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We've released the latest in our line of The Lazy GM series of pre-generated creatures ready to use in your game. Doppelgangers features an array of doppelganger characters, with added classes and templates to give stat blocks for Pathfinder and 3.5, with a clickable index ordered by CR, class and template to take you right to where you need, as well as suggestions for using them in your game. PDF available for $0.99 from DrivethruRPG or RPGNow
The Lazy GM: Cloakers is the latest in our "Single Shots" range of Lazy GM products, taking a single monster and presenting loads of stats for variant builds, class levels, templates and so on, ready to drop in to your game. Cloakers covers 51 pages and features vampire void wizards, venomous fighters, shadowbrood assassins and more, for Pathfinder and 3.5 Ed, with a clickable index by Challenge Rating, template and class so you can jump straight to the monster you need. Also features a discussion on using cloakers in encounters and campaigns, for the bargain price of just 79 cents! Find it at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow Also available as Single Shots: Chimeras, Centaurs, Behirs, Basilisks, Barghests, Ankhegs and Aboleths.
The latest in our "Single Shots" series of Lazy GM products, where we take a single monster and present variant builds, hit dice increases, class levels and templates, all ready for use in your game for less than a song on iTunes. Centaurs gives you the centaur thundercaller, the plains druid, the half-dragon warden, mummified fighters and lots of other variants, never seen before in any Lazy GM product. Find the creature you want with one click from the index. Available now from DrivethruRPG and RPGNow Also available as Single Shots:
Did you know: That we've got a new line in the Lazy GM range of pre-generated monster stats? Single Shots take a single monster so you can pick and choose if you don't want to buy a full compilation. So far we've released Aboleths, Ankhegs, Basilisks and Barghests, with Behir, Centaurs and Chimeras coming soon. Some of these reprint material previously published, but all feature all-new bonus content. Some (Barghest and Centaur) are entirely new, featuring creatures not in any of our other products. All featuring our usual mix of increased Hit Dice, class levels, templates and variant builds, plus fully clickable indexing and discussions on creative ways to use these creatures in your game. All for under a dollar. We've also been releasing loads of free web enhancements for our existing Pathfinder titles. Enjoy bonus material for Goblinoids, Dungeon Beasts, Savage Creatures and Freaks and Horrors, all for nothing. See these titles, and more, on DrivethruRPG and RPGNow
We've just released some bonus material for The Lazy GM: Dungeon Beasts (Pathfinder edition) and it's completely free! The Lazy GM series gives you tons of pre-statted monsters, with boosted Hit Dice, templates, class levels and variant builds ready to drop on your unsuspecting players. In Dungeon Beasts, we gave you the four "classic" oozes, amongst many other creatures, but only with increased Hit Dice. In this bonus material you get a range of templated ooze variants - the deathleech pudding, the demonic jelly, the ectoplasmic ooze and the ice cube, all ready to go. If you've not tried our Lazy GM range yet, here's a chance to get a free taster of what we offer. Available now at Drivethrurpg or RPGNow. Did I mention that it's free?
Interesting in that there's no really clear pattern in what does and doesn't sell well, although evidently the more niche adventures are less successful. For Creative Conclave, 1) Most popular items each month are Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend and Spwan of NTBOL, but this could be because they're free!
2) I was disappointed with the lacklustre performance of Ninjas vs. Pirates, as it's an inexpensive product and proceeds go to charity so I was hoping that might tempt passing interest to invest. I think it probably needed more promotion. Every September 19th perhaps. 3) The Lazy GM: Dungeon Beasts took off well, as did the Pathfinder conversion. In terms of sales vs. time on the market it probably surpasses Goblinoids. Like Goblinoids I guess it's because it contains some pretty fundamental monsters.
The Lazy GM: Freaks and Horrors, exclusively for Pathfinder. Within are hundreds of stat-blocks for forty different monsters, from classics such as the Aboleth and the Harpy to oddball monsters like the Algoid and the Disenchanter, selected from all four Pathfinder Bestiaries, and the Tome of Horrors too! Freaks and Horrors makes good use of all the exciting options available in Pathfinder, with archetypes like the Medusa Lotus Geisha or Intellect Devourer Spy, templates like the Nightmare Xill or the Demonic Cave Fisher, and new classes like the Jackalwere Gunslinger or Flail Snail Oracle. It also features a wide range of classes and levels for the lesser-used Darklands races such as the Dark Folk, Dire Corbies and Morlocks, as well as a CR17 variant of the Flumph that your players will take very seriously indeed! In standardised Pathfinder stat-block format for greater compatibility, Open Content for all stat-blocks, CR 1/2 to 23, with a fully clickable index cross-referenced by CR, templates and monster roles to easily find what you need. Buy it from DrivethruRPG or RPGNow, nearly 400 pages for only $9.99!
