Empedocles's page

Haven't experienced PACG yet. I run the S&S AP. I want to want this but not sure if it really appeals.

Is this fun?
How replayable is this? If it's just a one-shot, I'm out for sure. I can't justify a game that's only playable once.
If someone dies, what happens?
If one character out of a multi-player group dies, how does that player keep playing with the same group?

I'm just so incredibly on the fence with this. Thanks in advance for any input.

We finished Part 1 a few months ago. Good and brutal times. Here is a tally of the punishment the party of 4 collectively endured:

Rope Bashes: 15
Whip Lashes: 48
Sweatbox: 3 days
Unscheduled assignment to bilges: 2
Fatigued: 12
Exhausted: 2
Sickened: 2
Rum addiction: 2
Undead paralysis: 4
Filth Fever: 3
Ghoul Fever: 3
Strength Damage: 13 (all from reefclaws)
Dexterity Damage: 9
Constitution Damage: 18 (using a friendlier rum ration)
Near TPK: 1
Death: 1 (bought back with hero points)

Wheareas NPCs suffered the following:

Keelhaul: 1 (scripted, Jakes Magpie)
Rope Bashes: 6 (Kroop, for being wasted more than 50% of the time)
Lashes: 6 (Conchobar, for slacking)
Sweatbox: 1 (Maheem, for talking to Harrigan)
Rum addiction: 1 (Jaundiced Jape, sleight-of-handed PC's rum ration)
Sickened: 1 (Syl Lonegan, due to disabled device hammock/ sleep deprivation)
Con: 1 (Conchobar, from Ghoul Fever)
Prisoners exchanged to Grindylows: 3 (Plugg, Scourge and Tam Tate, in exchange for Sandara and Rosie, thanks to heroically set up bluffs and intimidation)

I wasn't sure how the 3 weeks of abuse would go over. Might have overdone it. No doubting that the mutiny was one of the most cathartic acts of violence. I tracked NPC attitudes per PC, not the whole party. When it became "go" time, it was interesting to see the chain reaction/domino effect of the relationships come into play. Good times! Very much looking forward to the rest of the AP.

So I've decided, at least for the first installment, to go ahead and use those lovely little plot-hook rumors in the inside back cover of the book. As a rule, I want to introduce the rumors in the volume in which they appear. This was mildly problematic for The Wormwood Mutiny because the PCs only gain their freedom near the end of the adventure. Consequently, all of these were introduced on Bonewrack Isle in order for me to comply with my self-imposed rule.

I do apologize for the length; pages worth. In my head at the outset it seemed like they would take a paragraph each. Then I realized it had to make sense for someone else to read. So now it's long, wordy, still part brainstorming, not fully statted and each will probably require more than one post (I do not know what the limit is for one post).

If you play Capt Firix Drakethorn, Razmira the sorceress, Davor the Red or Lionel Ulyses Caleb Kilick, feel the Forbiddance and Antipathy and read something else instead!

Largely spoilered so as not to assault the eye and presented in the order given in the book, here's my take on The Buzzard's Bounty, Fisherman's Folly, Shipwreck in a Bottle and The Lost Messenger:

Hi all,

pp 48-49 of the Pathfinder Society Field Guide describe and list cost for Weapon Blanch: Ghost Salt. APG lists the Craft (alchemy) DC for other weapon blanches. What is/where can I find the craft (alchemy) DC for Ghost Salt?

Thanks!

Hi there!

I'm trying to resubscribe to the Pathfinder Adventure Path series, starting with #79 The Half-Dead City (Mummy's Mask 1 of 6). I can get as far as "Proceed to Checkout" --> Confirm your Order. I am unable to "Place Your Order"; that button is grayed out.

Is it because that issue is a preorder anticipated for March?
Is it because I am unable to input an Address for Subscription? (It would be the same address as under Payment Method.) If I try to Change Address, it asks me if I'm sure. When I confirm, it just takes me to the home page.

Not a rush - as I say, March - but would like to resolve the issue by then.

Thanks for the assist!

