Dracorvid's page

It's been almost a year... Any Pathfinder players on Maui??
Still looking to add one or two players to my game!

A few high level creatures have magic jar, if you are looking for low CR the mindslaver mold can dominate person. I personally like the umbral Shepard, it can possess, its incorporeal, and its powers have a nice flavor. "The host slowly dies as the Shepard dissolves him into the shadow plane, and the CR 5 means he could be a fight for low levels.

Thanks Falcar! I hadn't known/looked at the Umbral Shepard before... nice, very much along the lines I was looking for!

Anyone else have something like this, but with different flavor?

Have an idea for an adventure but can't seem to find what I'm looking for, creatures that possess!

What am I missing?? Name your favorite possessor!

442. The Frog of Destiny

the PC's (including a Grippli) are new roommates at a Mythic University, each of them learning the ways of their particular Caster Class. Soon it becomes known that there is a prophecy about the group, they are meant to find Great Artifacts, for good or ill, but the World will be surely doomed if they don't find their respective Fated Artifact! Will they be the Savorers or Destroyers of the know Worlds? And how well did they do on last week's pop quiz in Potion's?

tonyz wrote:

It isn't just wandering wild animals that farmers have to deal with.

"Convincing" the bull to go out to pasture, or to get out of the neighbor's pasture, without goring you a lot -- that's XP.

...

Et cetera.

Indeed. As SKR wrote in the article I linked above, the life of the average peasant farmer was challenging. He likened surviving a game month as an Encounter, and figured xp accordingly. I don't subscribe, wholesale, to all of his assumptions or conclusions, but it is a well thought system that works within the larger RPG rules, and yields satisfactory results.

...

Having said that, as time has passed, I have come to accept that 20th level Commoners and other NPC classed characters are rather out of place. There is one train of thought on the matter that has 10th level being the upper limit for NPC classed critters (most notably and well done in the rare and difficult to find web postings of Szatany's Ultimate Classes, luckily they have been preserved...

I have to agree here, I think the idea of NPC Classes "only" going to Level 10 is fitting to their Type. The Heroic NPC's are going to be more like our PC's and be Leveling in a PC Class... At least that's often how I see it, and run it.

NPC Classes are the background/support NPCs, filling in the gaps between the NPC's with PC Classes, who tend to take Center Stage just like the PCs. I see the Commoner, Warrior, Aristocrats, Adepts, & Experts in the 1-10 Range, since the PC Classes are 1-20 with the 10-20 range not as often seen.

I like the "standard" "exceptional" "powerful" "legendary" split, and it's kinda fitting that the NPC classes can only be "standard" or "exceptional" if we do the 1-10 vs. 1-20 split, leaving the more main PC/NPC characters room to become "powerful" & "legendary" and shine even brighter.

As for the numbers spread for the NPC/PC levels on Golarion, I have a feeling the developers left that kinda vague so we could shape Golarion into our OWN worlds.

generally if anything, talk about years of training, with a monk could use belt.

generally thief/barbarian gets translated, too. Fighter is alright usually.

How does your group handle this? "Years of training" talk, or something else?

This has been bugging me for a while, but now that I'm getting a game world ready for play it's really weighing on my brain.

How the hell do you discuss Character/Class/Caster Level, in-character??

"Hi, I'm Bob the 3rd Level Barbarian!" Kinda breaks my sense of belief.

Casters are some what easier to "translate"

"Hi, I'm Tim, Sorcerer of the 3rd Circle!"
...or 3rd Degree Wizard, or 3rd Tier Oracle, or 3rd Grove Druid, etc.

BUT, does that really work for "Bob the Barbarian of the 3rd Circle"... Or Pat the 3rd Degree Thief, or Sam the 3rd Tier Fighter, etc. ??

So how does your PC group talk about Levels?? Or does that get glossed over in-character?

As a witch, your bread n' butter is going to be Evil Eye, Cackle and Misfortune Hexes.