Nothing says “Merry Christmas” quite like a horde of sadistic little reptiles, so give the GM in your life the latest offering from Creative Conclave. The Lazy GM: Kobolds, Pathfinder Edition, updates our classic title to the Pathfinder system. Some 250 stat-blocks for pre-generated kobold foes, from a humble warrior to a half-dragon lich sorcerer, with Challenge Ratings from ¼ to 19 via an array of classes, templates and variant builds mean that you may never need to create a kobold again.
Easy navigation – select from a fully clickable index arranged by challenge rating, class or template. Fully bookmarked.
Traditional PDF for only $5.99 from DrivethruRPG and RPGNow.
The Lazy GM: Savage Creatures, now available for Pathfinder. Within are hundreds of stat-blocks for forty-one classic monsters, from Assassin Vine to Yrthak, all with advanced hit die and a selection of templates, variant builds and class levels applied to give a massive range of monsters ready for use in your Pathfinder game. Now in standardised Pathfinder stat-block format for greater compatibility, and featuring loads of new and exciting templates from Open Content sources. Want a Lamia Harridan Witch? A Giant Owl Mooncaller Druid? A Two-Headed Half-Dragon Elasmosaurus? An Ectoplasmic Giant Slug? A Fiendish Couatl Oracle? An Ettercap Alchemist? These and many more ready-to-run monsters can be found within.
Available from DrivethruRPG and RPGNow
We've updated our classic Dungeon Beasts collection of pre-gen stats for Pathfinder, now with loads of extra variants. Within are hundreds of stat-blocks for forty classic monsters, from Ankheg to Wyvern, all with advanced hit die and a selection of templates, variant builds and class levels applied to give a massive range of monsters ready for use in your Pathfinder game. Now in standardised Pathfinder stat-block format for greater compatibility, and featuring loads of new and exciting templates from Open Content sources. Want a Two-Headed Cockatrice? A Shadow Terror Wyvern? An Otyugh Crime Boss? Demon-Possessed Mimic? Huge Ectoplasmic Chuul? Fiendish Hook-Clawed Owlbear? Manticore Burning Skeleton? These and many more ready-to-run monsters can be found within.
Find them at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow *UPDATE*
For the darkest days of winter, Creative Conclave brings you a Pathfinder upgrade of our Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend free PDF, complete with new creatures and tales of mystery and horror. Fifteen creatures that meet both meanings of the word "terrible", ready-statted for use in your game... should you really want to. The Ectoplasmic Cube! The Harmless Tyrannosaur! The Devil Cat of Twistleharbour! The Haunted Nickleodeon! The Horsemanless Head of Dozey Dell, plus ten others, all await within. Get it free from DriveThruRPG or RPGNow.
We've updated our classic Lazy GM: Goblinoids to take full advantage of the new options offered by Pathfinder. A 160-page PDF stuffed with over 400 ready-to run goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears and wolf-like beasts from CR 1/3 to CR 17, with class levels, templates, racial variants and alternate builds. Comes with a fully clickable index to allow you to search by CR, class or variant. Available now from DrivethruRPG or RPGNow for $10.99!
Sounds like a good idea, you'd think somebody would have done something like this sooner! That link didn't work for me, but from the words "Otus" and "Rogues" in there I would guess you're referring to the old 1st Ed. Rogue's Gallery? I also remember a product that came with the RuneQuest boxed set called "Foes", which was a similar kind of thing. Of course, I can't claim that the idea was a novel one (which actually stemmed from an ENWorld discussion about why doesn't somebody make a book full of NPC stats ready to use), just saw the opportunity for a quick plug ;)
Sounds like a good idea, you'd think somebody would have done something like this sooner!
I was just wondering if anyone outside of the player group read these things anymore? Yes.
