Earthpig's page

I would obscure at least some of the details, for example you may not want to undermine the intrigue factors of the game by saying "trinia is innocent" before they even know who that is (or maybe you do want to have these predictions be so strikingly accurate that the players seem helpless to stop them).

The Snakebite wrote:

poisonous powers or ideas, represents the assassination of the King and the corruption of justice in the false accusation against Trinia Sabor (and attempted execution of an innocent)

Maybe instead of this, it can be a bit more vague, "represents the poisoning of person and ideal... (even continued if you want to be less vague) the twice fatal scourging of a great figure and Korvosan ideal." In both cases, it's referencing the death of Eodred and the potential death of Trinia by corrupt justice without mentioning them explicitly and letting there still be mystery as to when this even unfolds. In Trinia's case, they also have to make the connection that both her interaction with the King's death was based on an event in the past and Korvosa's ideals, an unashamed LN civilization with its powerful Arbiters, are the justice she would be made to face.

I would also either obscure the names of the Ileosa (maybe she's just "a lady in mourning") and Rolth+Andaisin. I would also probably move their thing to the future column, as while they probably are pairing up now, the results will be seen in the next module. And with Waxworks, definitely stick to the idea of just the Grey Maidens, as they are a reveal at the start of the second module, and for anyone that remembers this by that point, it can instill a sympathy and fear of what these once trapped women entail.

Also, it's a shame that they reduced the spread down to once for the whole party as opposed to once per PC. I enjoy tailoring Zellara's responses to things that will be important to their character and even to point them to through-lines of extra character plot I would write in for them. That's obviously not possible with...

Thanks, I probably should have made it more clear that this is my Chapter 2 reading, so the past elements are directly in their past.

The sentences after the cards are more why I chose then rather than the reading I gave of each. The actual narration was much more vague.

Good idea, to cheat. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to run the Harrow legitimately. It appears to not have been playtested at all. And how does it make sense to foreshadow the future if all the player characters might die and the future not happen? They copied the Harrow from Ravenloft but in Ravenloft it wasn’t meant to predict the future? Wasn’t it meant merely to give the location of some items?

I am running CotCC right now too, just got done with the fishery, and I am desperate for some help on how to make the Harrow playable at all. Ideally I don’t want to ditch it or rig it, I want to get it working as intended but I doubt that’s possible.

I find that the worst part of the Harrow readings is the Choosing. The links from the card to the encounters is often tenuous at best.

Anyway, to answer my original question, here's the reading I constructed

The Big Sky.........The Twin........The Avalanche

The Trumpet.........The Courtesan....The Sickness

The Snakebite.......The Marriage......The Waxworks

I figured there's no point in being subtle here, might as well make the references absolutely on the nose, clear as daylight.

Remembering that the top row indicates positive outcomes, the middle ambiguous outcomes and the bottom negative outcomes.

The Past

The Big Sky, freeing from bondage, represents the freeing of the orphans from Lamm

The Trumpet, declaration of power, represents a power rising in Korvosa with its nature still obscured

The Snakebite, poisonous powers or ideas, represents the assassination of the King and the corruption of justice in the false accusation against Trinia Sabor (and attempted execution of an innocent)

The Present

The Twin, duality of purpose, represents a figure living a dual life who will be of benefit to the PCs (Blackjack)

The Courtesan, political intrigure, represents the Queen who is presenting a masked face to the people - will that be for good or evil?

The Marriage, union of persons or ideas, represents the coming together to Lady Andaisin and Rolth Lamm. Two unlikely partners working together.

The Future

The Avalanche, unrelenting disaster, represents the coming catastrophe for Korvosa but misaligned perhaps shows that the party will prevent it.

The Sickness, disease of body or soul, represents a plague that will overcome the city - will it destroy everyone or be resisted?

The Waxworks, helplessness and entropy, represents people that trapped. Paralysed while they are tortured, (Possibly the new recruits to the Gray Maidens or the patients in the Hospice)

Just wondering if anyone has any suggested cards for the Harrow Readings at the start of each chapter.

I'm about to start SDTTG and will rig the reading so that it hopefully drops hints about the past and present and foreshadows what's coming.