In fact, I honestly don't hate the idea of a Human Witch using both her 1st level feats to take Extra Hex twice so she can have all 3 at 1st level.

(GOOD STUFF)

As for Giant Specific Advice:

Remember that they're technically classed as Humanoids, so spells that affect humanoids will work on them.

Also remember that their best save is Fortitude and their worst save is Reflex. Will is inbetween.

I find that unless I am entering a really important battle, I hardly use misfortune. My eyes go directly to the big guy in the fights.

If it looks like someone who is not sleep immune, my typical actions go:
Round 1 - Evil Eye -4 saves + cackle (extending my parties fortunes that they have going form the start of the day)
Round 2 - quickened ill own + Slumber (DC 30 atm) +cackle
Round 3 - if made save previously, another slumber attempt (Accurse hex goodness), or if they are immune to slumber, misfortune. + Cackle

honestly, Slumber is my go to spell every time I can use it (I know its bad that I do that).

(GOOD STUFF)

me!

I notice the responses are very focused on Hex's and not really mentioning Spells... is the Witch a Hexer with some Spellcasting? I get the impression Spells are secondary to Hex's... why is that, is the Witch Spell-List that bad?? And you also seem to have individual favorite Hex's...

I'm thinking of taking:
Evil-eye
(extra) Cackle (or Slumber) - which of those two do you think?
whichever one I don't take, I'll take at 2nd Level... followed by Flight, Fortune, and not sure after that...

Spells are more controlling i.e. - 1st Level "Charm Person" "Command" "Mage-Armor" & "Unseen Servant"

I plan on being as much a controller as I can, not sure how else a Witch would deal with Giants!

bump.

I'm guessing by the lack of response that most of you think I should just read the guides and pick out the blues, then the greens; but I was wondering more about flavor than being the most bad-ass carbon copy...

How can a Witch become a Giant-Hunter?
or is my idea just not workable?

Aloha!

So I was all ready to play the Healer Witch in my friend's game, his write up...
Eledras Duskdancer

But now the guy who is playing the Cleric, who originally didn't want to do the Healer thing, has changed his mind and told me he want's me to play my Half-Elf Male Witch how ever I please, as his role is suppose to be the Healer... :o/

Soooo... I was going to go with the Enchantment Patron instead of Healing (it fits his backstory which we played through already), and was wondering what you guys thought of the idea of a Giant-Hunting Witch?

What Hexes and Spells would fit that concept? (I already switched out Healing Hex and took Slumber instead)
I'm sticking with the Bonded Witch Archetype, unless one of you convinces me taking a familiar is a better option.

Any Tips, Tricks, or Witchery you'd care to share with a confused 1st level Witch of Enchantment, not totally sure where to go?

Thank You! Mahalo!

*sorry for the Necro, but wanted to see if anyone else has some Witches they want to share! ...Plus, I just finished making one I wanted to share!*

Eledras Duskdancer
1st Level Half-Elf Bonded Witch of Healing (Bonded Item: Staff)

Eledras had a hard upbringing, simply because his mother is a human Witch married to an elven Wizard, and in the little Elven Hamlet near the Elven Capital where they lived she was always treated as a temporary "guest" of the Elves, who saw the marriage as just a "summer-fling".

Eladras at least had his twin brother Elanor to keep him company, until one day (they were 13yrs old) when they stumbled across a strange ritual being held in a hallow in the woods near their home.

Fleeing from the Fog Giant (GM's very Evil Giant race) sent after them, the twins stumbled across an older Elf woman who was their Father's teacher, sent to mind the boys while Mum and Da went to deal with some Dire Arcane emergency.

After "Nana" was killed by the Fog Giant, the boys had just enough time to get to the house's basement doors. Where Elenor pushed Eledras in, just as he himself was snatched up by the Fog Giant. The doors of the Basement were Spelled to close and lock automatically in case of danger, so Eledras still doesn't know if his brother is alive or dead.

