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I would look at the the superduper crazy fan-made version of the reincarnation table and let the bones decide.
I'm running one AP currently and the only book I banned was Ultimate Campaign. Mainly because of some stupidly OP traits but I felt that retraining is something that would basically allow my players to make their characters stronger with very little effort. I don't run my campaign particularly hard and don't want to crank up the challenge all the time. That's just my personal preference. Depending on campaign it would make sense to retrain on some occasions. For example: the groups rogue dies and the ranger feels like taking over trap-duty and thus retrains a level or two to rogue.
The BBEG wiped the floor with the PCs without taking a single point of damage. The die had spoken. Five players and nobody picked Rataji even after I mentioned that he is crucial to the success of the mission. Oh the verbal abuse the PCs had to endure... I found something dark from the deep reaches of the back of my soul. Had there been more time I would have looked up quotes from the Bible and Tarantino movies. The party did fantastically well at the first part of the scenario, they all succeeded in their objectives that were possible outside Skyreach. Indoors... Well kicking in the door to a chamber that is guarded by those tree is not a good idea, especially if they win initiative. Haste, smite evil critical, vital strike from the musket master, fireball... One dead, one brought back with Breath of life. And they originally failed to impress the army coming in from the tapestry. I say originally since a portfolio popped from somewhere to grant the players a second try and the player whose character had died got to play with the dragon. Even if the scenario says that a replacement is required for Gazwyr to be available. I was also quite lenient with chronicles: I gave a Prestige point to those players whose character had succeeded in their secondary goals and reduced gold to all that wanted the chronicle. I figured that since the place is full of Aspis operatives the bodies would be recovered. It also kinda felt silly to pay 5pp for a body recovery to rescue an Aspis operative. Just for future reference: should GMs be more strict if the party fails at the end? I had new players at my table who did not have 5pp to spend.
Progression is not an issua since I gave up with counting exp. Do you happen to have any converted stats at hand? I'm not familiar with 3.5 and some of the stats seems to need work.
Heading towards book three and I have an itch to include Seven swords of sin into it. I have not read it yet so I figured to ask first if it would be a reasonable addition to this part of the AP. One of the PC's has a black blade so I'm thinking it could get jealous towards the artifact blades and hijinks would ensue. Any thoughts?
Name: Jasper Kandamerus
Jasper went down, but bought Zakhasta enough time to strike Gnaeus Gnaru the killing blow. Pharasma greeted his lost servant and gave him back his ability to prepare spells. Jasper woke up at Maroux's hut as a half-orc, seeing a glimpse of an Osprey flying out of the window.
One of the funkiest things I have heard of is this... Pretty horrible. Basically a study on how horrible can you go while technically keeping with the CR rules according to monster building rules. Not one of my own. (Also: a big enough dragon with an antimagic field is pretty bad-ass.) Advanced Young Succubus Ghost Antipaladin 2 CR 11
Defence:
DEFENSE AC 34, touch 34, flat-footed 25 (+9 Dex, +14 deflection, +1 size) hp 196 (8d8+2d10+140) Fort +33, Ref +29, Will +30 DR 10/cold iron or good; Immune electricity, fire, poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10; SR 18 ; Incorporeal ; Channel Resistance +4 ; Undead Traits Offence:
OFFENSE Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect) Melee corrupting touch +20 (11d4, DC 29) Special Attacks corrupting gaze(DC 29), Frightful Moan (DC 29), Smite Good Spell-Like Abilities (CL 12th) Constant—detect good, tongues At will—charm monster (DC 28), detect thoughts (DC 26), ethereal jaunt (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), suggestion (DC 27), greater teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only), vampiric touch 1/day—dominate person (DC 29), summon (level 3, 1 babau 50%) Statistics: STATISTICS Str -, Dex 29, Con -, Int 24, Wis 20, Cha 39 Base Atk +10; CMB +18; CMD 50 Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Reflexes, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse, Flyby-attack Skills Bluff +27, Diplomacy +27, Disguise +25, Escape Artist +17, Fly +25, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (local) +18, Perception +26, Sense Motive +18, Stealth +38; Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth, +8 Perception Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic; tongues, telepathy 100 ft. SQ Change Shape (alter self, Small or Medium humanoid), Aura of Evil, Touch of Corruption, Unholy Resilience
Minor magic rogue talent, your GM could house rule that it works similarly to a cantrip so you don't have to count how many time you use it. Wand of Identify to boost said talent would be nice with UMD too.
