I just finished reading the editorial in the latest issue of Pathfinder, and I would like it to be known that the strange new type of campaign James is rambling on about would clearly be called a Sandrail!
I mean, clearly...
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So, I'm reading the description of Feeblemind, and I have a question. The character's Int and Cha both drop to 1. It looses the ability to cast spells, use some skills, understand language, but still knows who its friends are, and can even defend them. My question is this. To what extent is the effected character capable of defending its friends? Would a Feebleminded Fighter still retain the ability to use his weapons and feats effectively? With an Int of 1, wouldn't it be reasonable that the character would be limited to maybe natural weapons? I don't know. The spell doesn't necessarily state this, but it just seems pretty logical to me. What do you guys think?
(This thread was originally posted in the Kingmaker section but I moved it to the general area, since it was not Kingmaker specific) Actually, this idea came from a thread Sunderstone started regarding Bokken from the Kingmaker adventure path, but since I didn't want to jack that thread I figured I would start a new one. Basically Sunderstone's thread got me thinking about some of the cool NPCS that are found in the various Adventure Paths, and what inspirations the DMs of the community have used to make them memorable. Who are the actors, or movie characters, etc, that you have used to infuse these characters with life? Also what are some the things you had these characters do within the game to make them memorable. For instance: Filge (Age of Worms) came out like a cross between Otis Driftwood (House of a 1000 Corpses) and George W. - I also added a Wand of Unseen Lover to the nightstand in his bedchamber, and after one of his zombies dropped the Paladin in the group I had him order it to rip the character's arm off and use it as a club to keep beating on his lifeless corpse. Veltargo (Mad Gods Key) was re-stated as a Warlock and when the PCs first entered his chamber he used one of his incantations to cast Shatter first on the entire party (destroying most of their potions), and later on the Samurai's sword blasting it to pieces! Breeg Orlivanch (Kingmaker) has made an appearance prior to his "encounter" and is based mostly on Hagrid from the Harry Potter stories (at least his voice). I also gave him a cloak with a thick collar made from the hide of an Owlbear. He despises the Fey, and frequently traps them, roasts them on cold-iron spits, or just mooshes them under his boot and then scrapes their nasty little wings off onto nearby rocks. The best part is that he is SUPER friendly, and will help the PCs out with anything they ask of him.
I'll get the ball rolling. Name: Koro
Name: Sibohn
Adventure: Stolen Lands
The Gory Details: After having spent a couple of weeks dealing with the bandits of the northern woods, including the Thorn River Camp, and suffering many pranks at the hands of the capricious fey, the party (which also included a Druid and Wizard), restocked at Olegs before deciding that they needed to seek out Bokken the hermit to purchase some of his delicious potions. After the first day of travel (exploring the hex just southeast of Olegs), the PCs decided to settle down for the night among a sweep of low-rolling grassland, when they sighted a curiously bobbing light in the distance. A light fog was on the ground, and at first impression it appeared to be a lantern. Some of the party moved to investigate, only to find that the light seemed to be luring them into a small gully where it would enter a cave before blinking out. Further investigation revealed that the cave was likely inhabited by wolves. However, despite many warnings on the part of the Wizard, the group entered the cave. It was thought that the glowing light they saw earlier was some kind of fey creature, and that perhaps it was leading them to an injured animal of some kind. However, curiosity really did kill the cat, as the party delved deeper and was confronted by a pack of hungry wolves. As Sibohn attempted to fend off the wolves, she was dropped unconscious. Immediately the cavern was showered with radiance as the Will-o'-wisp revealed itself to feed on her "dying" aura. In a heroic, but never the less ill-fated attempt to rescue the ranger before the wolves dragged her deeper into the cavern, Koro leapt to her defense only to roll a 1 on a climb check and fall prone near one of the wolves. The wizard attempted to put the wolves to sleep, and yelled a final order of retreat before he and the druid abandoned their fallen comrades. Koro met his destiny the following round after he tried to escape the cavern, but provoked an AOO from the Will-o'-Wisp who rolled a nat 20 and nearly max damage on its electrical attack. As Koro's face melted away like the Nazi at the end of Raiders, the remaining two party members fled the scene. The Will-o'-Wisp deepened to a brilliant red, and manifested the image of a laughing skull as the druid and the wizard escaped the cave, mounted their horses, and made an immediate forced march straight back to Olegs at top speed. Needless to say that concluded the session.
Hey, I was just wondering what the legality of printing a PDF file was. I only wonder because I recently downloaded some old Dungeon magazines, and they had the PDF versions of the Grayhawk map in them. Since I don't have a printer that will run 20" x 30" some odd inches, I was considering taking them down to my local Kinkos or something. I suppose this would apply to any of the Pathfinder PDFs or whatever as well... Does anyone know what kind of permissions are required to have something like this printed?