"Ruins of Intrigue" would still be available as a PDF, possibly in print as well. As I said, it's for Arcana Evolved but close enough to D&D 3.5 to be useful. "Griffin Mountain" was a 2nd Edition RuneQuest product and as such is likely to be an expensive Ebay purchase. It's quite tied into the world of Glorantha and may be less useful as a generic product. "Griffin Island" was the version that was produced for 3rd Edition RQ and is more generic (and, as an island, designed to be a stand-alone part of the world). Again, you'll need Ebay. As both products use the RQ rules they would be most useful to you for ideas only, but I'm not sure you'd need them for your game style. As for the APs, I would recommend picking up the first, maybe second installments of each first, as you tend to get a breakdown of the campaign background (usually the plot of the BBEG) and overviews of the later adventures. With all the APs, the later installments tend to be reliant on the PCs taking a specific course of action in the earlier installments, or allying with a particular faction and so on, so for your style they would be less useful except as a source for maps and NPCs should you need them. Semi-spoilers for the APs you mention: Spoiler: Rise of the Runelords tends to follow the pattern that, defeat of one set of bad guys reveals an obvious clue (usually a letter or diary entry) that leads to the next. Curse of the Crimson Throne, once past the initial hook, tends to assume that the PCs end up working for the city guard, running semi-official missions. Whislt they do this, things fall apart around them. Legacy of Fire is quite nicely organic, the episodes I have read so far. It does pre-suppose a patron for the PCs hiring them for a mission, initially, but the later adventures spin off from discoveries made during those adventures. Savage Tide is similar, with the assumption that the PCs will sign up as hirelings for a patron. Of these, I'd say Legacy of Fire does the best job, since the writers' experience with these things is beginning to show, and also Paizo wanted to do something a little different. All of the APs assume that some powerful being, somewhere, has a nefarious plot going on - whether this fits with your style I'll leave for you to decide.
Well, I'm not the OP but I can think of a couple of "sandbox" products off the top of my head. The old "Griffin Island" (or "Griffin Mountain" in some incarnations) for RuneQuest is a prime example. It gives a broad overview of an area, details of three rival citadels, pubs within each, stats for rulers, important figures and so forth, most of them with some sort of adventure hook or motivation attached. Further, there are wilderness locations to be slotted in whereever the GM fancies, wanderers, random monsters, treasures and various cults and cultural details. The "proper" adventure sees the adventurers trying to find a legendary sword and the eponymous Griffin Mountain, but really it could go anywhere, and there is no attempt to force the players onto this path. A more modern product that takes pretty much the same approach is "Ruins of Intrigue" by Malhavoc Press. Again, a location with prime dungeoneering opportunity, fought over by (at least) two rival factions with different agendas. It's aimed at Arcana Evolved, but adaptable. To address the OP's... er, OP... It could be do-able if you are into mining other products for NPC stats and location maps. Certain parts of CoTC would work for any city-based adventure, for example. By the nature of APs, as you go further into each series the encounters are stitched more tightly into the plot-line, but if you enterprising (and you sound like you are) you can easily isolate them, particularly "dungeon" locations. The Temple of the Moon, from History of Ashes (COTC 4), for example, could be used elsewhere without too much trauma. As for using the plotline part of an AP, well, doen't sound like you'd want to. I assume that you sometimes offer adventure seeds and not the whole campaign comes form your player's wishes (you are lucky if it does, I've found that players offered that level of freedom tend to flounder and head to the nearest inn to be given a quest!). If this is the case, there are various seeds that can be sown. Maybe they take similar line to the AP, maybe they don't, if you don't feel constrained by plot rails, then at the very least the game has spun off in a different direction.
I think Edge of Anarchy *is* the introductory part. I toned down the background rioting and general unrest quite a lot (which doesn't affect the adventures, just the background fluff) because it all seemed disproportional. If you do that, the meat of the adventure gives a little tour of the different parts of the city, working for the good guys and introducing some major characters (like Kroft and Orisini). Besides the five major sub-adventures given there are also a few minor encounters that can be expanded and, as others have said, if you have Guide to Korvosa and/or various city-based adventures from Dungeon or elsewhere you can easily pad things out. I agree that it might be good to keep Eodred alive for a little longer, perhaps he dies midway through Edge of Anarchy*, but I don't think it's a major flaw. *: That would work easily enough. The Old Fishery is self-contained and tied up with the character's backgrounds. They could still end up with the Queen's brooch - the King is so ill, she's acting as Regent and she can still send them to Kroft. Verik and Co. don't need the background of riots to desert and open ATWM, they can have done that at any time. If Eodred dies after that segment, you could even change the hook for Eel's End - Devargo claims to know the identity of the assassin, for example, or he is a suspect. After that, business as usual for the AP.
