 2 (right out of the AP) while the PCs are still lv. 1. My custom-made NPC started at lv. 5 and will probably gain exp. at the same rate as the PCs, so that for now she remains too powerful for them in case they decide to get rid of her but will slowly become less powerful compared to them. Her side quest will probably be a challenge for a lv. 8-9 party later in the AP.

Another question: The AP names two diseases they're likely to catch in the jungle, Red Ache and Mindfire (iirc). What other diseases would you suggest for a 1st to maybe 3rd lv. party in a jungle setting?

I'm open to suggestions, advice, brainstorming, constructive criticism, and praise ;)

Best,
your crazy gnome from next door