Eric Tillemans's page

It’s a sad day today. I have been a subscriber since May 2004. Thank you for the the terrific products you have produced over the years.

Please cancel my Adventure Path and my Adventure subscriptions to end after I receive these products:

S Pathfinder Adventure: Troubles in Otari
S Pathfinder Adventure Path #162: Ruins of the Radiant Siege (Agents of Edgewatch 6 of 6)

Thank you.

Stealthy Sniper advanced rogue talent lowers the penalty to -10
Halfling alternate racial trait Swift as Shadows lowers penalty by 10

So, a halfling rogue (or ninja) archer could snipe with no penalty at all at 10th level.

I've had problems with this player not listening to the situation and not picking up on hints i.e. "You hear dogs barking" or "The voices stop when you started digging, do you want to keep digging?" and "He seems afraid of you". Now he knows that there are consequences and this death had an unintended effect of showing some of the less enthusiastic players that success is not always a given and there's no Deus Ex Machina always ready to swoop in and save the party.

If my DM killed off one of the other players, I'd probably quit the game and run as fast as I could. However, if I stuck it out I'd VERY enthusiastic about listening to my DM. So, if your players don't quit on you I'm sure they will listen attentively.

Soulkeeper,
I would strongly suggest you make more time to prepare by pre-reading the adventure path part(s) you are currently running. Often important facts are hidden away in the descriptions of the adventure and being familiar with the entire story for that particular part can really help you run it better.

I know time is an issue for you so if your two groups have entirely different players, I'd say run the same adventure path for both groups so you only have to prepare once.

Those who encourage or supply the use of 'equalizers' to a weaker force, allowing it to 'dishonorably' oppose a stronger force, whether that be poison or disease or magical support, would probably be on Gorum's crap list.

A specific example of such a battle, lost not due to weakness, but due to some 'cheat' on the part of the other side, could serve as inspiration for someone to become an Inquisitor of Gorum. If the Battle of X was only lost because of elven subterfuge or gnomish trickery or Chelish pacts with infernal powers, the Inquisitor-to-be could have been a survivor of a proud force that was militarily superior to those they faced, but were routed due to such scurrilous tactics by those who refused to 'fight like men.'

Gorumites (or those that pay lip-service to his name) who have enhanced their own glory or reputations by using magical cheats or pre-weakening foes with drugs or similar 'equalizers' could be seen as similar traitors to the faith, lacking confidence in their own strength and the support of Gorum to win their battles, and using sinister and low means to forge false reputations for great strength and success on the field of battle.

An Inquisitor of Gorum might be the perfect advocate for a Brevonian or River Kingdoms judge of the Aldori Sword Pact, watching over duels to make sure that both participants rely primarily on their strength of body and spirit and steel, and do not advance their station through magical or chemical perfidy. The poisoners of Daggermark would be greatly loathed (and perhaps have a under-the-table business supplying less noble duellists with drugs that subtly enhance someone's performance for a duel, or all-but-untracable toxins that every so slightly weaken a foe, without any obvious signs). Even the tiniest advantage might be sought, however dishonorably, by a young competitor, unsure of his own skills, or an aging one, unwilling to accept that his reflexes are no longer what they were in his prime.

More good stuff, thanks Set. So now a list of goals may look something like:

1) Destroy those using poison, disease, or trickery to win battles instead of strength of arms. This also includes those who create or distribute those methods for others.
2) Foment war whenever possible, especially between natural rivals.
3) Hunt down and kill anyone who attacks sentient non-combatants.
4) Hunt down deserters (but not necessarily kill them) to ANY cause - good or evil, lawful or chaotic.
5) Challenge enemy champions to one-on-one combat.
6) Defend villages and non-warriors from invaders.
7) Watch over duels to ensure fair trial by combat.
8) Protect tombs of honorable warriors and hunt down those who violate such tombs.
9) Rescue captured warriors who fought bravely before being defeated.

The Gorumskagat (Gorum's holy "book") is a collection of 7 heroic poems..it looks like so far I have 9 items so not quite a perfect match up as far as 1 poem per 'goal', but when I first start wracking my brain nothing much came to mind and I'd rather have too many ideas than not enough.

So what exactly would be the goals of an Inquisitor of Gorum?

"Grim and determined, the inquisitor roots out enemies of
the faith, using trickery and guile when righteousness and
purity is not enough. Although inquisitors are dedicated
to a deity, they are above many of the normal rules and
conventions of the church. They answer to their deity and
their own sense of justice alone, and are willing to take
extreme measures to meet their goals."

Some things I pulled from Gods & Magic about Gorum:
He sees no value in diplomacy or negotiation.
He cares nothing for anything but war, and only valorous war — using poison, disease, or other cowardly methods to kill is the path of the weakling.
Though Torag is the tactical side of war, and Sarenrae the
necessity of war as a last resort, Gorum is the excitement,
battle-lust, and brutality of war.

