Thanks, Diego. Much appreciated. :)
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Hi folks, I sent an email to customer service about four or five days ago, and haven't received confirmation yet, so I wanted to make sure you had received it. Hi guys, could I please cancel the following subscriptions: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
I’ll definitely keep the Adventure Path one going until Tyrant’s Grasp is finished. Thanks Phil O’Neill
Would you be looking at them playing different characters in Reaper's Roar? Or the same characters at higher level who then "lose" levels when they are turfed into the Boneyard at the beginning of TG? I would be inclined to do the latter, personally.
I really need to finish off my Carrion Crown campaign. We were about to start the final chapter when my extensive re-writes and customisation was lost in a hard drive incident, which left me not only unable to progress until I'd redone it all again, but pretty demoralised with *wanting* to do it again. So we kicked off Mummy's Mask, which we're now two chapter in. My plan is eventually to get back to CC - but this may be just the stimulus I need! :) I'm thinking of making it pretty much a sequel - perhaps even with the children of the CC characters taking part...
A really good, comprehensive conversion document when the 2E is finally complete. My group will be sticking with 1E, but I want to keep getting the APs and modules; but I'll need to convert them back.
I think Michael hits the nail on the head here. Our group has tried PF2, and it's not our cup of tea. I have, however, literally decades worth of gaming material with PF1, between scenarios and adventure paths, so it's not going to impact our gaming. My only ask along these lines would be for a decent conversion document so that I can continue my subscriptions to the adventure paths but be able to convert them back to PF1.
This is not the last 1st edition Pathfinder Adventure Path. Tyrant's Grasp, which starts next year in February, is the last one, and it's a full 6 part campaign. Excellent, thanks James.
Really, *really* like the campaign traits for this. I'm wondering if I should run "Shattered Star" first, though. RotRL is pretty familiar, but I haven't even read through SS as yet. Also, I heard a rumour that this will be the last PF1 AP - sort of a thematic end since the first Pathfinder AP (albeit 3.5 at the time) was RotRL. My thought was that there are probably another 2 - 3 AP's worth of time before the full version of PF2 is out, so I don't quite know what to make of it.
I remember an old Forgotten Realms novel where one of the characters had been hit with some level draining stuff (this was back in the old days of actually losing *levels*), and it was described as her having been shocked into a loss of confidence. She was nervous, suffering from the jitters when she tried to do something, because her experience had so shaken her to her very core. It wasn't a bad way of looking at it.
Oh damn...sorry, Sideromancer. I didn't realise your post was a link until I looked at it again. Now I get your GST comment in context!! *smacks self on head*
Well, this makes more sense than the GST I thought you were talking about... No, it IS the GST - it's just that the government is expanding the coverage of what it is applied to. It used to be only applied to international orders of over $1000. From July 1, 2019, it's being applied to ALL international orders. Amazon have said that it's not worth their time/expense to collect it on their US/UK sites, so anyone wanting delivery to Australia will be redirected to the amazon.com.au site (which is severely limited in its offerings in comparison to the US/UK). My concern is that Paizo will do something similar - simply decide it's not worth their time to ship to Australian addresses if they have to act as a tax collector for the Australian government. And yes - it's virtually unenforceable; I'm hoping international companies just tell the Australian government to shove it, but I suspect this could have knock-on effects.
Hi folks, With our #$^&*^#$^^#EV$%%WR treasurer implementing the Goods & Services Tax on *all* items purchased (instead of ones over $1000 value, as it has been up until now) from July 1, it will mean that Paizo will need to collect that 10% GST and pay it back to the Australian government. Amazon has just announced that Australian customers will be redirected to their .com.au site (which has nowhere near the range of their US and UK sites) - so I'm wondering if Paizo are doing anything similar? I have been getting Paizo products via subscription for years, now, and I don't want to stop. :(
This may be what you're looking for. Ah, thanks for the heads-up. Will check it out.