I think there *is* a flaw with the shipwreck in Seven Days to the Grave, in that the adventure starts off with a mysterious shipwreck in the night, no survivors, but then skirts away from it for most of the rest of the adventure. What adventurign party *isn't* going to be intrigued by this? Better, I think, to play down the initial wreck until after the PCs get the information from Yelloweyes ("Now that she mentions it you *do* recall some strange goings-on in the harbour a few weeks ago"). Yes, also, there is a certain amount of being given job offers by NPCs, although again this can be modified by either using new NPCs with connections to the PCs or by a bit of hook-feeding. For example, the Eels End section is probably one of the more open sections. The PCs are only hired by Kroft to make a deal with Devargo, but the information is there for a full-scale assault on Eels End. I had a friend of one of the PCs become a Shiver addict, giving the PC a strong grudge against Devargo (once they discovered he was responsible). Plus there's Majenko the pseudo-dragon written into the adventure to stir things up. So, I agree that there *could* be issues if you take the adventures as written (although in fairness it's *also* written in the APs *not* to stick to them zealously), but then no pre-published module is ever going to suit every party straight out of the box. I tend to view them as a set of maps and stats that I don't need to make. A seperate issue of perhaps the GM's inexperience is this issue with the 21 Strength barbarian. *If* the GM is buffing up opponents so as to "negate" this effect, then this is poor play. The player has gone for a particular build (a very common one given D&D's propensity to melee combat), and should not be penalised for doing so. I find it good to take a certain joy when a PC super-crits a big bad guy in one go - they made the character so they could do that, why take away their fun? In my COTCT game I have one character who is massively geared towards stealth. He pretty much defeated All the World's Meat by himself by infiltrating and disarming everyone in their sleep. He freed Majenko singlehandely and could almost have robbed Devargo blind. It was fun to play, even if it isn't the "proper" way to do it. He created his character a certain way, so I give him the opportunity to flex those skills. I think the barbarian should be given the same opportunities, and believe me there will be times when your party will be grateful for somebody able to dish out large amounts of damage reliably!
Brought together by bonds of fate, you share your meagre rations by starlight and discuss what information you have managed to glean. Jaden:
One of the "lifers", a slave-born by the name of Talent (although he has none), has intimated to you that he knows of a secret way out of the mines, passed down through his family. He is willing to share it with someone if they can stop Kana-Koa's thugs from beating him up. Kai:
You have heard from one of the slaves who work in the camp kitchen, a Ti-Kop called Stormcap whose recently broken leg makes him useless for digging work, that the next supply caravan will be here in five days time, coincident with the next time that you are above ground. Stormcap reckons that a resourceful person could hide themselves in the wagons. Tlerixxial: There are rumours throughout camp of the strange spirit folk that inhabit the island, and are reponsible for mysterious disappearances of items, and sometimes people. Most don't really believe it, and blame the overseers and other prisoners, but you've seen one. Briefly. A tall, thin humanoid thing with long fingers, watching from the jungle eaves. It was well camouflaged, and vanished when you looked away momentarily, but something is out there. Perhaps the rumours that these creatures worship a massive idol of dragonsblood and gems is also true.
You've almost lost track of how long you've been here, a never-ending cycle of descending into the bowels of the mountain for what must be days on end, a brief respite in the sun and then back under again. Many of your fellow prisoners say that they were born to slaves, and have spent their entire lives here. Others were captured and sold, like you. They are a mixture of all human types found across the Southern Seas, with some tlaxu (mostly Mopendine) and a few of the Ti-Kop fish folk. The guards are about the same mix, dressed in leather armour, armed with spear or sword, with perimeter guards to the topside camp also bearing crossbows. Perhaps if all the slaves acted as one they would outnumber the guards five to one, but the guards are armed and armoured. The slaves wear manacles around their ankles at all times, and tools are left in the mine. And then there would be the problem of where to go. As far as you can tell, the mines are deep in sweltering jungle, and the nearest settlement is twenty miles away on the coast, the fortress known as Prison, where Warden Tevronash Jakuul ("Little Tev") trades the ore that you painstakingly extract for him. Once a week, as near as you can tell, the wagons come bringing supplies for the mining camp, and take away the crude ore. Leader of the guards is Overseer Grey, scarred, with an eye-patch, Grey rarely interacts with the slaves if he can help it, leaving that to his underlings. Amongst the prisoners, several have gained positions of power or notoriety, particularly the huge Moa-Ruaki called Kana-Koa. Leader of a band of thugs, Kana-Koa bullies his way to the best rations and quarters, and the least work. Some grumble that he is the Overseer's snitch, but never in earshot. But Kana-Koa is just like the lifers and the slaver-born, in that he has taken his life in the prison mines to be the sum of his world. But you are different. You feel the pull of destiny and know that your fate is not to end your life toiling away as a slave. You have found others that share the same idea, and tonight, your night above ground, you meet under a canvas shelter for the first time. Knowledge (geography) DC 12:
Jungles, volcanoes, prison mines, dragonsblood ore. This must be Tas-Nabrenor, a small island chain about a month's sail southwest across open sea from the Necklace of Plenty archipelago
Too many things got in the way today, will try aim for tomorrow.
Is the game still on? Yes, I was waiting for the full versions from spinningdice and Eric, plus I don't generally post over the weekends. But I'lltry to get the first installment up later today.
Jaden - all looks good, but I think you need a background trait as well, I couldn't see one. Kai - looks good. I'd put Low Imperial down as his "known" language. Kordev - looks good, background is still the gem version but that's just cosmetic. You might want to change either Sylvan or Terran to Spiritspeech, as you'll probably find that more useful. Waiting for the final versions of the tlaxu characters now, then we'll start.