Has anyone considered that with the coming of 4th Edition we will mark the end of a D&D era. An awesome era, where we as creators could legally contribute (thanks to the SRD) to the game we all know and love. Whether 4th Edition improves upon what 3E built remains to be seen, but we will ALWAYS have 3E. It may even be a gift, as the game moves on (4E) the 3rd Edition SRD will cease to evolve, becoming a 'dead language' of sorts. With it, we can customize and create to our hearts content. Adding and subtracting rules, refining races, classes. Whatever. Even if 4th Edition stinks to hell. Even if they have a limited SRD, or attempt to regulate what can and cannot be published (something I hope they have the good sense not to attempt), we will always have a refuge in the 3E SRD. It's something that I take heart in, even though I am really hoping that this new edition delivers the goods in a way that makes us all proud to be part of it. Questions? Comments? Threats?
Has anyone ever ran the old D&D module B10 - Night's Dark Terror, and what were your experiences with it? I have just engineered a whole level 1-12 campaign around it, and can't help but think that it's the most awesome module ever written (barring Age of Worms, of course). I was just curious as to what others may have experienced as either Players or DMs... On a bit off-topic note >>Nudges Eric Mona<< I think that the essence of Night's Dark Terror would be perfect for the new Pathfinder books! I mean, I know formatting has come a long way since 1986, but as far as world building goes, this module did something right! LET me tell YOU of the days of high adventure!!! --
I just thought that I would get your perspective on the issue of PCs killing other PCs. Now , I'm not talking about when the DM swaps out your character with a doppleganger or some other sneaky trick that leads to PC-death (all of that is perfectly legit) - what I'm talking about is when one player decides to bring the campaign down by choosing to slay one or more of the other players at the table. Let me throw you out the scenario. Every couple weeks our group gets together and plays D&D for a good 10 hour session. Recently the DM, who is a stellar DM I might add, has been running us through a homebrew conversion of the Curse of Azure Bonds. We are about 8 sessions in and having a blast. In the last session or two, one of the players has kind of fallen off - he got split from the party, and decided to make a new character. Once he entered the game however, it was clear he had little intention of joining the group. Choosing instead to "hunt" us down for our crimes, which resulted in one of the other players characters getting killed (Hold Person followed by a coup de grace by the renegade player). The session ended there, with everyone kind of sour and holding a grudge over the whole situation. I'm sure the player who got killed thought it was a jip, especially after investing a solid 80+ hours into his character... I mean it's one thing to get your character offed by the DM - Hell, that is half the fun. But to be slain by one of your own (another PC) somehow seems cheap! Especially considering that it was a completely mean spirited act, designed to disrupt the campaign. Don't the players have enough enemies to worry about? Isn't the game designed to be played as a team? As a player, aren't you ALMOST obligated to join the party and participate in the action (reasonable exceptions withstanding)? Maybe I'm going about this all wrong, but I thought I would see what you guys and gals had to say about the issue. I don't want to see the campaign end just because one player is bent on ruining it, but I know that I for one have little tolerance for this kind of thing. Comments, complaints, insight, welcome...
I just wanted to move this topic to a more appropriate forum. I have to agree with DeadDMWalking on this one, and would hope that the brilliant designers at Paizo will at least consider what he's saying. The Age of Worms is one of the coolest things I have ever seen put together for D&D, and I have loved every installment, but one of the downsides to a 1-20 level AP is that it sort of has a railroading effect on PCs. For instance, when I started my Age of Worms campaign, each of my players brought me a write-up of their character's background (some of which were very interesting). I wanted to incorporate these into the campaign since it was a reflection of the elements each player wanted to see, but ultimately, I had a difficult time finding room to "squeeze" them in. Instead of plots revolving around what the PCs wanted, I ended up with plots playing second fiddle to the adventure path (and therefore overshadowed and seemingly less important to the people who wanted to see them the most). Some of my players even expressed a bit of disappointment at the thought of being tied to one main story for their entire careers. To correct these problems, I suggest that you shorten your adventure paths. Perhaps making them fit neatly into the level ranges (Low-Level, Mid-Level, and High-Level) of your current adventures. With this set-up, a DM could use a low-level adventure path to get a campaign rolling, maybe throw in some homebrew, or modules based on one-shot dungeon adventures (or PC backgrounds), and then jump right into the next mid-level adventure path (the three part Istivin series from Dungeons 117-119, for example). Think about how cool it was to play the Temple of Elemental Evil, Scourge of the Slavelords, and Queen of Spiders as a super-campaign with the same batch of PCs! Now imagine if you had a variety of adventure paths, set at the various level breaks! A DM could mix and match low, mid, and high level APs to create a multitude of incredible super-campaigns! In addition to this, the APs would be easier to write for the Dungeon staff, and I wouldn't be waiting on individual installments for an entire year. There is also less chance for burn-out on the part of both DM and Player. In any case, I know you guys will keep the great adventures coming, but it is something that you may want to consider in regards to future adventure paths. Cheers! |