I'm thinking of taking a leaf out of 4E D&D and respeccing the bog-standard hobgoblin troops as "minions", meaning they have all the skills, attack bonuses, etc. that are listed in their stats, but only 1 hit point. The reasoning is that it's simply fun and cinematic for PCs to wade through the bad guys, dropping them with single sword strokes and arrows. Now, the issue is that of course, this means they'll be worth less in terms of XP and challenge. I was thinking of using maybe twice or even three times the number of Ironfang Recruits in any encounter which uses them...does that sound reasonable? (Incidentally, I don't use awarded XP - we just level up at the appropriate times)
Where did I get the 2/3 caster thing from?? *smacks self on head*
But even so, losing the hexes seems like a big trade-off for a few bumps in combat ability (which is not so good to begin with)
My daughter and I are looking at a hagbound witch character for her to play in Ironfang Invasion. Thematically, it fits nicely and we love the tragic theme "in the background", but I can't help feeling it's a very nerfed archetype. 1. Lose pretty much all hexes in exchange for increased strength, disguise at will, and the improved curse at 10th (?) level... 2. ...which wouldn't be so bad as a tradeoff (added strength with the claws, though she'd already have them from being a changeling) except that she will be an absolute glass cannon. Claws might be okay, but as a caster her AC and hit points will be too low to make a viable melee combatant. 3. Being a 2/3 caster, a witch's real "schtick" is her hexes, which are pretty much removed by the archetype. Is there something here I'm missing? It seems like they dropped the ball on this archetype: beautiful concept, but mechanically unsound.
Very nice! I'm doing some (very preliminary) planning for II at the moment. This will help a great deal when I actually start running it! :)
Because I always run my games with my laptop, I have the character sheets running in HeroLab in front of me, so I can add any bonuses myself if I'm keeping the cause secret (such as the aforementioned poison attack). My players will usually ask "Do I get a bonus for x?". If I don't mind them knowing, I just let them do it. Otherwise, I say "No" and add the bonus myself after a glance at their electronic sheet.
Reading through and prepping "Empty Graves"
Spoiler: The description for F4. "Bulk Storage" says that the area once contained dead bodies, but that they escaped topside when the ka pulse went out. My question is how? I can see only three exits: one is the secret door in F9, another is the loading dock at F6, neither of which is suitable for escaping zombies. The only other area is the main entrance through F3, which contains the pit trap that will trigger with >100lb weight. A single zombie would weigh more than that, and I can't imagine a "mini-horde" politely queueing up, one-at-a-time, anyway. How did they get out? With that in mind, how do the Silver Chain come and go through here? I'm thinking of adding a Bypass option to the trap, requiring a DC10 Acrobatics check to edge around the outside of the trap without triggering it. That would let the SC come and go, but not the zombies. I might just ditch the trap (no pun intended! :) ) entirely. We're not using XP, so it doesn't really matter in terms of levelling. Anyone have any other ideas? Thanks.
So far my players seem to be enjoying it. We're about halfway through the "House of Pentheru" at the moment, and they're having fun. There is the inevitable "ho-humness" of a couple of big dungeon-crawls, but they pretty much expect that for a 1st level adventure, and even moreso for an Egyptian-themed one. That said, they're enjoying themselves. Ogrek has actually changed classes from barbarian to brawler - I allowed my daughter to switch out early on as she realised it was a far better fit. One thing that is interesting is that they've made some good connections with The Scorched Hand. While Velriana is still stand-offish, the others get on with them well, which should make the end of the adventure interesting! The Dog Soldiers have also become well-liked by my group (who call themselves "Bastet's Claws", by the way). During the interlude between "Tomb of Akhentepi" and "House of Pentheru", Parvanah the catfolk rogue ended up drunk on Fahreen's spiced beer and dancing on the tables with "Mad Dog" Marrn of the Dog Soldiers. That was fun. :)
Weren’t quite finished Carrion Crown, but a computer issue trashed a bunch of work I’d done on it, but I still had my MM stuff, so with limited gaming time in the near future, we decided to kick off MM. We have: Cathius (CN dhampir male bard (archaeologist)
and... Oggrekk the Anxious (CG male orc barbarian) - the adorably klutzy orc who hates what his people do, so has fled to Osirion, where anti-orc prejudice isn’t really a thing. :)
Would the dhampir feat Life-Dominant Soul help? Ah! Completely missed that one, Dragonborn3, thanks! That'll teach me to lend out my copy of "Blood of the Night" to my daughter! :)
No, I'm not trying to start another flame war about how dhampirs are affected by channeling, etc! We've got it for our table, and that's good enough for us (and I'm not even saying what method we use!) What I'm curious about - and hoping someone can help me with - is options to allow dhampirs to actually benefit from healing in the same way a Pallid Crystal does, but without having to be a worshipper of Urgathoa. Our Pharasmin Inquisitor dhampir can heal herself to a certain extent, but coming into more dangerous parts of "Carrion Crown", it would be nice if she could benefit in other ways. Does anyone have any ideas? Of course, I could create a non-Urgathoan version of the Pallid Crystal - maybe a "Tear of the Lady" that does the same thing, but for Pharasma worshippers - but I'm wondering if there's any canonical method of doing this, via feats or the like?