Spinning Dice: All looks correct to me. I've only seen a PF barbarian in action at 1st level so far, so I hope he lasts to level up and you get to choose a rage ability. Languages of Conclave: Low Imperial - effectively, the Common tongue for this part of the world. High Imperial - Used in the Empire for official documents, and courtly etiquette. Has various modes depicting relative status between speaker and listener. Ut'Bharman - Provincial Imperial langauge from the far north. Dronish - Provincial Imperial language from the western province of Dronistor. Thell - Provincial Imperial language from the small mountain nation of Thellingerstan. Denra-Lyr - human language from the nation of Denra-Lyr. Moa-Ruaki - human langauge used by Moa-Ruaki sea-going nomads. Something of a trade tongue amongst islanders. Vaartan - human language from the Khazarate of Vaarta.
Themnassic - main language of the Salsham'ai. Shromic - a secondary Salsham'ai language, similar to Spiritspeech. Usually only used by spellcasters. Tlaxan - Language of the Plains and Mountain Tlaxu. Mopendine - Language of the Mopendor Tlaxu, similar enough to Tlaxan to be usable. Tik - Language of the Ti-Kop fish-folk. Non- Ti-Kop can only hope to speak/understand a fraction of the nuances of sound. Uran - language of the Ura folk. Edraldi - language of the Edraldi, obviously! Obrenje - language of the Obrenaja, who are quite a long way from the start of this campaign. Geil, Imbata, a'Keshite - languages from the Outer Continent, even further from the start of the campaign. Draconic - as per SRD Spiritspeech - common tongue of the spirit world. Kind of supercedes Celestial, Infernal and Abyssal, and also overlaps the elemental languages too, since the cosmology is different to the "great wheel" idea. I'm pretty certain there are other languages too that I've forgotten.
I like the concept of Obrenaj. I'll change my character accordingly. I still don't know what to do with the swords. Are those swords you mentioned different from bastard in terms of damage, critical and so forth? Perhaps I could design my own flavor, better to supplement character's background, if it's ok by you? I think, mechanically, they'd be the same as a bastard sword, so if you want to come up with yur own flavour text, be my guest. Don't forget, however, that he's got no equipment at the start of the game, so finding one could be part of his motivation.
Lone Wolf never crossed my mind; this is fine example of subconsciousness at work. :) Fighter feats are fine by me, and I've considered some dragon connection in Kai's past. Are dragons oriental? A question: do you have katana equivalent in your world, or should I think of something? Perhaps straight-edged blade and curved handle? Dragons: Its not so much a case of "oriental" or not, although what I have done is combined the standard dragons with the "lung" dragons of Oriental Adventures. Dragon types are all related to what element or natural feature they are connected with, not so much by colour and alignment. So you have fire dragons, storm dragons, river dragons, star dragons, celestial dragons etc. However, there aren't many at large in the world. This article might be of interest. Katana: Not by that name, as such, but similar weapons would exist. Famed amomgst the Empire of Splendour and her former holdings are the so-called Silent Swords, named because they are made in Fnoi Province, formerly the Nome of Silence. These are known to be well-made, from good quality steel due to the skill of the local craftsmen. Apart from that, they have no special qualities (although would usually be considered masterwork).
Humans
The Empire of Splendour once ruled most of the southern portion of the Inner Continent and the seas beyond, but has shrunk over the centuries. The Nekuu people are the most numerous in this area, looking the most East Asian. They span from the far northern province of Ut'Bharma all the way down the Necklace of Plenty island chain. In traditional Imperial areas they are considered as peasants and workers.
Outside the Empire, there are many other nationalities and phenotypes.