Just finished running this and a few notes: At the moment it does not seem to be possible to report this scenario at all. I'm guessing this will be fixed as soon as the internet people get back to the office on Monday. The maps are wonky and it takes a lot more time to draw them than usually. The portal closing -thing is confusing and I believe I ran it incorrectly. I would appreciate someone going through it step-by-step. As a non-native English speaker with just a few hours to prep I did not understand the salamanders tactics and thus he just stood there and got his tail handed to him even though the portal was (probably) open and he could just escape. The portal room went approximately like this:
Does the portal open immediately? I assumed it does and thus the gate is open and he could just escape. His morale says he won't do it until he has 20 or less hit points left, so he installs the battery to the gate that was already open. The he fights for a few rounds and gets whacked. Half of the party can fly over the lava pool, that was probably not supposed to have lava in it before the smaller gates star filling it anyway. I might run it gain at later date, so how was it supposed to work?
Paladin would be my choice as well, pick selective channel and other channeling related feats and you can help your whole group with extra hit points and keep somewhat up with dealing damage to foes. Shield other is a 2nd level spell for paladins so they gain access to it on lvl7. Chirurgeon alchemist with healing bombs could be fun as well, a lot more versatility than with a paladin. Not as effective as a healer if you look just at the numbers though. Scarred witch doctor was mentioned earlier but I believe that it is not available in PFS.
Just checking: was the cover monsters headgear supposed to cover both of it's eyes or just one? I'm feeling a missed opportunity to utilize a techno-monocle. Monocles are cool and we should have more of them.
I liked the new chase mechanics too, it went a lot smoother than usually. A regular chase scene takes too much time to go over the options and actions. The DC's were a bit too low though, I think my party of four failed just one of them on tier 1-2 with one smelly and clumsy oracle in tow.
Just checking since I'm running Shattered star and the first book is nearing it's end. Is there any information on the original seven runelords besides Xanderghuul and Sorshen? Names or fates or anything. Shattered Star stuff: The PC's got a result over 30 to identify the image of original seven runelords and I was looking if there's any info on them.
Your GM credit never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever has anything to do with what happened in the game when you ran it. Well, there is one exception that I'm aware of. But that states it very clearly under reporting notes. Spoiler: Valley of veiled flame & Wishes.
I think I would be ok if current season scenarios would cost 1$ more and Paizo would release three instead of one per month. If I compare PFS to other hobbies it is still relatively cheap and 3$ a month would not hurt me financially. I pretty much purchase and run 75% of new scenarios, some I get free from conventions and some higher tier scenarios can't get enough players for them. I believe many would subscribe to PFS scenarios if it would be possible. Also, I just checked that I can play 19 older season scenarios for credit (in the classic mode campaign) so more of the new stuff would be welcome. :)
I'd go with divine hunter for those bonus feats. Stats:
Racial trait: Warslinger. I would keep Fearless since Divine hunter does not get Aura of courage.
Feats and leveling progression:
You can take Clustered shots if you feel like you'll need it. DR is not a big problem for paladins so it really depends on the game you'll be playing. Slings are far from the most effective ranged weapon, but it's a viable option even if it eats up pretty much all feats that are available. Also: Whip-Slinger can be funny as heck. :)
A minor nit-pick: I noticed that Fiveknives Kalim (the art actually portrays five knives on his persona, kudos!) casts Bull's strength and Bear's endurance on himself in higher tier even though he doesn't have the latter in his repertoire. I'm guessing he is supposed to have Bear's endurance instead of Cat's grace on his spells known? Also: I'm so glad to finally see a chase scene where the PC's get to run away from something! It ran just under three hours when I played it, but I'm guessing it might take longer with new players.