Sardenapale - absolutely love what you've done there with the House of Pentheru. I'm shamelessly stealing this for my own campaign! :)
Yeah, the Ronk one is dead now for me, too. Must have gone belly-up in the last day or two. Try this link:
ETA: Hah! Just realised the link is exactly the same, and the original one is working again! Might be an unreliable connection at the link's end, I guess.
I'm currently rejigging Carrion Crown in anticipation of running it again at some stage, and I was looking over some of the NPCs with the idea of rebuilding them. The first one I've rebuilt is Grine. Spoiler: I've never been 100% happy with Grine, from "Trial of the Beast", as written. I'm not a huge fan of prepared casters, and I wanted to have a stab at Grine as a spontaneous caster. The most obvious choice seemed to be the Inquisitor. When I was going through the archetypes, the "Reaper of Secrets" jumped out at me. Primarily because it's themed around Norgorber, but also because it seemed to fit Grine's secretive nature. Rather than stick with the multiclass, I ditched his Rogue levels and just made him a Level 3 Inquisitor. It meant some rejigging of his Feats, of course. To keep using his axes (which I liked), I swapped out Skill Focus (sleight of hand) for Martial Weapon Proficiency (throwing axe). I didn't see the need in keeping his handaxe - the x3 crit rating vs the throwing axe's x2 didn't seem worth the extra feat, so I just changed him to using four throwing axes. He'll use one in melee, plus have three spares for ranged attacks. He loses his Rogue skills, of course, but it didn't seem a huge loss, considering the extra spells and judgements from Inquisitor. He also gains the feat "Swap Places" from Inquisitor, and with "Mind Games Tactics" from the "Reaper of Secrets" archetype, he can use it to place himself among his enemies to flank and make unexpected strikes in melee. This should set him in good stead against squishy spellcasters that have a hulking fighter bodyguard. The only other changes were a few minor ones to skills. Class skills changed, obviously, but I mostly left the points in the "sneaky" skills so that Grine had some measure of creeping about as it seemed to fit both the archetype and the fact he's a Dark Creeper. So without further ado, here is my modified Grine (I'll post other NPCs as I go) Grine CR 5
Just thought I'd throw an idea in here. My players love pictures. Landscapes, castles, dungeons, caves - and NPCs. Especially NPCs. I've built up quite a collection over the years, and I can usually pluck some interesting NPC portrait out at short notice for them (though there are occasional murmurs of "This looks just like Merriam the Monocled from that other campaign three years ago..." if I happen to grab a previously-used one! :) ) Anyway - I was looking around for some good hobgoblin pics to use for those hobbie NPCs not illustrated. I wanted some that were a bit different, and that made the hobbies look unique, rather than them all looking the same, and I discovered a terrific resource. Google "Shadow of Mordor orc uruk" and go to the images tab. You'll find hundreds of unique Orcs and Uruk-hai from the game "Shadow of Morder", which all fill in beautifully to make unique, interesting-looking hobgoblins. The images that are screencapped from the various Orcs' character "cards" even have fun names (like "Chaka the Chunky" for a particularly tubby Orc), and their unique armour, weapons, and accessories can even help with creating some fun backstories. That last bit especially applies if you're like me and take a leaf from the "Shadow of Mordor" game whereby an opponent who survives the PCs will pick up a few class levels and come back to haunt them later on.