How did Eledras get out of this situation of hiding in the basement with the giant hammering at the doors? He's still kinda fuzzy, since the adrenaline was pumping so high at the time. He remembers someone else in the basement where there shouldn't be anyone, who offered to save his life ("change your Fate!") in exchange for a favor, some time in the future.

13 years later and he still can't get the wax seal broken on the scroll he found himself with, after his parents horses mystically turned around and got them home just in time to kill the Fog Giant banging on the basement doors. Eledras still hasn't told anyone about the man-thing in the basement or the scroll, as he was found alone in the Basement, weeping.

He has become a Healing Witch like his mother, but unlike her, he never received a Familiar. Instead he came from his initiation in the Deep Woods with a black staff topped with a carved raven looking like it was just landing, or maybe about to take off.

Having learned about Candle-Making & Nature from his mother (who gifted him with two of her Magic Candles, for the "Darkest Roads"), and much about Magic, History, and Giants from his father and his father's people; Eledras is ready to go out into the World and find his Missing Twin, who is still untraceable by even the most powerful of his parent's Divination Magics!

I just had this image of a half-Orc witch doctor making a paint with scroll ashes and mystic paste and using his own hand to imprint his mask-familiar.
Eventually the mask will have tons of different colored hand prints, each one glowing when the witch doctor casts his corresponding spell!

Please, continue the discussion... just had to share the image!

I'm new to table top games and picked up Pathfinder tonight for the first time. I grabbed the beginner box and have started reading through the material.

My question is related to the maps. If I design a map, do I present the entire map to the players, or do I draw it as they progress through it (sort of a fog-of-war effect) ?
And when I say present the entire map, I mean reveal the whole map to them at once, at the beginning. Doesn't that take away from the exploring aspect? I'm not sure!

Thanks in advance for any help. It's appreciated.

Scionwest

My usual is having a smaller GM map in front of me with notes, and a blank battle mat. I have 4 colors I use to draw the map as the PC's explore the area... That way, they only see what they've explored.

It helps that I use square graph paper and the grid side of the battle map, makes sure I'm drawing their map to scale!

Hope that helps!

In my homebrew world Aeth one of the organizations is the Hero's Guild, a world wide group sent to not just discover the history of times gone by, but also to guard and shield towns and cities of their assigned areas.

The High Guild is the cross nation over group, over seeing the...

Chapters ("The Chapter of Zhen", "Shima Chapter", etc.) over sees a single Nation and is made of...

Houses ("the House of Shadows", "Hope House", "House of Dragons", etc.) who protect specific regions of a Nation and is made up by the...

Bands ("Band of Friends", "the Yellow Band", "Wyld Band", etc) which are local groups (Adventuring Parties) assigned specific locations to protect or specific tasks too accomplish.

I was creating some characters for a one shot and noticed this line about Sorcerers learning new spells...

These new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of through study.

Soooo... What non-sorcerer/wizard spells has your Sorcerer learned??

And what do people do with this in their games??
...Does this mean Sorcerers can be healers??

-An Alchemist has been selling bunk "Healing" potions, that actually turns out to be poisoning any Elf that drinks one. Can the Party find the culprit(s) before any more Elves die??

-Some "Ladies of the Night" have shown up as Ritual victims, missing their hearts and other organs. Are they victims of a serial killer? A demonic Cult? Or something "Far Worse"?

-Random Citizens have been finding magic items scattered around the city, each seeming to fulfill the Finder's greatest Wish... Untill the Curse starts to unravel the wish until it has become an inescapable Nightmare. The oddest thing is that the "Lucky" finder of these items becomes so bonded with it, that they literally sicken and die if seperated from their "Treasure". Who is leaving the "Gifts" and why?

(just realized all three could be connected! Or not... Hehehe)

Bump

They have every core book, but ARG IIRC. They even have some Pathfinder Companion/Campaign Setting books.