I just recently started running Shattered star and let the PC's pick one trait from the player guide. Ultimate Campaing is the only book I outright banned and yes, it is because of some traits just bug me and give goo much power to the PC's. Also: not a fan of retraining rules. I did give all characters a trait-ish thingy based on their actions during the first session. Minor bonuses that were not picked from a list but rather my weirdly operating brain. But yes, I don't think they are a pivotal part of the game and would play without them happily. Traits based on background on the other hand do appeal to me, but they are usually not that powerful to begin with.
And once this season, you can change your faction for free. This only applies to characters who have been played before the start of season six. It's because of the changes in some factions. And yes, I believe that a paladin in Dark Archives is viable. It is commonly known fact that Zarta Dralneen is evil and thus needs to be kept under keen observation.
Korvosa has a few 13th lvl clerics also. Pharasma: Bishop Keppira d’Bear (N female human cleric of Pharasma 13), high priest of Pharasma. Ornher Reebs (LE male human cleric of Asmodeus 11), high priest of Asmodeus. Archbanker Darb Tuttle (LN male half-elf cleric of Abadar 13), high priest of Abadar. These are from the old Guide to Korvosa but I guess it's still valid.
stuff I'm afraid you misremember Quick Draw. It changes drawing a weapon from move to free action. Some benefits come to mind: You get more charging distance: normally your charge is your character's speed IF you need to draw your melee weapon durin it.You get more full-attacks: Using rapid shot, iterative attacks and so forth require that you don't need to use a move actions to change weapons. You were chatting with an NPC with all good intentions but things go south. Most GM's don't approve that your character had a weapon in her hands while trying to use Diplomacy. Quickdraw let's you have that precious full attack or extra distance to charge at him. None in your party knows how to bypass that creature's DR? Just go through your golfbag (aka Efficient Quiver) until you hit that pesky critter with a correct damage type or special material. Comes to play when your BAB reaches +6 naturally. Of course there is plenty other feats to use but this one is one of my favorites.
I played an arcanist during playtest and have not rebuilt her to match released version. I don't really like how the arcanist turned out. I have a half-orc cavalier who has been sitting on a shelf for over a year now. He just feels boring to play. I also have a spiritualist from the occult playtest sitting on a shelf from Occult playtest. I just don't feel like I want to see those guys in PFS in general. They are too different of a beast imo. Then there's those three blobbies (lvl 1, 2, 3) that have all sorts of boons available and I just don't seem to be able to get around utilizing them.
Switch-hitter is still a viable option, just make sure you take quickdraw feat to change between weapons faster. Ranger would be my choice for class as well, he still holds he's own with just core material imo. Recommended feats: quickdraw, deadly aim, power attack. (On top of those already mentioned earlier.)
I personally have nothing against Combat expertise as it is, but I gave it for free along with Power attack and Deadly aim as a feature if they meet the prerequisites. Foes get access to this as well, so PC's get to be a bit different from the usual and I get to do all sorts of stuff with enemies. If enemies would have some of the feats mentioned earlier they get replacing feats. We are one game down, so I don't know how much of an impact it will have.
Brigh is a deity that favors inventions and so forth, that would be my pick.
When I face a similar situation I tell the players that I'm not overly familiar with the scenario and there will be a few extra breaks if I need to check something and read ahead before entering a new situation. So far no one has complained and from my perspective it's a new challenge. 3-7 is so far the highest tier I have done it. But if time is limited my quick-prep is as follows:
Is there going to be a trilogy-boon for those who play all three scenarios with the same character?