The Atala are a strange green-skinned race of humans, scattered across the Southern Sea area after the destruction of their homeland back in the times of legend. They are most numerous in the Technocracy of Hudan. Note that any and all of these physical characteristics can be intermixed. Imperial prejudices have no bearing in truth, or game terms (i.e. you don't get a bonus to Appraise for being Anhoin)
Hmm... last survivor of a monastic order? Kai? Sounds like Lone Wolf to me :). Well... could be, we'll see how things pan out in play. I don't think a feat progression like that will be too unbalanced, but maybe have a list to select from, even if the same as Fighter bonus feats. I thought I'd seen that feat somewhere before. Well, since I was originally planning the prison-mine set up for an Iron Heroes game, it seems appropos. To all: Don't forget the "campaign traits" I mentioned above. Some examples: Old Salt. You have grown up around and on board sea-going ships. +2 to Swim and Profession (sailor). Educated. You have been raised with fine tutors who have educated in topics worthy of a Magister. High Imperial language, +2 to Knowledge (nobility and courtesy). Hunted. Someone is after you, and has been for some while. You are always having to keep one step ahead. +2 Listen and +1 Initiative. Magical Knack. Perhaps the spirit world flows in your veins, but you have a minor talent for magic even though you have no training. Light (or other 0th level spell) at will. +2 Use Magic Device. Also: I have a number of "Bloodline Levels" that you could use if you want your character to have some sort of heritage from the spirit world (or another aspect is draconic bloodlines, but I haven't worked out the full details). These are 3 level classes that you can multi-class into that grant class abilities appropriate to the spirit type. For example River Spirit Bloodline gives you a swim speed, the ability to speak with fish and ultimately water breathing. Fire spirit is a physical kind of thing giving you bonuses to Strength and Dexterity, and (I think) eventually Fire Resistance. Sun Spirit, on the other hand, shows a heritage connection to Golden Crow, geomantic animal of the sky and rulership. It grants various spell-like abilities based on charm, rulership and blessings. You *could* start at 1st level with one of these but it probably isn't worth it. If you're interested in exploring the concept further, let me know. KEB: Forget what I said about the skills for Sev, I am an idiot and didn't see the 8 Int!
Okay, some other points on re-reading things: Nightflier - seems fine to me. What's the progression on the bonus feats? My gut would be to use the same as SRD wizard (1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th) rather than two per level with Combat Style (although there might be overlap). I like Kai's mysterious past, there are some tie-ins that already suggest themself to me.... Spinning Dice: Tlerixxial seems good, carry on. Kevin-Eric, Sev looks fine at first glance, needs more skills. I've noticed that Focussed Attack uses Concentration as I've written it, but this is folded into Spellcraft in PF. This doesn't seem like the right skill, so I'm changing it to Sense Motive (class skill for Monk and Paladin, who seem the right sort of character to use this kind of attack). Favoured classes for Conclave races: Edraldi: Druid and Barbarian
Sure, no problem.
Okay, cool, thanks folks. I'll give a full look later. Well, looks like we have some groundswell towards using PF Beta, and to be honest I'm tempted myself. So, Opdigan, I don't think that affects you massively except for 0th level spells, and you can choose the domain ability version of nature bond instead of an animal companion if you like. Some skills may need to be re-jigged. I think most of the racial bonuses are easy enough to convert to PF skills, but PF races have a net +2 to ability scores so I think the following should be applied: Edraldi +2 Con (changing the bonus of Earth Edraldi to +2 Dex)
Other races if they come up.
Re: Spells, I'll check your sheet again, I thought you only had Produce Flame down for 1st level, but, yes, you should have 2 1st level spells in total. Of those visual aids, I found Aughra to be the easiest to find pictures of, the others are a bit more obscure. It's not vital that you do so, it just gives you a rough idea of the image I have of the Edraldi, except that hair/beard/horns are made from material like tree-roots. Yes, UK.
All looks in order to me, although you need another 1st level spell, and in languages replace "Common" with "Low Imperial". There's nothing like a widespread druidic brotherhood either, so there's no Druidic language. You can use Spiritspeech instead, if you like, which is a common language to all creatures of the spirit world. In answer to your previous question, I think any of those animal companions would be okay. I think we can assume that he has befriended this creature since becoming a prisoner in the mines, rather than it having come with him. Another point about Edraldi is that due to the Stonebond racial characteristic he probably would have been quite sick on the long sea journey to his current location. Obviously, he's better now! Visually, I have in mind for the Edraldi a sort of mixture of Aughra from the Dark Crystal, the Thivin race from Skyrealms of Jorune, and Raggety the troll from Rupert the Bear. You may need to Google some of those! (And as for Edit, I haven't used these forums much, but it seems like there is a finite period of time after posting that you can go back and edit your post. After that, the option disappears).
Ooh, don't think I ever did that! You can use the height/weight of a dwarf. As for age, the Edraldi are "born" fully formed, so I'd say 1d6+1 years old for an "adult" character, with middle age setting in about 60 years old.
Opdigan: No spellbook, no components pouch. Just that you have your full number of spells prepared, or spell slots available. However, I'm going to ignore the requirement for a spellbook as it isn't thematically appropriate to the setting anyway. For wizards, you have a number of spells known, and of those, a number prepared (as usual). You don't need to actually read from a book to prepare spells, but you do need the same amount of time to prepare spells as per the usual rules for wizards. The difference is, you are meditating, or praying to the Immortals, or communing with your ancestors or whatever method you prefer. When you learn new spells, you don't "write them into your book", merely learn them and add them to your repertoire. Material components - you will need to improvise these from what's available. Anything thematically appropriate will probably work. If you require a Divine Focus, spells cast without one take twice as long to cast, i.e a Standard action becomes a Full Round, a Full Round becomes 2 rounds etc. Nightflier: Not sure I understand the question. Post your character here, please. MaxPowers: Thanks, it's not all my own work. I've only really been using it for gaming for about a year, although the setting dates back to 1999 in its original conception. It took a while to grow to something useable, and to get all the d20 mechanics in place!