Ya, I was checking it out... Exactly what I was looking for, thanks!

yeah meetup is a good site for oahu gamers, we have a good handful of groups together. not sure if it is permissible to link other sites here, but if you google i am sure you will find it.

for maui and big island, not sure if they have their own meetup groups. i hear big island doesnt even have a game store though.

Never found a meet up for Gaming on Maui... And we only have one bookstore and it's B&N out in Lahaina.

I've gathered a small group, so that's good... Just always on the look out for new gamers! ;o)

Sebastian Hirsch wrote:

Actually Perram's Spellbook is very good, especially if you want to create a list of all the spell descriptions on your spell list. Very usefull if you don't want to carry all your books arround all the time.

The biggest difficulty is getting it to print efficiently. Though only printing four of them at a time solves that pretty well.

Thanks guys! I'll see of they have the right spells for my Witch player... And we're starting at 1st level, so being able to print a few at a time actually works fine for us.

I'm thinking of the Old School 2nd Ed Wizard Spell Cards, that came in a box....

here

Any Pathfinder versions out there in cyber space?

I'm actually looking for the Witch List specifically...
Or if not, maybe "fill-in-your-own" spell cards??

Need this for a new player (never play RPG's, other than computer versions) who needs all the help he can get!

so I'm seeing if any exist, because I'm just too busy to create my own at the moment...

Thank you!

Thanks for the response! :o)

Aloha!

I'm starting a homebrew Pathfinder World, and am looking for players on the island of Maui... Do you or someone you know live here?? Or would you like to camo on your trip to Maui?

Please let me know, because I'm about to start an Asian themed game if you're interested!

What's the best way to leave contact information?? Phone number? Email?

Dracorvid

Good to hear that there is some potential resolution to come.

I may have miss read somewhere but I had the impression that this was a new group all together.
But good, glad it’s veteran gamers, that means it’s easy to work with.

Thanks for responding Amora!

Hey, quick question... I have maps I want to share with the Boards, to show off my world ;o). What's the best way to share my photos??

If they don't have the book, I have printed a section that they needed and handed it to them for record. Or tell them to buy the pdf and study. (OR PRD since it's online, and with the world of wireless devices....)

I've made combat cheat sheets. Ie, wrote out simply the things you can do in combat. Like in the Corebook, they have action tables with good descriptions of what is a full/swift/standard/etc action.

Done the buddy system. This works well if you can tag them with a player that is actually willing to help them.
I've done this so not everyone and thier mother at the table tells them the same thing, or words it slightly different.

Don't forget at the end of each session, or in the beginning few, to ask them directly. Just as a side thing, not in front of the whole group, just a few people is fine, but ask "Hey, at this point, you looked confused. Did you have a question what was happening? Can I help you understand?" or "So are you understanding the system? Where can I help explain or simplify a little better?"
Sometimes I walk them to thier car, etc it's less intimidating in front of a whole group. And some people are just shy on questions.

Try not to let the other players add up thier dice. We have a player that will watch every dice roll and add them up before you get a chance to even look at what you rolled. This can be discouraging as a player.

* Just a side note, Never make the characters for them. I've always sat down and gone step by step with them. Or for those that wanted to do it themselves, had a character creation session in the beginning. That way if they need me, I'm right there.

Thanks for all the great tips Amora!

I think my main issue with the guy is the blank looks I get after answering his questions...

I've been good with teaching people how to Roleplay before, I'm just at a loss with this player... I'm thinking I'll need to bring him over for a one2one talk and teaching session.

We'll see if he has what it takes to be a long term player, even one of my other players (who I brought into gaming 7 years ago) commented on trying to explain something to the new guy during character creation, and getting a blank stare in response.

The other 3 players are in their 40's and have been gaming since being teens, so no worries there! I thought it would be a good group to teach the new guy, but if everyone just gets empty eyes when they try to answer a question, I'm not sure how long he'll last :o/

So my fifth player has decided to join us, but he's been such a flake that I've decided he's going to have a cursed artifact that keeps him unstuck in Time... Thus whe the Player flakes on us, his character will be pulled from the time stream, and when the player shows up, the character will snap back into the time stream... With no time passing in between the disappearance and reappearance.