I'd love to hear what others chose for their readings in all the chapters and how they worked out.

My guess is that it won't affect the weight capacity. There's nothing in the rules language to suggest that a biped with extra legs becomes a quadruped. Also the ramifications for subtypes vs base forms is somewhat complex.

As far as what was intended, a bipedal creature has a vertical backbone, while a quadruped has a horizontal backbone. I think if you add a second pair of legs to a biped you just get a strange creature with a vertical backbone sat on top of a double pelvis with four legs hanging off them and hence no capacity increase.

That looks like an artifact from Unchaining the Summoner.

I would treat all Serpentine forms as having the climb evolution, and treat the subtype base forms as replacing only the weapon evolutions. So, your Azata would get a climb speed, but would have a tail slap and martial weapon proficiency instead of a bite attack.

That's kind of what I assumed but I've just found this post from Mark Seifter in reply to the same question:

Luthorne wrote:

Hey, Mark, I was working on a summoner using Pathfinder Unchained, and I ran into some confusion, so I was hoping you could clear it up for me. Basically, the Advanced Player's Guide summoner had free evolutions for their base forms, but the Biped/Quadruped/Serpentine base forms listed on page 34 of Pathfinder Unchained seem to have evolutions hard-baked into things (serpentine starts off with a climb speed as well as a bite and a tail slap, but they're not called out as evolutions, for example). At any rate, I was planning to make a lillend-inspired azata as an eidolon, and it reads under Base Form for serpentine azatas, "(limbs [arms], tail, tail slap)". So I guess my question is...what of the serpentine form am I supposed to have by default? It seems silly for them to automatically have a bite attack (much less the exceptionally silly argument that you might now have two tail slaps), so it feels like the Base Form should overwrite those aspects (though it feels like someone new to the summoner would be confused if they were starting with the summoner from Unchained), but do they still get a free climb speed or not? I looked through the other types that have serpentine as an option, and none of them were listed as getting the Climb evolution as part of their serpentine Base Form, so I feel like it should, since otherwise it's useless for a climb speed to be listed that no serpentine creature gets inherently? But I'm not 100% positive, so thought I would consult you for your interpretation.

Those base form evos are baselines to use as a guide if you want to make your own new subtypes. In all ways, the subtype replaces the evos found there.

So I guess Serpent eidolons don't get climb for free.

Hello peeps,

A simple question, Does an unchained serpentine eidolon have a climb speed?

None of the serpentine base forms within the subtypes list climb as a free evolution, which would imply that it doesn't in much the same way as an Azata serpentine doesn't get a bite attack for free.

However, the base forms descriptions uses the text:

Each eidolon has one of three base forms that determines its starting size, speed, AC, attacks, and ability scores.

Which implies that a serpentine should get everything listed in its starting statistics. Therefore, should all serpentine eidolon get climb as a free evolution and Azata get bite?

Well, if I were going to approach this task I'd look at the following:

- scrap the class system. Go through every class and assign an XP 'cost' to every element of the class system eg +1 to BAB costs 100 XP, +1 to a Save costs 100 XP, 1st point in a skill costs 100XP and additional skill points costs cumulative 10 xp per rank (rank 2 = 20, rank 3 = 30, etc), level 0 spells cost 500XP, etc

- start lvl 1 characters with 1000XP and buy the features they want for their character - similar to how Dark Heresy and the other WH40K games work. As they gain XP they spend it on new features.

- All characters have the same HP progression. A first level character gets 10HP + con bonus. Then + 1 per level, no per level bonus from CON. Instead create a damage reduction mechanic using the CON bonus. Create damage thresholds at 25%, 50% and 75% of max HP at which various penalties arise on any d20 roll

- Create a Drain mechanic, probably something along the lines of a will save with a DC dependant on the spell level, which if failed does non-lethal damage to the caster

- Go through the spell list and boil it down to a much smaller universal list of maybe 10-20 per level. All casters cast like sorcerers, from the same list of spells.

- Recalculate all damage values for weapons, spells, etc to fit the new HP system so that a PC can take 2-3 hits before dropping.

