RUMOR has it that conspiracy theorists among the Pathfinder Society have unveiled Norgorber's identity has finally been revealed: he is truly Ulon, the ancient Azlanti god of conspiracies and manipulation, having assumed a new identity for reasons only he could fathom!
515. Picking a lock
For me, playing evil characters can make for a good change of pace in who I can ally with and a different set of motivations to go on adventures.
Any creatures of the nightshade subtype, though they are the product of the death of otherwise immortal Outsiders. You could potentially add an undead template to any of the creatures with the troop subtype. Group undead could also be made from the Mob template in the (3.5) DMG II. Other examples:
So when are we going to get to the part where the Paladin falls?
Trotting out the (un)dead horse so it may be thorough beaten again: All of these discussions of alignment and ethics tend to conflate real life good and evil with the in-game tags of "Good" and "Evil". Real world ethics/morality doesn't need to match up with in game ethics/morality. In a world where the powers of Good endorsing (or at least not objecting to) feudalism (with serfdom having been defined as a form of slavery IRL by the United Nations 1956 Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery), we obviously see a different context of what Good and Evil are in the fantasy game world. As alignment exists as a descriptive term and to justify/operationalize Red vs. Blue interactions in PF, moral issues like conscription are mostly setting dependent questions.
Other Missing Gear
The Skinsaw Murders
Hook Mountain Massacre
Fortress of the stone giants
Sins of the Saviors
Spires of Xin-Shalast
It seems like part of the Hook Mountain massacre inventories must have gotten cut out in your post, as it's missing a swath of treasure.
All this stuff is from Part III. For the number of ogres, 26 are normal ogres and 6 are the ogre fighters (according to p. 149), so take that into consideration regarding their gear. I’ve listed other treasure by area for confirmation below.
An encounter on the approach Ft. Rannick (p. 132) yields the following:
91. We goblinses fight the ebils of litteracy! Reading stealz yer WORDZ, and you never get them back! Hughmans are the evil ones for teaching how to writes and reads.
Pixies, imps, quasits, poltergeists, atomies, allips, and of course dragons can make for good starting creatures to add class levels to. The Accuser seems to have a special potential in that it can record the fights and teleport back to its boss to replay all the enemies tricks and tactics. In my experience, there are fewer tings that make the players panic more than an enemy escaping with information about them. Also remember to consider monster synergy. For example, will'o'wisps and shambling mounds can be one of the nastiest monster pairings you can do (having the will'o'wisp jolt the shambling mounds to power them up.)
Perhaps sitting down with the players and discussing strategy (and maybe how the game is going) might work for you? Certainly, there might be some advantages the players potentially have they might not be thinking about. For example, the combat maneuver fighter could use Sunder or Steal to ruin a spellcaster's day by targeting the caster's holy symbol or spell component pouch.
Next chapter should be interesting: Study of my second favorite state, Massachusetts, as exemplar of technocratic DP-controlled yuppie austeritarianism. Should be fun. If ewe iz reel goblin, youze's flavorite state iz state of compete disarray of hughman eclonomy and sobriety. And BURNING!
It's 3.5, but you might look at the deathless type from the Book of Exalted Deeds and the Eberron Campaign Setting. (It's the positive energy equivalent to the undead.) Ghostwalk (3.0) has rules for ghostish PCS that are outsiders rather than undead. (They are corporeal in the main setting, but may become incorporeal if they stray far away from it.) Necropolitans from Libris Mortis can be of varying alignment.
Have YOU been cheated out of your hard-earned souls? They need to be tortured and tortured and tortured! Call Phlegm Badder, the Nessus Torturer, the tough, smart torturer! He pushes the right pressure points to get 'em to cough up all the souls they owe YOU! Conjure TODAY!
This looks like a job for CAAAAAAPPTTAAAAAINNN INNNEEEEVVVITTTTAAABBLEEE, and his INEVITABLE Men! ROLL CALL Certainty!