Hmm... I'm tempted to use Pathfinder Beta because the base classes are better, although I'd need to rejig some of the Conclave races, and it's quicker for me to refer to the SRD. If there's overwhelming support for PF, then I'll go that way. I'm happy to review any variant, er, variants, subject to approval. I generally dislike traits and flaws so I'm not allowing them, but you all start with one trait similar to those offered in the Pathfinder Adventure Paths. You gain a +2 bonus to one skill, plus one of the following:
The combinations are up to you, but ought to make some sort of sense connected with your background.
The Gameskeeper in Oxford, still seems to be going strong after years and years.
Discussion Thread is now open. Any further character creation should take place there. Recruitment will be first-come, first served on getting a character concept up in the OOC thread, but I will take substitutes if you don't mind sitting on the virtual bench.
Overview
The Background
Character Creation:
Character Creation Looking for 4-6 players. I can accommodate more – my experience of PbP has shown me that groups tend to deteriorate to a core of about 4 players anyway. Ability Scores: Use 28 point buy. Character Race: Use World of Conclave races, as given below. Further details found here • Humans. There are a variety of different racial types of human with purely role-play differences between them.
Character Class:
Other elements
Your character background
Try to avoid real world names – most Conclave names tend to be translated into some from of description such as Chance, Amber, Five Lives, Fifth Fortunate Son etc. Generally, the richer somebody is, the more florid their name tends to be. See the World of Conclave website for other ideas. Non-human names are covered in the PDF file for each race.
Playing the Game
Feats:
Focused Attack Req: Weapon Focus, ranks in Concentration Effects: As a move action, make a Concentration check. Depending on the result, the next attack you deal with a weapon of choice will cause extra damage: Concentration check Damage
You can't Take 10 on this check, and the attack must be made immediately after the Concentration check. Special: If you have Quick Draw you can draw and focus (but not also move) at the same time. This also stacks with Sneak Attack damage if applicable (a focused strike against a flat-footed foe). This is an adaption of the Iaijutsu rules. Lion's Roar
Fire Mage
1. Fiery Eyes* - your eyes glow, illuminating area. May ignite objects with focussed gaze.
Note: Yes, this is more potent than the existing feat that allows spontaneous casters *one* extra spell, but I don't think it's too unbalancing as its benefits play out over a long period. I doubt we'll be seeing 18th level in a PBP game, unless we fast-forward over a few levels. Other themed spell lists could be available. Scribe Scroll becomes Craft Spell-Completion Item. The end product is the same - an item that gives a single use of a spell, that can be used by anyone with that spell on his spell list. It may be a scroll - sutras and ofudas are fairly common, it may be a talisman or lucky charm. The exact form is up to you, depending on the character of your spellcaster. Brew Potion becomes Craft Single Use Item. This is a single use magical item, usable by anybody. It may be a potion or oil, it may be a specially grown fruit, it may be a scroll, it may be a pebble inscribed with magical symbols. Most spells can be turned into single use items. Ranged attack spells are usually turned into 'detonations' that require a ranged touch attack to work. Some special cases may need review on an individual basis. The Bonded Item feat may be taken by any character of 3rd level or above, provided that they have used the item in question through several dangerous situations (and it has made a difference). A bonded item gives a +1 enhancement bonus to its 'normal use'. Most common would be a weapon, gaining this bonus to attack. A suit of armour may also benefit but other items such as thieves tools, rope, artists brushes and so forth are all candidates. Once bonded, the wielder can also spend XP to add further enhancements to the bonded item. Thus a bonded sword can gain further bonuses or special abilities. Obviously this is easier to adjudicate for weapons and armour but imagination can be applied to other equipment. This means that, for example, swords become legendary because of who wields them, not who made them. Losing a bonded item may or may not be a real pain. They should be fixable, with maybe a monetary cost for the ceremonial materials. Still on the subject of swords, that gives you a quest to retrieve the Green Destiny sword, or to reforge the Sword That Was Broken etc.
