Frostsong's page

Hello,

I'm a GM with 10 years of experience. I've played mostly D&D 3.5, Pathfinder and New World of Darkness games, with a little Rogue Trader RPG on the side and read a bunch of other stuff. I've also got my own system I'd like to test out.

I'm currently living in Streatham and I'm looking for a group of over 18's in the area or whereabouts (Brixton, Tooting, Mitcham etc.). I am also willing to travel further if the players are willing to pay for the tube/bus fare to get there and back(not exactly rolling in cash right now).

I'll play with both beginner or veteran players, as long as it's a group, and as long as they're serious (won't skip out on meetings, a little reading here and there etc.). It would also be nice to play with actual role-players rather than power gamers/munchkins. I don't mind number crunching, but that's not all there is to the RPG experience in my humble opinion.

If you're interested, drop me a line here.

I lost.

My bad, didn't notice this was a play by post topic(came here through google), please forgive me. Not really looking for a PbP, sorry to disappoint. Best of luck to you, sir!

I've got experience with PF, but I'm willing to play with a beginner DM, and actually help out(not a rule layer, more into RP). The question is when do you want to play, as I'm probably on the other side of the ocean(GMT+2, +3 right now due to DST)

Lately, I'm having trouble when things get too large in two areas:Combat, and Locations.

In combat, I find that handling 1 orc leader + 2 orc clerics + 2 orc druids + 10-15 orc goons tends to get out of hand fast when I'm tracking which one moves where and how many hit points each has.Even with minies, it tends to get very messy.

On locations, I recently built a haunted fortress for my players to explore.I found generating the huge amount of rooms inside very difficult, and handling the player exploration even more difficult(yet another nobleman's room, barracks, etc, roll a Perception check to search the room). I have no idea how to build things that large, and usually even less of an idea on what to fill them up with.

Any advice in these two areas would be a tremendous help.Thanks a bunch!

I'm building a campaign setting where dwarven and gnome ingenuity have combined to form steampunk technology, and along with it, mechanized exoskeletons.

So I'm basically looking for any PF compatible rules on how to use said exoskeletons(think Large and Huge size mechs, spiders and bipeds). How do you target the rider? How do you disable the cannons? Etc.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the many helpful replies.Too bad I've got another set of questions(hopefully the last) to bother you guys with.

30.Do caster levels stack?If a Druid 4/Wizard 4 wants to cast a fireball, does it count as a spell casted by a CL 8 caster?

31.Do spells like Lightning Bolt and Fireball require a ranged touch attack to hit their target?

32.Do metamagic rods enhance wands/staves etc?

33.Does the Beast Shape spell grant you skill bonuses with the abilities gained(for example, if it gets a climb speed, does it receive a climb bonus)?

Again, thanks in advance!

About building stuff: some of the rules work badly as the cost of the item isn't always a good indicator of the difficulty to build it but changing the rules in a way that will make it too easy will make the game economy totally unbelievable.

Frostsong was suggesting a "production speed" of 6 gp/hour.
Lets suppose our smith work only 5 days every week with a regular 8 hours work schedule. 40 hours week.
1/3 of what he get from sales is production cost, so he get a net profit of 4 gp/hour, 160 gp week, 640 gp month.
Maybe not "adventurer level" but he has a nice profit.

If he is more true to a medieval smith, working 10 hours (or more) each day for 6 days/week he get about 1.000 gp each month of disposable income. About 50.000 € month if you use the rough conversion rate my group use. ...

That's assuming he gets an order of 25 longwords/week, the forge holds, and you don't implement any fatigue rules from working on the forge 10 hours a day, which is probably no easy feat.

Afterwards there's a sales tax(might be 20% in some places, but I might be wrong), maybe a mortgage/rent or property taxes, raw material transport tax(we're talking metal here, perhaps some of it unrefined), bandit raids, bribes and the occasional fumble.

Keep in mind that a 6th level expert begins with 3,450 gp.

A) If you don't want responses, then don't post a question.

I love responses, the help me better my game. I just don't like the ones that tell me that you can't build a full plate armor because the forging technology available in the middle ages wasn't up to the task, while blatantly ignoring the fact that the creature wearing said armor is an orc. Same situation with the airships: the middle ages didn't have them, and yet some D&D settings include them.