Needs something to replicate the dice pool mechanic particularly in combat, but not sure what that is yet. Maybe something along the lines of the inspiration mechanism that the Investigator has.

All need to work out how to create a degrees of success mechanic for skills, and allow for remote probability tasks to be possible at less than 5% probability - maybe a nat 20 allows a reroll with +10? so DC30 with no bonus has a probability of 2.5%, DC 40 0.25%, DC 50
0.125%

oh, and initiative. Sams/mages need to be able to carry out multiple full actions per turn after the uncybered guys have taken their actions.

As someone that has played Shadowrun up to 3E I can't see how it's possible without losing the essence of Shadowrun.

It's a classless system for a start that allows you to specialise or go jack of all trades. You want to be a Spell slinging Decker, you can be. Class based systems just can't reproduce that kind of flexibility.

Also there's combat. Shadowrun combat, when done right, is deadly. If you get shot it seriously nerfs your effectiveness. There's no being 100% effective until you fall unconscious like in d20. Once a fight starts to go wrong it spirals out very quickly. In general I find that if the fight isn't over in 1 or 2 turns it has gone badly wrong and a PC is going to die.

Also, I think the non-combat system in d20 just isn't as rich as a skill based system like Shadowrun. The success based mechanic allows for a far more granular success/fail basis and it also means that no skill task is impossible. It might be very improbable but it's always possible.

The main issue with Shadowrun is the wonky probability model. It's wonky in both 3E and also in 4/5E, just different kinds of wonky.

The other issue with converting 5e is that if people think that the ACG editing was poor, then the Shadowrun 5 book sinks to a whole new level.

Finally, I think you can get that "Nat 20" moment. In 3E facing a task with a TN of 12, rolling a 6 and then praying for the 2nd 6 is just as exciting.

What about manyshot? Do you get the double smite damage on both arrows or just one? The feat says that you apply bonuses such as favoured enemy to each arrow, but this is an always on ability.

I've always played it that both arrows get the extra damage as it is a single attack roll. This does mean though that higher level archer Paladins tend to drop any level appropriate enemy in a single round when smiting if using a bow with a strength bonus and deadly aim.

I'm about to start up again after a gap with the beginning of HMM. In our game both Lyrie and Orik were captured at Thistletop.

In case my players come on here...

jimibones83 wrote:

I could have sworn you couldn't use the ashes left behind from disintegrate as the body part requirement to cast raise dead. Is this correct?

This brings back bad memories of my cleric casting discintegrate on a villain who had a scryed me and prepared spell turning. I blew the save and was turned to ash. It was fortunate I guess that our tiefling wizard was adjacent to me and some of my remains stuck to his fur. The DM let that count as remains. Lost my entire level 15 equipment list.

Why did you lose your equipment? The spell specifically says equipment is unaffected.

The engine to run pathfinder already exists. The TOEE game engine has 3.5 at its core. Not sure where the ownership of that lies though. There used to be a good core of fan development at the circle of eight forums that fixed the bugs and extended the character levels.

Again I have to state that the Fast Learner feat for humans requires a 13+ score in Intelligence to qualify. Since none of the optimized point spreads produce that, it is an important thing to note going on. This is especially important if you have a GM who will only allow the feat at 1st level, and note that it has gotten an errata that can allow you to get your alternate class bonus along with either the hit point or skill rank.

Could you point me to the place where the errata has been published please. I can't find any reference to this in the FAQ for the ARG, and no errata doc has been published for the ARG. Thanks.

AoMF bypasses metal reductions in line with its bonus

See FAQ

Rule 1: Don't be a jerk. That definitely includes deliberately presenting a misreading of an otherwise clear rule for the purpose of misleading readers.

All hail Kazaan, with his telepathic ability to see into the minds of others and know their guilt, even if they believe they might be right.

Tell me Lord, what shall we think now!

I know this post will be gone as soon as a mod returns, but seriously you are being a jerk! And I'm speaking as someone that can't see any reading that disagrees with you.

Asked to build a 12th lvl character. All non-3dr party Pathfinder is open.