He'll be playing a... Kitsune Bard!

So the party is...

The Kitsune Bard,
The Tengu Witch of Elements,
The Catfolk Oracle of Nature,
The Grippli Destined Sorcerer,
And the Vanaran Alchemist (no archetype)

The Fox, Crow, Cat, Frog, and Monkey... Wow, crazy group! This'll be interesting. LOL

The main issue is the guy playing the Tengu Witch has never played any games that weren't a boardgame or computer game, and last night it was VERY obvious he's going to need a lot of hand holding...

How have you handled Newbs before?? Should I buddy him up with another player? Focusing more time on him seems wrong somehow... so I'm thinking the Buddy System might be best.

What have you done in the past for newbies who need more attention, and multiple explanations for stuff most gamers take for granted as Common Knowledge? :o/

So my fifth player has decided to join us, but he's been such a flake that I've decided he's going to have a cursed artifact that keeps him unstuck in Time... Thus whe the Player flakes on us, his character will be pulled from the time stream, and when the player shows up, the character will snap back into the time stream... With no time passing in between the disappearance and reappearance.

He'll be playing a... Kitsune Bard!

So the party is...

The Kitsune Bard,
The Tengu Witch of Elements,
The Catfolk Oracle of Nature,
The Grippli Destined Sorcerer,
And the Vanaran Alchemist (no archetype)

The Fox, Crow, Cat, Frog, and Monkey... Wow, crazy group! This'll be interesting. LOL

The main issue is the guy playing the Tengu Witch has never played any games that weren't a boardgame or computer game, and last night it was VERY obvious he's going to need a lot of hand holding...

How have you handled Newbs before?? Should I buddy him up with another player? Focusing more time on him seems wrong somehow... so I'm thinking the Buddy System might be best.

What have you done in the past for newbies who need more attention, and multiple explanations for stuff most gamers take for granted as Common Knowledge? :o/

ossian666 wrote:

Basically this will more than likely turn into a DPR race...it will be who can blow whom up first. Have fun and when one of them dies it will click that they need a martial character.

Both the Druid and Alchemist can handle themselves in melee just fine. Your statement is invalid.

That would be great if I had a Druid, but it's...

Alchemist, Sorcerer, Oracle, and Witch.

Not sure if the Oracle could be a brawler or not... Looks like he might be, Catfolk w/ Claws & Claw Blades... *shrug*

At this point the game is going to be more City based, at their Mythic University (size of a city, thus full of Magical Mayhem). ;o) aka Asian Harry Potter, the University Years LOL

Once they are "Fellows" of the University, then I'll branch out into Ruin Crawling for Mystic Artifacts and Knowledge... After level 5!

Since Casters tend (not always, but usually) to be the social ones, I'll focus on that part of the game till they have more battle capability, then around the time they start to "dominate" fights (as I've read over and over again on several Threads, on several Forums) then I'll throw in more of the "typical" D&D style encounters/adventures.

(I over use (parentheses) on a regular basis... Sorry if you find it offensive)

On plot ideas....

Take a page from L5R and have a plot ran with court politics, or bandits raid their home town (classic blazing saddles style) that they have to defend.

Or they can maybe clean a monument for a day, which gets them a reputation with the local village. Banish a ghost seeking justice for it's ill timed death. Act as peace negotiators for society.

Just some ideas that we have been bouncing around here ourselves.

Or to take a page from Classic China... They have Entrance Exams to get into the Mythic University... do they cheat? Stop the cheaters? Or is it so focused on Magic that they have to use magic spells to pass a "Test"?

There is another magic school who hired Ninjas to steal the magic tomes from their school, and they are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they are the only ones who can save the books (bamboo scrolls) and thus the school.