You know, in my panic about this I completely forgot about the UMD option to use a scroll or device as if you have the spell on your list. *smacks self on head* Thanks, folks. :)
One of the things I've been doing in my CC campaign is portraying
Spoiler: Adivion Adrissant as a bit of a benefactor. He's even accompanied and helped the PCs from time to time. At least - and I freely admit I stole the idea from these boards - his simulacrum has. The only problem - and I've only just realised this - is that the Magus Adrissant can't use Simulacrum as it's a 7th level spell. Because it's therefore not on the Magus list, he can't even use a scroll. Does anyone have any idea how I might be able to get out of this? Short of converting Adrissant into a Wizard, which has occurred to me, but I love the idea of him being an actual fighting challenge in the finale.
Agreed! Spoiler: Alara looked pretty beaten up after she got out of it in Episode 10! My wife and I were watching it, and she commented that their holodeck needs some safety interlocks
I'm wondering about a slightly off-beat concept here: a winter witch. The "fluff" idea is that of a renegade member of the Irrisen ruling class who is seeking to completely escape her homeland. From a mechanics point of view, I'm wondering if it would be worth having a spellcaster who can control cold in many aspects when dealing with an AP with a sizeable aquatic component? I'm envisioning the winter witch freezing water around foes, creating icicle-type weapons, and the like. Does anyone think the character would be terribly disadvantaged, or would it be a viable option?
I'm enjoying it so far. They seemed to have toned back the puerile humour a notch or two in later episodes, and I can overlook the dick jokes that still occur from time to time (and episode #3 will probably go down as The Orville's "Code of Honor") It's pretty telling that with all that, it still feels more like Star Trek than Star Trek: Discovery.
A little-known 9th level Wizard/Sorcerer spell called "Copy/Paste" :) :P
John Lynch - I. Friggin'. Love. This!!!! :)
I really like that idea, John. Some good stuff for bringing illithids into the campaign (those slimy buggers have always been one of my favourite bad guys, right back to old 1st Edition AD&D! :) ) Regarding the Azlanti weapons - I hadn't really thought about it, but I think the idea of Azlant more-or-less-equals Atlantis, and therefore heavily vested in Greek mythology, makes sense. Maybe throwing in a macuahuitl analogue somewhere could add the "Aztec-ish" feel that also seems to be part of the Azlant. Thoughts?
Excellent suggestions, folks. Thanks. I've already just grabbed the "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" soundtrack on Spotify - I'll go through it over the next couple of days and try to figure out some leitmotifs. The Predator one should also be handy for the darker stuff - Spoiler:
the faceless stalkers, as well as the big bad - what's his name? Ozzymandeus? :P I'd never heard of "IJ and the Fate of Atlantis". It fits perfectly. I'll see if I can hunt down an orchestral version of it - I like the themes, but my players will groan if I put on a midi soundtrack! :) Thanks again!
I'm normally pretty good at being able to pull up music to suit the mood of an Adventure Path. The last four or five have been a piece of cake. But I'm absolutely stumped with RoA...has anyone had any ideas?
Will it be necessary to have at least one full caster?