Human Rogue Knifemaster Scout
str 11
dex 26 (human, 4&8 lvl, belt+4)
con 14
int 16
wis 7
cha 18 (Headband +2)

Feats/Rogue Talents:
1H Weapon Finesse
1 Two Weapon Fighting
R Offensive Defense
3 Weapon Focus Dagger
R Combat Expertise
5 Combat Reflexes
R Quick Draw
BR Improved Feint
7 Greater Feint
R Improved 2-weapon Fighting
9 2-weapon feint
R Weapon Snatcher
11 Improved Disarm
R Break Guard
BR Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Disable Device, Sleight of Hand, Stealth and Spellcraft)

AC 28 Celestial Armor

two +1 daggers of speed
single attack +19 1d4+1
full round attack +17/+17/+17/+17/+12/+12 1d4+1

I sneak attack whenever I move 10 feet or more. In a full round attack, I can sacrifice the first attack to feint, all remaining attacks against the target are sneak attacks until the beginning of my next turn. My bluff is +27, or 37 taking 10 with skill mastery, successful in all but extreme cases.

I can disarm in place of any of my attacks. I use sleight of hand to disarm. My sleight of hand is +24, or 34 taking 10 with Skill Mastery, successful in all but extreme cases. I can disarm once per round without loosing an attack, and can disarm up to 7 times in a round.

Any suggestions of anything I might of missed or where to go next.

Have you taken Combat Trick multiple times? Surely you can only take it once?

Hi

Firstly, if any of my players are reading this then please move on to another thread.

What do you think? Too much?

Third Session

A Family Dispute

26 Rova 4707

The PCs all set off for the hunt with Aldern and his 3 msnservants. During the journey he asks them each where they’re from and how they came to be in Sandpoint. After an hour of travel they arrive at the Tickwood.

Samoth sends his familiar, Baztarj to scout out the location of some boar. An idea that impresses Aldern immensely. Aldern sends two of his servants off to scare out the boar, while the party line up to intercept them.

The first boar emerges, charging at Rena, the second charges at Rose, and the third at Tig, who spears it mid-charge. The other two boars injure their targets but are soon despatched. Aldern pronounces the hunt a great success, despite not doing anything himself. The group return to Sandpoint with 3 animals for feasting at the Rusty Dragon.

Back at Sandpoint, the group split up to follow their own interests for the day, when word comes out that Shelalu, the elven ranger, has returned. The PCs gather at the Town Hall with Mayor Deverin and Sheriff Hemlock to see what she has to say.

Shelalu, tells them of the 5 local tribes of Goblins and how their infighting has kept the region relatively safe. That has now changed, with reports that they have been co-ordinating their attacks across the region. She describes the tribes and their bases of power.

Both Kendra and Belor are seriously concerned and decide that Belor should head to Magnimar to request help. Samoth argues that the group should head off into the hinterlands to track down the Goblins, but Belor and Kendra ask that they stay here to look after the town.

The PCs head back to the Dragon to partake in the feast of boar. The inn is packed out with guests as word of the feast has spread. As the night draws on, there is a slam as an angry Lonjiku bursts in demanding to see his daughter. When it’s apparent that she is not in the room, he rounds on the PCs, ranting about filthy adventurers and the danger and trouble they bring. At that point Ameiko appears and they have a loud and violent argument which culminates in Lonjiku attempting to manhandle Ameiko out of the inn and her smacking him around the head with a ladle. After he departs with a stinging rebuke to Ameiko, the evening resumes and then draws to a close.

27 Rova 4707

The PCs that are staying in the inn, awake to discover that Ameiko is missing. Her cook has discovered a note from her estranged brother Tsuto. The note asked her to meet him at the glassworks during the previous night. Surmising that Ameiko may be in danger the party sends for Rena and then heads to the Glassworks.

They find it locked up and break in. Tig scouts out the rooms until she discovers that there are Goblins in the main workroom, playing around a figure covered in molten glass.

The group attack the Goblins, who fetch their boss – Tsuto.

The battle continues with Rena trying to talk Tsuto into surrendering, until Rose strikes a huge blow that forces him to flee.