Around here we have an irc-bot that is fairly well known and frequently used by irc and wikigamers and I'm just fine with someone using that one, but mostly because I'm familiar with it. If an unkown software would be used I would be pensive about it and at least demand to keep the screen visible while rolling. Probably would test it first myself to make sure it actually randomises rolls instead of using a scripted order etc. I myself don't use bots even in high level games. I have all these die with me anyway. :) And no, I believe talking to and naming your die is completely normal behaviour. Especially if you need to turn the lights off so you can witness the eldritch power glowing through the exterior shell of my gm-set.
I took it for my inquisitor early on. The first thing I did whit it was to swap it for something useful at the first chance while leveling.
My players managed to figure out the puzzle at the memorial wall! I had a mixed table of experienced and new pfs players (char. numbers ranged from -1 to -21) so I told the new guys that I'll get a soda and after that they can try the knowledge check if the veterans haven't figured it out by then. It was also my 100th table! I'd like to thank Thrusty for the scenario was great fun and running it with relatively fast prep didn't hamper the experience.
For those interested: I ended up buying Deathless for my and the mounts armors, Ring of inner fortitude (greater), increased the spoilerific sword up to +7, got scrolls of restoration and greater heroism. We won the BBEG and thus completed the AP! My character kept the mooks at bay while the sorcerer and bloodrager handled the BBEG. With some really lucky die rolling, it was over pretty fast. For those interested.: The AP was Rise of the Runelords and BBEG was Karzoug the 20th level azlantian transmuter wizard.
I've played mine once and only two players' characters did not take the benefits of raging song. I would recommend making hand-outs for people who are not familiar with the class. Especially if there's rage powers involved. But as long as you yourself are using strength as means to inflict damage, the song abides. And FYI: a skald & bard -combo in the same party is just nasty. :) Damage: You have 3/4 BAB and half of barbarian's rage, so kinda ok. Martial proficiency gives nice options.
The casters are hoarding all sorts of nifty scrolls and rods. They also got same amount of gold to spend on something. ;) I'll get myself scrolls of greater heroism and so forth for the final battle. My characters motivation for this adventure is to avenge his brothers death. (My previous character.) Since it looks like there will be all sorts of mad loots just for the taking after we possibly defeat the BBEG he's eye is on the job at the moment. He lives at a fancy brothel for high-spending nobels while not on the job so the 'hookers and blow' part is covered. Keep 'em coming though, it's fun to get all sorts of suggestions. :)
Jingasa is on the no-list unfortunately. Luck stone is an option.Dueling is not really anything I would need since I don't bother with maneuvers with my character. All three other characters in the party are capable of casting haste so not really. Better armor than +5 mithral fullplate? I use 2H weapons so shield is a bit of a waste. Deathless would be nice though, Fortification is one of the options I am actually thinking. My griffon can't really use horse shoes unfortunately. :) Upgrading barding is an opion too. Hostelling does not have that much use. We travel by flying or grtr teleport. Arachnid goggles seem fun! Ring of evasion/FOM: I have imp. evasion from class ability and I cast FOM. Pearls of power: These I already have a bunch, forgot to mention. Rods in general: I don't think I have that much need for quickening spells. I need both hands for weapons and the rest of our party are arcane caster with quicken metamagic via feats and rods. Thank for the advice!
What do you already have? I have... A spoilerific greatsword (a +6 at the moment considering enhancement), +3 adamantine lance for spirited charge (I switch between the two of these depending on the situation), +1 seeking adaptive longbow, cloak of res. +5, spoilerific ring that give +3 deflection, +6 wis headband, belt of physical perfection +4, Circlet of persuasion, Ring Feather Falling, Necklace of adaptation, Snapleaf... I can go without the ring of feather falling, since snapleaf has my high falls covered. Our GM does not allow Ioun stones, since they are super rare and only accessibly through loot. My saves are pretty good so I don't really think they need improving. (19/18/17 before heroism etc) Stealth is not really an option since the other players don't really care for skill usage. My character is the only one who has ranks in diplomacy for example.
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