Assemble! Together, we will be as certain to defeat these Player Characters as a CR +4 Encounter! http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/inevitable
83. All the thieves steal your gold because they know BLACK FRIDAY is nearly upon us! I have many a deal NOBODY can refuse! Don't blame the sinner, blame the SAVINGS!! Nobody wants you dead, friend, except for maybe other shoppers gunning for that same rare once-in-a-lifetime Tickle-Me-Otyugh doll you absolutely have to have for your children. As a manifestation of the Almighty Dollar, Black Friday is only slightly less unkillable than Cyber-Monay. NOTHING will stop you from collecting on MONSTROUS savings! But do so quickly because, 89. These savings are only available for a LIMITED TIME OFFER.
Receepe-a fur a tecu Teke-a zee turteella (curn oor vheet) und fuld. Bork bork bork! Teke-a feellings (prefferebly hoomun, ilff, oor helffleeng, boot beeff, purk, cheeckee, seeffuud, fegetebles und cheese-a elsu vurk) und steeck intu zee greender. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp! Dun't meend zee screems. Um gesh dee bork, bork! Cuuk fur 300 degrees unteel zee feellings cetch oon fure-a. Bloo zee fure-a oooot. Um de hur de hur de hur. Plece-a feellings inseede-a zee turteella und zeen iet. Um de hur de hur de hur.
Tudey ve-a cuuk cunneebel style-a. Ve-a joost teke-a zee sleed igg und poot it intu zee oofer. Hurty flurty schnipp schnipp! Veeet fur zee igg tu hetch. Oouh, it's keecking eruoond inseede-a zee oofee! Get zee oofee meet, sleede-a oooot zee sleed, und skooer! Zeen Teste-a! Mmmmhh, sleed's a speecy meetbell! Bork! Bork! Bork!
77. We just wanted to share our poetry and handicrafts with you. I conqurs. To add furthers, 78. We wishes to demonstrate the powers of sciences (FIRE-CHEMY!) and how it can improve your life (well, make your pain and suppering shorter at least.) Goblins perfect the fire bomb into an art; we bless you by showings you greatest sight of yer life right before you die. 11 out of 10 victims we burn to death agree the sacrificing their lives totally worth it. I, the great and wise P.U. Stabby Toadhed swear you'll never see them complain about us.* *Oath not valid if the dead is spoken to, reanimated, cloned, or resurrected in anyway
71. Evil Osiriiani priests just want their mummies.
70. Ghouls just want to have fu-un! Oooh, ghouls just want to have fun!
The Giantslayer AP features 2 epic (artifact) hammers, both of which are rather amazing. However, I would still like to see an actual 2-handed hammer, e.g., a heavy warhammer.Isn't an Earthbreaker a 2-handed hammer? Why, yes, my friend, indeed it is! And what is the best brand earthbreaker out there? Ladies and gentlemen, I did not come here to answer questions. I came here tonight to sell you something; I want you to pay particular attention! Because the Amazing Masterwork Corporation, Ace Subsidiary of the Fly-by-Knight Industries has entrusted who, ME, to show you the handiest, dandiest killing tool you've ever seen, and don't you want to know how it works? Well first you get out an ordinary Sleep spell or two and place it upon the enemy. And then have the Fighter reach for the tool. It is not a slicer, not a dicer, not a chopper or a hopper. What in the 9 Hells could it possibly be? It is SLEDGE-O-MATIC! What does it do to heads? SQUISH! What does it do to skeletons? SMASH! SLEDGE-O-MATIC gets the last dab out of that potion! SPLAT! Ain't this just like a (adventuring) party? SLEDGE-O-MATIC flattens continual light torches for easy storage! THUMP! SLEDGE-O-MATIC works as no ordinary tranquilizer can! You AM BARBARIAN, and you need to release this RAGE-gression against this damn roleplaying game! No, it ain't the game itself! It's this damn non-player character! It's the nonplayer character! CRUNCH!
One idea might be to limit what can be duplicated in some ways that the polymorph subschool of spells is limited (as in, give a discrete list of abilities that can be provided).