One of the "Masters" has a disagreement with the Magistrate, and in disgust he takes his most promising students to "Start his Own School" (could be tied to the plot above this one)

The New Emporer outlaws Magic, and now the town is surrounded by the Imperial Army and the people of the town has to endure a siege as well as dwindling food supplies... maybe they have to sneak out of town to get word to the General that his daughter is one of the new students, etc.

Thanks for the ideas Amora!

Do you have Beastiary 3? It has quite a few Asian themed monsters that you may want to take a look at.

I do! I have 1,2,&3 plus both Dragon Empires books, 3.0 Oriental Adventures, and AD&D2ed's original Oriental Adventures.

I have lots of ideas, just wanted to see if the Boards could help with random aspects and details... Rival Party of Students, Crazy Professer, local inn keeper, etc.

I've been very inspired by the threads found here! :o) and just wanted to delve into the amazing minds of the Boards! (it's like the Collective!)

The city of Kou'an is criss crossed by canals, making "islands" throughout the city. The center isle is the Wizards Tower, which non but the High Council enter. The canals are circles and lines centered on the Tower "island". Several circles cut into quarters or greater, with a final half circle between the city and the river, upper part is the city's farms and rice patters. The lower part is a mix of slums and Market Bazar, a tent city of merchandise from around the world... Zhen Empire, Wu Kindgon, Kindom of Shima, Claw Island (Grippli), Vanamarga Empire (Vanaran's), etc.

The Four quarters of the Inner Circle (the "islands" around the inner Tower) makes up the main "Campus" of the University, though the area is broken up into different Colleges based on Class (Alchemist's Acadamy, Sorcerer's Society, Druid's Den, etc)
The classes maybe one type of Caster, but the dorms/housing is different... The Dean of Students makes sure that each dorm room and senior/family housing is as mixed as possible, ensuring the students get as cross cultural an experience as possible.

I don't see the rest of the world being as tolerant about magic, infact I see the city growing because it became a haven for both Divine and Arcane casters that may have had to flee their homelands due to prosecution. By the time the more conservative nations noticed what was going on the city had too much magical firepower (knowledge from across the continent) for them to dare attack Kou'an, City of Magic.

I can see College revelries and rivalries getting out of hand, causing strife in the Dorms and Houses (not to mention "frats" and "sororities" built around styles of magic i.e. Death or Fire or Winter,etc.)

I'm starting to think this might be good as a total social game with random magical mayhem... Join a house and have to battle for first prize of the University "Mythic Faire" (kinda like the rivalry in "Real Genius"), dare to find a banned spell to "prove" your loyalty to your new "Frat" etc.

Silent Saturn wrote:

Did you yourself go to college? Think of any memorable professors or classmates you had and reinvent them as NPCs.

I definitely agree that the main enemies should be wizards and clerics. Maybe the clerics have a few inquisitors on retainer for when the trouble gets heavy and someone needs to get their hands dirty. The wizards, meanwhile, prefer golems and animated objects as their resident muscle.

The traditional spellcasting enemies, necromancers, probably won't work in a setting like this. A society that embraces magic in all its forms probably tolerates necromancy, if not outright embracing it. Personally, I always wanted to see a society where it's evocation that's considered the "forbidden" branch of magic. Necromancy may be macabre, but the ability to throw fireballs seems much easier to abuse.

Maybe one recurring enemy is an eidolon, and the party has to figure out which of the NPCs they've met is secretly its summoner? A summoner would have no trouble passing himself off as a sorcerer or a wizard, as long as he keeps his hat on while his eidolon is out and about.

Meanwhile, there's always a bard or two causing trouble. The wizards and clerics are probably tired of the bardic element of the city, so a bard could be convinced to let the PCs in on some bardic knowledge to help them against the wizards-- for a price. But can the PCs trust that they aren't just being bluffed?