The Preamble:

For PFS, I made/played an alchemist. As Disable Device is a class skill for the alchemist and as one is not always guaranteed a rogue at any given table, I invested max ranks in Disable Device, took Skill Focus (Disable Device) and purchased some masterwork thieves' tools. Without trapfinding, I didn't just want to increase my odds of failing by more than 4.

So along comes a PFS scenario in which I play with someone who brought a rogue. A trap was found. The rogue went to attempt to disable it. I offered to Aid Another. I'm lvl 3 by this point. Too late to respec by the PFS rule which allows a rebuild prior to playing lvl 2.

The Crux of the matter:

Only to be informed by the player of the rogue that without the trap-finding class feature, one cannot attempt to disable a trap with a DC greater than 10. The GM promptly confirmed this. That was that.

The Questions:

1. Really!?

Trapfinding: A rogue adds 1/2 her level to Perception skill checks made to locate traps and Disable Device skill checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.

DISABLE DEVICE

[my italics] You are skilled at disarming traps...
... Difficult... DC 20... Disarm a trap...
... Extreme... DC 25... Disarm a complex trap...
...
Special:... A rogue who beats a trap's DC by 10 or more can study the trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it without disarming it....
Restrictions: Characters with the trapfinding ability (like rogues) can disarm magic traps...

Characters trained in disable device without the trapfinding ability (like alchemists) can suck it because those characters can only disable traps with a DC of 10 or less while the difficulty to disarm a trap starts at 20.

The facetiousness of that last quote aside, can someone explain where that rogue player and GM got that? I remember the rogue player (sorry, player of the rogue. Not the same thing.) stating he saw it confirmed somewhere official-sounding but I did not catch where. Anyone?

I understand that as per above, my alchemist without trapfinding cannot (1) add 1/2 his level to perception and disarm device, (2) disarm magic traps and (3) bypass or rig a trap even if he exceeds the DC by 10 or more. The most he could hope for is to just disarm the trap. I'm totally okay with that. But only being able to disarm (non-existent) traps of DC 10 or less? Help?

Thanks! [edit - page references]

So I'm trying to report for running a session of #1 Silent Tide. This would be my 4th session; not a starred GM by any stretch but not my 1st time either. There is something on the report that I have never seen before:

"Scenario missions accomplished: A[ ] B[ ] C[ ] D[ ]"

What am I supposed to do here? To what does A-D refer? There's nothing listed A to D in the scenario. I don't want to shaft my players; they performed well. I have not seen this for any of the other reports. Do I check none, any or all of the boxes?

This is below "Select a Scenario" and above "GM#" in the session report.

Thanks for any clarification.

Specifically, where on the ship do the crew eliminate? Overboard? In the bilge? In pots that swabs dump? Sure, this always (usually) gets glossed over in fiction/movies but I'm sure I'll have to answer the question eventually. Might be a way to hide some incriminating evidence or require a bit of description for humiliating punishment.

Thanks!

"She can swear like a sailor" or so they say.
I'm too much of a prude to really pull it off so I've come here to ask the impossible of you:

Without banning yourselves from these forums and/or using typical four-letter words, please post some insults/jibes/taunts/banter/witty reparte that would make your mother wish she could unbirth you. When I eventually run this AP, I'll work in as many of the good ones as I can. If I can remember to do so, I'll come back to give you credit and +1 you.

Thanks! :-D

So this AP may be the one that makes me cave and get the subscription. It seems to be the best stick to scratch that pirates rpg itch I've had for a while. (I took a good long look at 7th Sea a while back but it was more about continental Europe than about 7 seas...)

I'll probably get it anyway and find a way to have more common firearms (didn't see it in the Player's Guide but alchemists certainly fit in as gunpowder specialists; heck they're walking cannons).

My only question is how does the AP keep sailing as a mode of transportation relevant once teleport becomes available? Why would higher-level groups subject themselves to cramped, stinking ships for weeks at a stretch when they can simply banff to their destination?

I'm so incredibly for the pirate campaign but it's not really piratey without the ships which have their own personalities.

Thanks!