So an Inquisitor of Gorum would:
1) Hunt down those who use poison or disease as weapons. (Could you argue other methods are also cowardly? using magic? using wood weapons like bows? He is the 'Lord in Iron' after all.)
2) Make sure battles are fought whenever possible? I take this to mean an Inquisitor of Gorum will disrupt negotiations between two groups to make sure they keep fighting. (Would the goals go as far as starting wars between groups where there was peace before?)

What else would an Inquisitor of Gorum do? I'm thinking maybe hunt down those who attack non-combatant sentient beings. Although this can be construed as 'good' by protecting the weak, it's actually punishment to the cowardly beings who prey on others who pose no threat to the attackers. Gorum sees glory in steel hacking through your enemies, not in cutting up near-defenseless sentient beings for dinner.

Any other ideas? Am I on the right track?

I'm very happy with Fantasy Grounds and not interested in another VTT at the present time.

You can run a Pathfinder RPG game with Fantasy Grounds currently, but it doesn't have the spells and monster stats embedded in the game (it does for 3.5 and many other games, but not Pathfinder) which would make GMing and playing a game that much easier. With official Pathfinder Support, spells & monsters could be statted up and released and perhaps I could even purchase a FG version of the great Adventure Paths Paizo puts out to make my life as a GM even easier.

I'll put my 2 cents in here and say I'm also very dissapointed Paizo won't be allowing official support for Pathfinder in Fantasy Grounds. I currently play in 2 campaigns and DM another on FG and it's a terrific gaming platform.

During a scenario the question came up as to whether kneeling would be a free action or a movement action. Many of us considered it to be a free action but the DM ruled it as a move action. The rule book (p.195) only mentions kneeling once stating you receive a +2 to AC. I am wondering what your thoughts are on this since the rules do not specify.

You receive a +2 bonus to AC against ranged attacks, but a -2 penalty a gainst melee attacks.

I rule kneeling is a free action, but standing up from a kneeling position is a move action.

Good to know that I am not the only one :-)

I found it strange that the Lust-Dungeon in SotS has a warning and this adventure doesn’t
Over here in Germany the Lust part described as softcore would be absolutely acceptable in a afternoon soap or a commercial.
Should there ever be a German translation of Hook Mountain, I would expect an 18 years age limit before you could say “Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons”

Here in the US we have a backwards thinking in that violence seems to be ok, but anything to do with sexual relations is not.

I've compiled a skeleton set of rules to help run a game in a setting where magic items aren't as readily available as assumed by standard D&D. I'm looking for feeback and comments about balance and playablility of these rules. In my game I'm going to combine these rules with a boost to skills and a wound/vitality point system, but those rules aren't listed here since I wanted the feedback on just the low magic portion of the rules:

Ability Score Increases/Enhancement bonuses:
At 1st level, each character chooses one of the following options:
1) The character picks 1 prime stat. The prime stat increases at +1 per 2 levels. All other stats increase at +1 per 4 levels.
2) The character picks 3 prime stats. The prime stats increase at +1 per 3 levels. All other stats increase at +1 per 4 levels.

Magical items that give enhancement bonuses to stats are limited to +2.
Spells are also limited to +2 enchancement bonus but the duration of any such spell is increased by 1 category (rounds -> minutes -> 10 minutes -> hours -> days)

Example of Stat Increasing Item:
Gauntlets of Ogre Power/Belt of Giant Strength: This item increases a characters strength to 18 or by +2, whichever is greater. It costs 25,000gp.

Note: The total stat values for 20th level characters should look similar to the actual 3.5 rules, except not involving as many stat increasing items. For a character using option 1), the prime stat will be +12 higher than the starting stat, while other stats are at +5 (or +7 with a magic item) above starting. A typical D&D character will have +5 from level increases for their prime stat and +6 from a magic item, leaving them at +11. Other stats are likely to have +4 or +6 bonuses due to magic items, depending on importance.

Armor bonuses due to Natural Armor and Deflection:
• Each character gets a +1 Dodge AC bonus every other level (round down).
• Natural Armor and Deflection bonuses no longer exist as magic item enhancements.
• Some spells will need to be removed or reworked: Barkskin, Shield of Faith, etc. (I'm leaning towards leaving the spells in, but limited the bonus to +2 AC and leaving durations the same).

Note: This one is pretty simple, the +5 Natural Armor and +5 Deflection bonuses get replaced by a dodge bonus of +10 by 20th level for every character.

Armor
• Masterwork Armor adds +1 to the AC of the armor (and lowers ACP by 1) and costs double the base cost of the armor plus 500gp.
• Magic Enhancements such as Fortification or Spell Resistance can be added to masterwork armor (up to +6 bonus worth of abilities and priced as if the masterwork bonus is +1).
• Armor can also be ‘Enchanted’ to provide an addition +1 AC bonus which stacks with the masterwork bonus. Armor must be masterwork to be Enchanted. Enchanted armor also blocks the 5/- DR negation of Enchanted Weapons(see Weapons). Enchanted armor costs 5,000gp.
• Armor provides an inherent DR at the rate of 1/2 the armor bonus (rounded up) (count masterwork and enchantments, but not competence(see below) for DR purposes). Natural Armor for a monster also provides this bonus and stacks with any armor bonus the monster may have, but it does not stack with the creatures natural DR. (such as a Dragons DR 10/magic).
• Characters proficient in the appropriate armor type gain a +1 competence armor AC bonus each time they gain an additional attack due to high BAB.
• Mithril and Adamantine armors give the same bonuses (and cost the same) as in the 3.5 rules, but the 2/- DR from Adamantine stacks with the inherent armor bonus listed above.
• Each characters gains +2 Defense Bonus to AC per 3 BAB(round down). This does not stack with armor (or armor bonuses like mage armor), but will stack with shields.