This reminds me of one of my favorite game settings, GURPS Goblins. They had yer goblin get phobias and deformities (buildin' character) and occasionally advantages from the random mistreatments they suffered as children. With that in mind, here's some doozies you can ruthlessly swipe after you've gutted it for the IP. I would steal more for ya, but I'm 'fraid not too much for workin' paul bono anymore. But ya can find more of these gold nuggets on pg. 66 Fire 'em as a skeet
219. Have them all go into politics.
In my area, there's a semi-orgainized play campaign going on. I am not in it due to inability to provide an adequate backstory, but I know what happens from one of my friends who is in it. Recently, the party was knocked/poisoned unconscious and left on an island without gear. Since any sort of rolling was bypassed, I couldn't believe that the GM would take away all the gear (effectively destroying several interesting builds)simply because plot. However, everybody I asked about is saying that I'm a bad player for asking the DM to be as bound by the rules as the players. What is so wrong about wanting to try out interesting mechanics, and having them not arbitrarily lost? Especially since the characters were without their main gear for around 20% of the campaign length? (It's five day long sessions, at levels, 4,8,12,16,20) Nothing's wrong for your behavior/enjoyment for merely wanting to use interesting mechanics, etc. However, you may want to reevaluate your behavior if you seek to influence a game you're not playing in when all those who are playing are enjoying it.
64. Daemons just want a little closure.
53. The Cthulhu Mythos, Dark Tapestry, Qlippoths or any so-called "Evil" beings, really. We such beings have been shoehorned into in the tiny little box of human morality. Mortals call the Alignment system "Objective" as it defines morality as a concrete, indisputable force. In reality, it is OBJECTtive only in that it makes "Evil" creatures OBJECTS, providing so-called "heroes" excuses to bust into our homes and kill us. It turns home invasion and murder into "being a hero" and "avenging the weak". We cannot protest because we are viewed as despicable "monsters" or even *gasps* "NPCs". In reality, we "Evil" beings are highly beneficial to humanoidkind. We are JOB CREATORS. Without us, there would be nobody to drive humanoids insane or afflict all those other nasty status ailments, putting all the doctors, psychologists, and clerics out of work. In addition, we provide a great environmental service: we keep down the surplus population!
The Iron Gods won!
Iron Gods spoiler:
Ot rather, Casandalee won! By manipulating several gullible adventurers into destroying her rivals and helping her get to the Divinity ship! Now she's reimagined herself as the entire Golarion pantheon to get simulated worship! We're all in THE MATRIX! ARROOOOO! The Great Harrowstone Fire was really caused by Mrs. Hawkran's cow kicking over a lantern. Bastardhall is actually a Ravenloft domain! The Whispering Tyrant is actually free and running wild behind the scenes! It's just his Good twin brother Bob that's imprisoned in Gallowspire! Cheliax and the Worldwound are just fronts for the Blood Wars! Sarenrae has multiple personalities! That's why she has all those conflicting sects! The gods have forcefully repressed the invention of plumbing to prevent the invention of fire hydrants! Just to spite all us canines! What's a poor dog to do?
Unfortunately, much of the time in practice the difference is more "academic" than practical, as with all of those examples they are effectively Bug Eyed Monsters (B.E.M) with different trappings. (BEMs being generically malicious/hostile towards humanity and therefore things to be put down/ran away from as the genre dictates.) Different motivations are nice, but they don't tend to translate into differenes in behavior. Cultists are still faceless mooks who try to break all the seals and unleash supposedly unfathomable evils whether they serve a fiend or an eldritch abomination. When a horrible creature is tearing you apart and tearing out your soul, it doesn't matter that much whether they want to utilize it, destroy it, rewrite it, or simply swallow it. The weapons and tactics you might use against these different types of foes might vary slightly, but the specifics rarely vary significantly. Suffice it to say, I'll be interested in seeing if this AP will make the alien truly alien or if the enemy effective transforms into another evil outsider race where their actions are generic evil but under a different name.
How would you justify not immediately trying to get home rather than following the rest of the AP? Why did a happy tavern owner with a family take a typical adventuring job in the first place? An alternate take might be some factor that makes it such that the character can't go back. Something quite dreadful, where if the character went back, it would endanger his family, friends, patrons or whatever. There is a theme of alienation in a lot of these things, where once you've discovered what exists beyond the veil of rationality, you can't just go back and associate with those who haven't seen what you've seen. A more mundane alternative might be that the business has come under new ownership, the significant other might have remarried or otherwise moved on, etc. such that coming back may do more harm than good. If the characters are known to be locked up, the characters might be viewed as dangerous lunatics if they escape. OTOH, if they are assumed to be dead, it may reopen old wounds and cause legal or other questions (such as with remarriage) that are better left untouched. Of course, the situation need not be hopeless forever. Perhaps some part of the AP could be addressing some kind of quest that needs solving before the characters can truly return home. A sort of "Earn Your Happy Ending" sort of thing.