Houserules: Spell Slots For spontaneous casters, I'm thinking of including a ruling from Arcana Evolved. You can 'weave together' three spell slots of a given level to create one of a higher level. Thus you can give up 3 0th level slots to cast another 1st level spell. Conversely, you can 'unweave' a higher level spell slot to give two slots of the next level down. Thus you can give up one 2nd level slot to create two 1st level slots. Weaving up can be done indefinitely. You can weave three 0th level spell slots, add that new 1st level spell slots to 2 existing 1st level spell slots, weave those three to give a new 2nd level, and so forth. Weaving down can only be done for one level. The spell energy 'released' is weaker and less stable. Spell slots created by unweaving a higher level spell cannot be unwoven further. 0th level spells cannot be unwoven. 9th level spells cannot be woven. (Neither has anywhere to go!). This gives greater flexibility to casters and makes them more useful for longer. It also adds a very fun element of resource management where a caster can 'throw his last bit on magical power' into one hopefully crucial spell, rather than being stuck with a bunch of 0th level resistance spells. Death and Dying
If you have a Con score that gives you a bonus, your 'disabled' range spans 0 and minus that bonus. Your 'dying' range then goes to minus your Con. So, if you have Con 14 (+2 bonus), you are disabled from 0 to -2 hit points, and dying from -3 to -14 hit points. If you have a Con 9 (-1), you are disabled as normal on 0 hit points and dying from -1 to -9 hit points.
Further to my above, I forgot the Sohei. It's possible to be one of these, if you wish.
Are the basic classes from OA allowed? Samurai and Shugenja, no. Shaman, can be. There is a variant shaman up on the Conclave website, you can choose one or the other if you wish. Wu Jen is possible. Off the top of my head, I don't think there are any other new classes in that supplement. Although there is no Samurai, you can use a paladin variant with Ancestral Weapon or Bonded Item (from Arcana Evolved) feat for a similar effect. Both of these feats are only available from 3rd level onwards, but also you start with no equipment so they would be useless initially.
Looking for about 4-6 players. Check out the details below and express an interest. If I get enough, I'll start up an OOC thread for full character creation etc. Overview
The Background
Character Creation
Character Race: Use World of Conclave races, as given below. Further details found at www.creativeconclave.co.uk/racescultures.html • Humans. There are a variety of different racial types of human with purely role-play differences between them.
Character Class:
Other elements
Your character background
See the World of Conclave for more cultural notes. Human characters can come from pretty much any of the nations given, from the Empire of Splendour (and former holdings) to Moa Ruaki. Many non-humans have different subcultures and races too. Try to avoid real world names – most Conclave names tend to be translated into some from of description such as Chance, Amber, Five Lives, Fifth Fortunate Son etc. Generally, the richer somebody is, the more florid their name tends to be. See the World of Conclave website for other ideas. Non-human names are covered in the PDF file for each race.
I'm currently running COtCT as a play-by-post game, so I expect to be finished, oh, sometime around 2130AD I think. So, what were the highs and the lows? Which bits went like a charm from the published notes and which bits did your players mangle beyond recognition? Enquiring minds want to know...
Just to clarify a point here that others have highlighted: In Monte Cook's "Arcana Evolved" he conflates all the +2/+2 skill bonus feats into a *single* feat - Skill Application, as mentioned. The player (and GM) choose two (and here's the critical part) *thematically linked* skills to get the bonuses. So you could not have Stealth and Swim (as given above) unless you could come up with some damn good reason why the two are linked (Stealthy Swimmer? Doesn't really cut it, better to give a large bonus to Stealth whilst swimming). Swim and Profession (fisher) ("Riverfolk"), perhaps. Swim and Fly, perhaps. Are they useful? A bit. The first and original was Alertness, whose main purpose was for all those monsters with heightened senses (the ones who were only surprised 1 in 6 under old rules). The rest seem to have ballooned from there. Better still, offer a bonus 'background' feat at first level to be taken from one of these, or some other minor but occassionally useful feat.
Well, with the purely self-serving purpose of getting ourselves more well known, let me tell you more about Creative Conclave. We produce The Lazy GM range of PDFs, which are basically hundreds of pre-generated stat blocks for a range of monsters. From levelled-up warriors, through various different fighter builds, all manner of classes, applied templates and assorted racial/environmental/elemental and class variants from Unearthed Arcana. So far we've done Goblinoids, Kobolds, Lizardfolk, Troglodytes and Dungeon Beasts (a range of classic D&D monsters). Orcs are in the works, with a 'Big Bruisers' special for ogres, trolls etc. and a Demons and Devils product currently under production. Oh, and there was the Halloween Special: Non-Terrifying Beasts of Legend. Totally unaffiliated review The reason that we're sticking with 3.5 for now (beyond that $5000) is that there is still a market for interesting ready-to-run creatures built entirely within the SRD, at least until end of next year! 4th Ed promises monsters that are easier to customise, to we are waiting to see if similar products would be wanted or needed for 4th Ed. It also depends on how the new Open Licence shakes out. Added in Edit - DMcCoy, yes we do indeed do 'other stuff'. We started life as a collaborative webworld and so there is a lot of free 'World of Conclave' information on our site - people, places, plots etc. |