The battle in the workroom comes to a close with the PCs wondering where Tsuto has run off to…

Second Session

Goblins! Attack!

24 Rova 4707AR

The party race to the North Gate to discover another group of goblins attacking a finely dressed nobleman. They fight off the goblins, capturing one. They also note that the North Gate has been left open. The noble introduces himself as Aldern Foxglove and seems to take quite a shine to Rena, much to Rose’s amusement and misunderstanding.

They take the goblin back to the garrison to interrogate it, with Zantus, Belor and Kendra in attendance. Kendra tells the gathered townsfolk that the immediate threat is over, they should return to their homes and she publicly thanks the PCs, who she proclaims the Heroes of Sandpoint. The goblin tells them that the attack was planned by a “longshanks”, and that the goblins were to keep the townsfolk away from the graveyard.

Racing over to the graveyard, they discover that one of the vaults has been broken into. Zantus says it’s where Father Tobyn and the other victims of the Sandpoint fire are interred.

They approach the tomb, and Rena detected evil within it. They are attacked by Skeletons, but between Rose’s channeling and the others attacks they are quickly despatched. Inside the vault they discover that Tobyn’s remains have been stolen. They also find a discarded and used up Robe of Bones.

Zantus can offer no reasons why someone would want to steal his predecessor’s remains. The party returns to the garrison intending to question the goblin further, only to find that an overenthusiastic guard with a dog has killed it.

They decide to return to the Rusty Dragon, where Ameiko gives them free board and lodgings, and proceeds to sing a song honouring their deeds, to Rena’s embarrassment. Aldern invites them to join him, reqarding them with a pouch with 150gp and offering to take them boar hunting the next day. His obvious attraction to Rena is making her somewhat uncomfortable, and the party decline as they want to follow up on the day’s events. Aldern offers to take them the day after instead. The Heroes all retire for the night.

25 Rova 4707

The group meet at the garrison to discuss what might be done to investigate how the goblin attack came about. Rena tells them some of the history of the town, including the Chopper murders and the major fire from 5 years ago.

There is some suspicion about Lonjiku and why he wasn’t at the festival yesterday. Ameiko says she isn’t surprised and paints an unpleasant picture of her father to the group. They decide to speak to him to see if he really was ill. Rose accompanies Kendra to the Kaijitsu mansion, while the rest head to the Glassworks. Rose learns that handkissing is not a standard human greeting, despite Aldern’s insistence on kissing Rena. Lonjiku turns out to be at the glassworks. Apparently his absence was merely coincidental.

The get back together at the Dragon, only to be interrupted by screams. It appears that one of the goblins hid in a house and has now attacked the residents. The party races over and dispatches the goblin, saving the father of the family from a grisly fate.

They resolve to accompany Aldern the next day, and then split up to spend the rest of the day following their own interests. The results in Kazillian getting caught in a basement, by with owner of the General Store, in a state of undress with the owner’s younger daughter.

The rest of the day passes off uneventfully.

26 Rova 4707

The team meet Aldern at the Goblin Squash stables to be bought a horse each by Aldern, prior to the hunting expedition. In spite of initial hesitation, Rena decides to join the hunting party, largely because she finds Aldern untrustworthy.

First Session:

Welcome to Sandpoint

23 Rova 4707AR

It’s the day before the Swallowtail Festival and the consecration of the new Sandpoint Cathedral. The townsfolk are busy getting everything ready for the festivities.

Rena lives in Sandpoint with her family, all of whom are involved in the celebrations in one way or another. She is handing out leaflets and welcoming visitors at the entrance to the town. Young and enthusiastic (not to mention slightly over-excited about the festival), she gives directions and informs people about some of the things they can look forward to experiencing during the festival period.

Once in town, Rose heads for the brothel and tries to embrace her human side (among other things). Tig sets herself up in a corner of the Fatman’s Feedbag and observes the events around her. Later, Rose arrives and buys drinks for the whole bar. Samoth Aggaagak Krok tries to communicate with the humans, eventually finding himself fetching drinks for the locals (including Rena and her brother Stig) who are building a stage in the square outside the cathedral. Kazallin gets food at the Rusty Dragon and organises a room for the night, as does Samoth. After being accosted by Rose in the Fatman’s Feedbag, Tig and her new friend arrive at the Rusty Dragon to book rooms, after being reprimanded by Ameiko (the landlady) for their lateness.