I tried to catch The Hair in a Pokeball, but it stung me. Hey yous, leaves my wife alone! It not her fault she don't fit! All this bad mouthing makes her stress-eat (her children mostly). She getses enough problems from the presses as it isses working on the Trump hairline. If all youses slanderers keep at its, she'll nevers comes out of her cocoon and becomes the social butterfly she really isses! And 'sides, she not fat, she just fluffies!
FLUMPH VIGILANTE!! Because we're no longer just WARNING about the Apocalypse... We're fighting SLIME, in the END TIMES!
First thing that comes to mind is Reign of Winter, since they basically have you on that anyway. Hopping from place to place also allows for you to create a lot of collateral damage without too much worry.
Spoiler:
Assuming your speaking about Izoze, she seems vaguely haglike in nature, so you might consider using any technique you might use to make a (miniature) hag creepy. She could be wearing a necklace of frozen children's fingers or cutesy animal critters with looks of horror frozen on their faces. You could also have her taunt the characters with descriptions of all the terrible things she's done to her victims of in the past (could be lies if you want to keep the TN alignment). Think about all the petty but nonetheless horribly cruel things a creature made of ice might do to its victims.
Her picture also has an oddly bat-like quality to her wings. You could describe it as carrying numerous twisting, winding, and hypnotic veins across it, yet at the same time it shows an almost reflective sheen. She might unnerve them a little bit by relying on the sight of their reflections in her wings as actually seeing them in order to make her attacks. And her wings might also eerily reflect the player characters like fun house mirrors. I also wouldn't forget to consider the terrain. Describe the bridge as precarious and the water so cold and frigid it chills the PCs bones just looking at it from below. You could also have some kind of (ultimately harmless) shapes floating around in the water to distract them from looking for the mephit. If you wanted to be mean, you could rule the appearance of the mephit startles somebody on the bridge enough to call for a fear check. If the check fails and results in a panicked condition or some such, then the character would probably need to make a Reflex save not to fall in the water. Heck, if you wanted to play nasty (perhaps as a last ditch effort?), she could zip over to the far side just as the party was crossing the middle and cut the ropes on the far end with her claws.
I'm going to break down my suggestions by topic just for sanity's sake. Iobaria:
Iobaria's wild and woolly nature makes it a good match for the Frozen Reaches Cluster. The history of plagues (the first of which were man made) makes it possible minor Ravenloft spoilers:
especially a good match for Sanguinia. The darklord,Prince Ladislav Mircea, is a deformed Vrykolaka Vampire whose motif is diseases. I understand the domain is loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe "Masque of the Red Death", presumably with Mircea based on some distortion of Prospero. The walled fortress surrounded by anarchy motif of Spoiler: makes me think of a potential darklord/domain theme of anti-foreigner/xenophobia (regarding them as the true plagues.) Specifically, a darklord of Iobaria/Sanguinia Spoiler: might have initially designed the plagues to rid his country of foreigners and refugees, but it may have backfired and caused the collapse of his own country as truly horrible forces swooped in to fill the vacuums of power. He safely secured his city behind his walls, but that didn't stop him from meeting his demise. Somebody like Tzakiv Korya might work well as a potential DL.
Sanguinia The thing to do with the "Mother Maiden, Crone" module is to add some disease motifs. Mother Maiden Crone spoiler: could be afflicted with it, and curing them could win some points. Many of the creatures encountered in the module could conceivably cause some disease. The various The centaurs Mother Maiden Crone spoilers: The various guardians encountered through the areas could treat the PCs as unclean almost to a paranoid level.