Yeah in my little setting I'm working on and throwing the players into, you won't find all types of spellcasters everywhere. Some regions and civs specialise, even into sub-schools. One country favours conjuration and necromancy, another evocation, another abjuration, insect folk favour illusion to pass amongst us, and so on. For clerics, monotheism in one place, domain clerics, ancestor worship but no gods worshipped in an area of stone city states above the jungle. Druid even get a bit of attention, they are allied to some pretty dark powers, and nature and its protectors owns a good...

The city of Kou'an is criss crossed by canals, making "islands" throughout the city. The center isle is the Wizards Tower, which non but the High Council enter. The canals are circles and lines centered on the Tower "island". Several circles cut into quarters or greater, with a final half circle between the city and the river, upper part is the city's farms and rice patters. The lower part is a mix of slums and Market Bazar, a tent city of merchandise from around the world... Zhen Empire, Wu Kindgon, Kindom of Shima, Claw Island (Grippli), Vanamarga Empire (Vanaran's), etc.

The Four quarters of the Inner Circle (the "islands" around the inner Tower) makes up the main "Campus" of the University, though the area is broken up into different Colleges based on Class (Alchemist's Acadamy, Sorcerer's Society, Druid's Den, etc)
The classes maybe one type of Caster, but the dorms/housing is different... The Dean of Students makes sure that each dorm room and senior/family housing is as mixed as possible, ensuring the students get as cross cultural an experience as possible.

I don't see the rest of the world being as tolerant about magic, infact I see the city growing because it became a haven for both Divine and Arcane casters that may have had to flee their homelands due to prosecution. By the time the more conservative nations noticed what was going on the city had too much magical firepower (knowledge from across the continent) for them to dare attack Kou'an, City of Magic.

I can see College revelries and rivalries getting out of hand, causing strife in the Dorms and Houses (not to mention "frats" and "sororities" built around styles of magic i.e. Death or Fire or Winter,etc.)

I'm starting to think this might be good as a total social game with random magical mayhem... Join a house and have to battle for first prize of the University "Mythic Faire" (kinda like the rivalry in "Real Genius"), dare to find a banned spell to "prove" your loyalty to your new "Frat" etc.

I have tons of ideas, just wanted to see what the minds of the Paizo Message Board users could come up with to spark even more! I want this game to be amazing ;o)

(it's the first time running D&D since 3.0 came out... Been in nWoD too long! LOL)

Thanks everyone!

You've all given me good food for thought, and helped me realize a city game with all the characters being students of a mythic university that is basically THE center of magical learning for this continent, if not the world. A whole city dedicated to magic of all kinds, and the learning/exploring of said magics.

I don't have the stats for the characters, I think we only got half way through character creation... But I do remember that the Oracle and Alchemist both have horrible Str scores :o/
I think 9, and 5 respectfully
*sigh* that's what I get for "3d6 or 1d20, which ever is higher, stats in order. Can switch 2 scores." Ability creation... May just let them redo their abilities with the point buy system at 25 points. (though I did let them scratch out the set of stats and start over, if they wanted... But that lost them the set)

Delving back into your creativity, I'd like to see some ideas for rivals, teachers, and even towns folk ;o) use the lists in my first post if you want to make an NPC... You are a great Insperation for my own creativity, in fact I need to go start writing down the ideas you've triggered before I forget them!

Thank you! Thank you!

(I'm already seeing some of the ruins in the Gloden Jungle be more puzzle and traps focused, and TONS of storylines tied into being students at a city sized Mythic University)

P.S. - did anyone read the mini write up of Aeth I wrote on the homebrew boards? here

My players were given these two lists for character creation, which happened yesterday.
(I wanted my world to feel different than the "normal" D&D world, it's a homebrew Asian Fantasy world - the mini write up is in the Homebrew boards)

Races:
Humans, Elves, Vanara, Nagaji, Tengu, Kitsune, Grippli, Catfolk, Ratfolk, Vishkanya, or Samsarans

Classes:
Alchemist, Barbarian, Bard, Priest (Cleric), Shaman (Druid), Fighter, Magus, Monk, Oracle, Ranger, Rogue/Ninja, Samurai, Sorcerer, Wizard (5 Element Schools ONLY), or Witch.