24 Rova 4707AR

The following morning, everyone gathers in the square for the opening speeches. First is Kendra Deverin, the Mayor, whose speech is perky and welcoming. She is followed by Belor Hemlock, the town Sheriff, who lowers the mood by asking for a moments silence for those who lost their lives five years earlier. Cyrdak Drokkus is next, with an animated and enthusiastic advert for his theatre and an attempt to lighten the mood. He is a replacement for Lonjiku Kaijitsu, who is, as head of one of the town’s founding families, conspicuous in his absence. Drokkus introduces the final speaker, Father Zantus, the High Priest of Sandpoint, who declares the commencement of the festivities.

Rena joins her family for the basic combat display by the students at the Turandarok Academy. Samoth, Tig, Kazallin and Rose take part in the games and competitions that are laid on. At noon, everyone gathers in the square for Father Zantus to tell the Parable of Desna, followed by the release of the Swallowtails. After the butterflies have flown, it is time for lunch, when all the local producers and vendors provide samples of their finest offerings to see which is the most popular. Tig expressed surprise that all the refreshments were free, having filled every available inch of pocket and bag space with food.

After more entertainment in the afternoon, at sunset, everyone congregated in the square again, this time for the consecration of the cathedral. Father Zantus dropped a thunderstone, to call the attendees to order, ready for the special one-off event.

Just as everything was about to start, the square was stormed by a horde of goblins, who ran amok and started to kill random townsfolk in a variety of grisly ways. Two waves of goblins are fought off by the combined efforts of Rena, Samoth, Tig, Kazallin and Rose, with support from Ameiko and help from Father Zantus.

When things have calmed down in the square, they hear screams from the direction of the north gate…

Hi

Adding another journal thread for anyone that's interested. We've had three sessions so far which I'll post up in a moment. First, some background to the party.

The players have been allowed any classes (no firearms), anything from CRB, UM, UC, UE, APG, ARG (only Aasimar and Tiefling races). 25 point buy (20pt for Aasimar or Tiefling)

I've got 5 players and their characters are:

Rena, female Angelkin Aasimar, Paladin of Sarenrae. Native of Sandpoint. Have rewritten the Turandok Academy to be run by her family who are Ulfen humans from the North. Father is Ilsoari renamed. Mother is a 4th lvl paladin of Sarenrae, also has elder brother (no PC class levels). Rena is played by my wife, who is very good at hiding player knowledge, so I have been able give lots of background to the late unpleasantness, and also the Kaijitsu family history without risking metagaming.

In case any of my players read this:

The other players are:

Samoth Aggaagak Krok, male Half-Orc Conjurer (Teleportation).

Tig, female Tiefling Rogue. Has the Maw and Claw, Prehensile Tail, Fiendish Sprinter and Scaled Skin traits.

Kazillan, male Human Sorcerer.

Rose, female Half-Orc Cleric of Gorum.

I need me some prawns. Problem is, no dice on ordering Bestiary Box from Paizo directly - somewhere between the shipping, the 23% VAT on toys and customs this would be waaay too painful.

Amazon UK is no go as well, knowing them they'll get the product in mid-2014.

I need me some store from EU that ships internationally and has Bestiary Box on sale/preorder. Help plx!

Now on leisure games and also iguk

Does anyone have any info on when the physical product might be available from a UK retailer?

Amazon says its unavailable. It's not listed on Leisure Games, Orcs Nest or any other retailer I can find.

Hi, I'm new here but thought I'd weigh in with a question.

Could the descriptions of GMW/GMF not be amended to allow the enhancement bonus to bypass DR in accordance with pg562. And then have this pass on to AoMF?

This sorts out DR at mid to high levels and the monk just has to carry an alternate weapon at low level where the damage differential is not that great anyway. If the devs can just allow an AoMF to go to +10, I'd be very happy. I can live with the extra cost as it should almost certainly be at least x2 a weapon.