half-fiends could represent metaphorical "contamination" of unwanted forces. Triaxus:
Of course, just because the planet is "alien" doesn't mean its origins have to be. The environmental conditions, the dearth of familiar humanoid races, and the heavy presence of dragons that seemingly came out of nowhere makes me think the world might almost have an artificial origin, in that it is the way a world might be if human(oild) king were allowed to muck about with the environment as they wished. Almost a little bit like a frozen world equivalent of Dark Sun. Perhaps the planet was originally populated by familiar humanoid races, but then they changed their biological structures or were rendered extinct. (As with the Cleansing Wars of Athas.) Perhaps the reason dragons seemed to come out of nowhere is because they were artificially created, or even once humans who sought to raise them about other humanoids. Meanwhile, the Triaxians are the mixed-blood survivors of the races/peoples that were not slaughtered. In the Frozen Stars module, you could have several lairs of mystery to discover. They might discover Triaxus is the survivor of a post-apocalyptic world, and then think the Triaxians are the descendants of humans (prhaps as githzerai are the descendants of humans enslaved by mind flayers in D&D). However, it is only later that they learn that the dragons/dragonkin are the true descendants of the humans. The Vistani:
An Golarion flavored alternative: Have the Vistani be a subgroup of displaced Sarkorian god-callers, who are somehow able to summon and commune with the various spirits of the Demiplane. Possible Ravenloft Spoiler:
Madame Eva, for example, already has a raven companion that is an embodiment of the Dark Powers themselves. Online Sources:
1048. BEER FOR THE BEER GOD is not a Caydonite war cry. 1048a. Corollary: But it totally should be! Either that or BEEEEEEELLLCCHH... excuse me. What were we talking about again?
Nothing to do with beheading or the set-up you have here, but the Apparatus would seem like an interesting plot device to separate Demogorgon.I've not heard of that, is it and artifact or something? Yeah, it's a big honkin' machine originally from the 1e module, I:10, the House on Gryphon Hill. As such, it's associated with Ravenloft, though it can from time to time be found outside of there. Basically it's a big honkin' machine that is similar in appearance to the mind transfer machines you see mad scientists use all the time. It can switch souls between bodies, but it can also split a soul into two halves using one of the Rods of Rastinon (and rejoin them). The only transformation so far has been into good and evil halves, but others are supposedly possible. Who knows what effect it might have on a creature devoid of good like Demogorgon? Details on the Apparatus can be found in the non-Ravenloft 2e Book of Artifacts (p. 13-15) and several Ravenloft sources. I'd have to poke around for 3e sources
Usually I quickly flip through ta thing to see where all the nudie pikures are. Oh, I mean, I read 'em for the ARTICULES! REALLY I DO! Not buyin' it? Well does it count if I get Aunt Mama (she's Church-Goin' Folk, so she knows how ta read good) ta read 'em ta me? I would read 'em meself, but too many big words cause me to take off mah Peasant Hat to scratch mah noggin'. And then the ravens come and peck out mah brain. (Peasant Hat is a ROLE-PLAYING AID, not a FLAW!)
...putting the toilet paper on the roll so it comes from the bottom instead of the top?Isn't that the way it's *supposed* to go? Just sayin'. Come on, man. Some things are just too VILE, even for me!
If a major church gets sacked and burned (or is part of an organized campaign against the god) and the god does nothing, then that makes the god look weak and ineffective. If it s a world where gods actively manifest, then that's even worse for the god because the god is permitting it to happen. If the GM auto-smites any large scale threat to the faith, then hey we can't argue with that. However, it will mean a lot of changes for the setting. For example, rampaging monster armies with any intelligence will always leave churches alone, and therefore, holy ground will be effective safe zones, which will in turn affect how the world is built). The faith will also have no inquisitors, because the god deals with all the heresy/blasphemy such that it's not needed. If the GM doesn't account for the above, then we're getting into questions of consistency.
1000. Should a similar revolution break out in Numeria, or on Aballon, the ensuing Adventure Path in either case will NOT be called "HAL's Rebels." Corollary: If you were to play an AP where the rebellion is suppressed, the ensuing Adventure Path in either case WILL be called "Hal's Vengeance."
Troll Bard likes to TROLLZ FOR THE LOLS, but to mess wit people's heads in realz lifes is mean and gets u in twouble. Me alsos not so moozicals, but I kindas likes makings wip da bigs inspeereightional Braveheartz speakes from timez to timez- Perform: oral stories! Alzopes, Troll Bard getz called "Best Bardz EVAR!" when he duz "Empire Couragez" by makin' speakes about u should not want to messes wit us anymorez then u want mess wit a drunks dwarves' beer. Oh, and if I gets twoos singings, there be plenty songs I get to sings off kees, like "WE'RE GON-NA ROCK DOWNS TOES E-LEC-TRICKS AVE-E-NUES! AND THEN WE TAKES IT HIGHS-ER!" orz "HERE'S A BAAAAD MOONS ARISIN'!" Youse got that alls? Goods, I'm done, where's mine candied gnome heads? I'm hungry!