Given that spread, my four players chose...

Catfolk Oracle of Nature (Seer)
Grippli Sorcerer, Destined Bloodline
Vanara Alchemist (not sure if he's going by the book or using an archetype)
Tengu Witch (Elements)

(all 1st level)

Ummmmm.... Guess we're doing a magic school game, w/ furries! :o/

What ideas do you have to help me change gears, I've never run an all magic user game before... Help?

What kinds of plots can I use that don't fall back on mysteries and puzzles?? I'm worried that any monster I send at them would smash them flat...

Not that I'm adverse to mysteries and puzzles, I just don't want the whole game to be that one sided... Guess I wait for monsters till 6th level?? Then let them loose?

My players were given these two lists for character creation, which happened yesterday.
(I wanted my world to feel different than the "normal" D&D world)

Races:
Humans, Elves, Vanara, Nagaji, Tengu, Kitsune, Grippli, Catfolk, Ratfolk, Vishkanya, or Samsarans

Classes:
Alchemist, Barbarian, Bard, Priest (Cleric), Shaman (Druid), Fighter, Magus, Monk, Oracle, Ranger, Rogue/Ninja, Samurai, Sorcerer, Wizard (5 Element Schools ONLY), or Witch.

Given that spread, my four players chose...

Catfolk Oracle of Nature (Seer)
Grippli Sorcerer, Destined Bloodline
Vanara Alchemist (not sure if he's going by the book or using an archetype)
Tengu Witch (Elements)

(all 1st level)

Ummmmm.... Guess we're doing a magic school game, w/ furries! :o/

What ideas do you have to help me change gears, I've never run an all magic user game before... Help?

What kinds of plots can I use that don't fall back on mysteries and puzzles?? I'm worried that any monster I send at them would smash them flat...

Excuse me if I babble...

I've created my own world called Aeth, and am going to start a game set in the Eastern Lands (i.e. Oriental Adventures style game)
The setting is the Zhen Empire, now cut in two from a century's old civil war where the Tengu succeeded at claiming part of the lands as their own, thus was the Wu Kingdom born.

The Capitol of Xiang was the place of the last battle, which ended the war. Located where the Jade Dragon River splits into North and South forks, the Human Emperor Tan Zhenu was forced to give up the lands East of the Jade Dragon River to his former Tengu servants. Mainly because the Kingdom of Shima to the West of the Jiejing River was getting ready to invade through the Riverlands (an area under constant tug of war between the nations).
Not wanting the Kitsune of Shima to team up with the Tengu to crush his Empire, he chose to loose half instead.

Due to the Capitol being so close to the new "neighbors" much of the government systems moved from Xiang to Kou'an, home of the world famous Mythic University, and well known for the wonders of its districts and canals. Not to mention home of some of the most powerful Alchemists, Priests, Shamans, Magi, Oracles, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Witches in the known world! The government officials felt safer being in a town so full of magic, presumably on their side. Without the perfect view across the river into the Wu Kingdom as a constant reminder of what they lost.

The Emporer refused to move from his ancestral home, claiming to do so was to admit full defeat and would not give the crows the satisfaction. Thus modern day finds the Emporer (Tan Huang, Zhenu's 2nd son) ruling from Xiang, but the government and all ambassadors from other kingdoms and empires conduct their business from Kou'an, magical city build at the mouth of the South Fork Jade Dragon River, where it's azure waters spill into Dragon Bay.

To the east is the Golden Jungle, home of magic, ruins, savages, and wonders of the natural world found no where else in the world. To the west over a couple of branches of the South Fork Jade Dragon River can be found the Dragon Temple at the neck of the Kashai peninsula, named for the Ruins of Kashai build on the peninsula itself.

Thus the setting is known... Should I try to share the maps I drew?
Next, my player characters and a few questions for the Pathfinder Gurus/know-it-all's