I plan on handwaving it that she has a serious wound (38 hp), and therefore will require a CSW spell (able to heal 39 hp) to fix it. This will also give the PCs impetus to get her to Noelan at the Riverwood Shrine right at the start. Come to think of it...that's not an entirely bad way to make crits more interesting. *rubs hands together* ETA: So Aubrin takes 38 hp damage from a crit. A CMW can only heal a maximum of 26 hp, so she will have to naturally heal down to 26 before a CMW will work. So she'll be laid up for 13 days, basically, until she can cast a CMW on herself (or a PC can do it, of course). Since it's all about survival in the wilderness, I might even get really nasty and add in a Fort save to ward off infection...*evil cackle ensues"
Just saved this to my "Strange Aeons" folder on my computer - excellent work! :)
Something like this? :) The Tatterman CR 5
Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Roleplaying-to-combat ratio for our group would be about 50/50, I'd say. I will often ditch combats from canned adventures and run either a roleplaying encounter or an environmental encounter (a storm, or fire, etc). Rules vs. Flavour - definitely flavour first. I tend to be very "narrativist", which is what my group wants. Builds - definitely flavourful. I worry sometimes that my players nerf themselves too much in order to get a fun, flavourful character. Noble or slightly sketchy parties, absolutely. Our Carrion Crown campaign has a mix of both, actually. Evil parties/characters are a no-no at our table. The players understand this, and it's never been an issue. Sandbox vs railroad vs freeway - depends on what we're playing. We mainly play adventure paths these days (as I don't have time to come up with all the stuff on my own), so it depends on the AP. Silly vs serious; serious. No question. That's not to say we don't laugh out loud a lot during the sessions, but we do take the game seriously. Dungeon vs open - again, depends on the actual game we're playing, but we tend to prefer open. Genre choices - just for Pathfinder? If so, then standard fantasy with a few twists, such as a bit of horror (Carrion Crown), or a "feel" (eg. Mummy's Mask). Definitely not mixed with sci-fi or tech, though (no Iron Gods or gunpowder, for example). If you're talking about genres overall, then we play a bit of an eclectic mix: Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Star Trek, Apocalypse World are what we're playing at the moment.
Just popping in here to offer my sympathies to my LGBTQI siblings. As the father of a transwoman (who is also an avid gamer), I'm terribly glad we live in Australia right now, because I fear for what is going to happen to everyone who is not a straight white Christian cis-man in America over the next few years. Take care, keep gaming, and keep happy. Phil
A lot of my players have expressed interest in playing various Occult classes, not least because they just seem to "fit" with a Mythos game. The problem is getting around fear affecting emotion-based spells. I understand the idea of horror adventures preying on the PCs' weaknesses, and all that, I just don't want to nerf half the party right out of the gate. I'm considering having only "Greater Fears" (from the "Horror Adventures" book) put the kybosh on psychic spells - at least for this AP. Thoughts?
Gorgeous! :)
(The real Book of the Dead is absolutely beautiful, too, but it's a huge, long scroll, basically. I saw a version of it at the Melbourne Art Gallery some years ago, and it was mind-blowing!)
We're coming up to the last installment of "Carrion Crown" and will be starting "Mummy's Mask" after that. So far, my playlist will include: Prince of Persia
I'm still confused as to how this relates in the timeline of already established ST cannon... With a registry of "NCC-1036", the Discovery would almost have to be commissioned in the TOS-era, prior to the name ship of the Constitution-class (NCC-1700). The producers have said that Undiscovered Country is a "touchstone" for the new series, whatever that means. I suppose it's possible that the new series is a sequel to Undiscovered Country, set in the last decade of the 23rd century. That would be cool, but I can't see why an established deep-space explorer like an Excelsior class couldn't be used instead of the bizarre kit-bash they seem to have put together.
It looks very similar to the "Star Trek: Phase II" Enterprise...that is, butt-ugly! I really hope this is just a CGI test. It looks truly awful.
About to start SfSS on Saturday - finally :) Two of the three characters are as-yet unnamed, but otherwise completed. Bloodrager (undead bloodline) - human female (Erutaki)
I've given them a 25 point buy as there isn't a lot of healing in the party, and there are only three of them. I'll see how they go and if necessary plant a "wand of cure light wounds" or something. Looking forward to it...
Okay. I appreciate the advice - I'll go have a look at the archetypes. With nobody interested in the bard in my group, I'd never bothered looking through them, but that "archeologist" one sounds perfect for a Mummy's Mask campaign. Thanks, guys...
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