I understand this, but I've not seen any chapter that have a good take on the neutral code. Could you give me a source example on this? Because otherwise, "results matter" will put in a mix of good, evil, and neutral into any sect without a definitively evil mission. And therefore, a paladin will come into contact with individual evil or darkly neutral comrades that they will have to compensate for and find ways within the system to go around. Hence the distraction.
Actually, I am not making that general argument. I know the difference between "based on" and "the same". I'm making a very specific argument about what is at the core of infernal legal tenets If they were just buying the aesthetic (as in, appearance and perhaps battle tactics) I would say no problem. However, they study the legal tenets of hell. And there's not much left of infernal law when you strip away its abuses. It is a system fundamentally based on exploitation of the law. The enforcement of the law only matters as long as it benefits those in power. The talk of the organization of hell's armies being superior to all others I find nonsensical, in that it's true only because the source material says it's true. If somebody can provide me with good reasoning as to why hell's armies are worth imitating, what is worthy in infernal law of keeping once the exploitation factor is taken out, why law corrupted by evil is better at doing law than law itself, and how principles of hell can effectively be translated into human realms, then I will relinquish my position that paladin hellknights lend themselves more towards being misled (as turning into the pawns of evil, not necessarily turning evil themselves) than to fulfilling their goals.
This justification is tricky because the the regime in question lends itself to revolution or civil war (as human regimes based primarily on fear and tyranny tend to be.) As best, you're putting the status quo on life support in the hope the regime can change through legal means. It is a valid character option, make no mistake, but it's a very precarious one. (Which is my main point, being a paladin in the Hellknights is one that complicates being a paladin because it gives you another figurative master to please. My point is that a paladin can't be involved in hellknights or that the hellknights are inherently lawful evil, rather, their methods and allegiances are flawed. And the conflicts that trickle down to a hellknight paladin will very likely cause conflict with a paladin's other paladin-type goals. So I'm saying, if you're a paladin and want to be a hellknight, by all means, go ahead. However, do so knowing the potential consequences and do so at your own (increased) risk.
My biggest thing is that, going beyond things that true because official says it's true, that basing your organizational principles on infernal law and legal traditions (might makes right, laws are written with the intent to allow their drafters to exploit them, basis on fear and lies, etc.) is extremely foolish. The only advantage you might have is an increased ability to scare offenders into kowtowing to your demands. But that's probably more about adopting the aesthic imagery of hell rather than basing the foundation of your philosophy on hellish law. The overriding philosophy of "only concerned with results" (as in, "the ends justify the means") is one that is usually at odds with the paladin code. So while a paladin could theoretically join their order, he'd almost most certainly be playing a game of keeping her fellows from pursuing evil to achieve order (and thus, dragging herself with them), thereby drawing attention from fighting the war against chaos. (And then you're undermining your whole philosophy of "results matter"). If we go with "everything is permitted in the name of the greater good" (or order, as the case may be), we should not be surprised that the abuses of power like in the Turn of the Torrent occur. So yes, while a paladin MIGHT technically be able to join the Hellknights, I have trouble with it being plausible in a few notable circumstances.
All of the above has a lot of potential for leading the paladin astray over time.
This seems like one of those "informed ability" things that's canon because people say it's true, even though it doesn't seem to make much sense. It's efficient even though infernal law is designed to be abused, underlings conspire against each other and even their master if they show weakness, enforcement is based upon fear and deception (which tend to weaken regimes in the long run if they are the foundations they're based upon)
Why not worship ME?!? All the succubi say I'm pretty fly for a devil guy!
495. Arranging crimes against humanity or mass executions with a forbidden weapon like a deadly gas of some kind.
"Behold the gaseous stench of Skeletor's breakfast burrito! Mwahahahaha!"
493. Relaxing in his villa (from which the "villain" term derives from)
486. Begging his dark gods for mercy
|