Example Armor: Masterwork Breastplate would provide +6 AC and DR of 3/-. If Enchanted it would provide +7AC and DR of 4/- and cost 5,000gp more. Finally, if Heavy Fortification was added (a +5 ‘bonus’) it would cost 35,000gp additional gp. Finally, a character with a +11 BAB (granting 2 extra attacks in a full round attack) would gain an additional +2 competence bonus to AC while using the armor bringing the AC bonus to +9, but leaving the DR at 4/-.

Note: The rules on armor are more complicated, but allow a character wearing mundane normal or masterwork armor to still gain a comparable AC. For a character that can attain a +16 or better BAB, the armor bonus winds up the same as the 3.5 rules assuming the armor is Masterwork and Enchanted.

Weapons:
• Masterwork weapons add +1 attack. (cost: same as SRD rules).
• Magic Enhancements such as Speed, Frost, or Wounding can be added to a masterwork weapon (up to +6 bonus worth of abilities and priced as if the masterwork bonus is +1).
• Masterwork weapons can be ‘Enchanted.’ Enchanted weapons provide an additional +1 to attack which stacks with the masterwork bonus and lowers all DR by 5 (except that provided by Enchanted armor – see Armor). Enchanting a weapon costs 10,000gp.
• Mithril weapons must be masterwork and provide an additional +1 to hit which stacks with the masterwork and Enchanted bonuses. (so an Enchanted Mithril Sword would give +3 to hit, a Mithril Sword would give +2 to hit). Price is 1000gp + 1000gp per pound of mithril. Weight of a mithril weapon is the 1/2 base weapon weight for most weapons, 1/4 the weight for wood hafted weapons, 1/6th the weight for wood hafted reach weapons. (Examples: .5lb for a dagger, 4 lbs for a greatsword, Longspear 1.5 lbs, Greataxe 3 lbs, Heavy Flail 2.5 lbs, Glaive 1.67 lbs, Halberd 3 lbs, Longsword 2 lbs.)
• Adamantine weapons must be masterwork and provide an additional +2 to hit which stacks with the masterwork and Enchanted bonuses. (so an Enchanted Adamantine Sword would give +4 to hit, an Admantine Sword would give +3 to hit). Price is 3000gp + 3000gp per pound of adamantine. Weight is the base weapon weight for most weapons, 1/2 the weight for wood hafted weapons, 1/3rd the weight for wood hafted reach weapons. (Examples: 1lb for a dagger, 8 lbs for a greatsword, Longspear 3 lbs, Greataxe 6 lbs, Heavy Flail 5 lbs, Glaive 3.33 lbs, Halberd 6 lbs, Longsword 4 lbs).
• Spells which add enchancement bonuses to items (such as Magic Weapon and Greater Magic Weapon) instead make the weapon cast upon Enchanted, providing a +1 bonus to hit and lowering DR by 5 (those spells cast upon a weapon already Enchanted has no effect).
• No weapons or magic enhancements add bonuses to damage (though a magical weapon with an enhancement such as Fire will still add it’s magic damage), instead all characters gain +1/2 point of damage per point of BAB.

Note: These weapon alternate rules provide characters with about the same bonus to hit as the 3.5 rules, but wind up adding some damage. A character with a +20 BAB with an Enchanted Adamantine weapon will have a +4 to hit and do +10 damage (compared to the +5/+5 that a +5 weapon provides with the 3.5 rules). This extra damage is mitigated somewhat by the inherent DR armor and natural armor provides.

Saves
• Good saves give +2 plus an additional +3 per 4 levels (and use the fractional save rules, rounding down). Good saves never give the initial +2 after 1st level when a character multi-classes.
• Bad saves give +2 per level 3 levels (and use the fractional save rules, rounding down).
• Magic Enhancement bonuses to resist no longer exist.

Note: By 20th level a characters good saves will be +17, while bad saves will be +13. Multi-classing will give bonuses somewhere between +13 and +17. A standard 3.5 rules character will have +12 good saves (enchanced to +17 with a cloak of resistance +5) and +11 bad saves. Using these alternate rules the bad saves are slightly enhanced compared to the base rules, but overall are close to standard 3.5 rules.

Summary for bonuses tied to BAB:
All characters gain +1/2 damage per point of BAB.
All characters gain a +1 competence bonus to Armor Class for wearing armor for each additional attack granted by high BAB (see Armor above).
All characters gain a +1 competence bonus to Armor Class for wielding a shield for each additional attack granted by high BAB (see Weapons above).