Comparisons to real medieval times shouldn't hamper your game setting, it should enhance them. If everything should be done by the book, your usual dungeon crawling sewers would be non-existent, hygiene would be absolutely atrocious, and a character would probably die after the first arrow/blade hit they took, especially when a healer started throwing some leeches on the wound, and magic creatures, equipment and spells wouldn't exist.

It's a make up game, after all.If you want to create an army of tougher, CR 1 soldiers(lvl 3 warriors, 780 gp gear) with mwk swords, why limit your imagination because of real world comparisons?

B) Every book I've ever read had tons of guys in normal armor, and heroes in unusual armor. Every hobit in LoTR did not have mithral armor. Gimli didn't have Mithral Armor. The dead dwarves in the dwarven halls didn't have Mithral Armor. The Belgariad had thousands of warriors using plain old steel weapons and armor, only Belgarion and his family had big nasty weapons/abilities. Arthurian legends hold Excalibur to be the exception, and all the other people ran around in steel plate and with steel weapons. Actually, I can't think of a single fantasy novel/setting where there are vast hordes of mithral wearing dwarves making up the bulk of vast armies.

Off the top of my head, King Rhobar from the Gothic PC game series was trying to equip his army with magic ore items. He had a little trouble with the supply, it's true, but the problem in equipping his army was definitely not the forging.

Also, note that mithral/mithril was extremely scarce by the Third Age(Lotr).Even so, the The Guards of the Minas Tirith wore helmets of mithril.If humans could have enough of them to arm a small army protecting a city, you can bet that in an earlier age when the material was more abundant someone equipped an army.

For more often that not, lack of material is the problem, not forging it.However, the mountains in your setting might contain an absurd amount of mithral. During war, smiths could be given a choice: Serve in the army or make equipment for free, with the materials provided by the king.

My two cents.In any case, I've gotten my answer, and I've determined that the craft mechanic isn't balanced.Hence the new system.

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry if I seemed snide or anything like that, it was not my intention.

I like the way everyone tells me that real armies weren't equipped with mwk weapons when we are talking about a game of medieval fantasy, a genre with armies of dwarves in mithral armor.

Anyway.

I've been doing some more testing with the lvl 6 expert I've started, using his craft(weapons) +15 as a general skill.With an average of 10 per roll, it would take said expert:

-Usually 3 days to make a plain longsword
-6 weeks to build a mwk component for a weapon
-128 weeks to make a CR 8 mechanical trap
-144 weeks(about 3 years!!!) to make a mithral component for a heavy weapon(if said component had a craft DC of 25)

Meanwhile, with the Master Craftsman and Craft Magic Arms and Armor the same expert can make a mwk longsword a +2 mg longsword in 8 days if he succeds the check.

All in all, I have to say the mechanic is broken(not to mention overly complicated), so I've decided to make an alternate system, based on the magic items creation, which appears to be a little more streamlined.The mechanic works as follows.

1.Determine item price.

2.Determine craft DC(Table 4-4 etc.).

3.Duration is 1 day(8 hours) per 50 gp (6 gp 2 sp 5 cp/ hour)
*can be accelerated to 4 hours per 50 gp (12 gp 5 sp/hour) if you add 5 to the DC=>1 day per 100 gp
*can be accelerated to 2 hours per 50 gp (25 gp/hour) if you add 10 to the DC=>1 day per 200 gp
*etc.
*While out adventuring, if crafting of the item is possible(DM discretion), work takes 4hours/day, but only 2 count=>Duration is 1 day(4/2 hours) per 12 gp 5 sp

4.Pay 1/2 of the cost of the item for raw materials.

5.At the end of the duration, roll skill check vs noted Craft DC to determine if the character has managed to construct the item.If he failed by 4 or less, he may retry, if he failed by 5 or more, the raw materials are ruined.

(Option):For every 5 that the character beats the DC, halve the duration by one increment(e.g. +5 => 4 hours, +10 => 2 hours etc.).For every 5 that the character fails the DC, also halve the duration to determine when he ruins the materials.

Please note that this while this option requires the character to roll before the actual construction of the item, however, it eliminates the need to add to the Craft DC beforehand, therefore simplifying the mechanic(I'll probably go with this option in the end.)

With this mechanic, the same expert can(without modifying the duration by adding to the DC):
-craft a longsword in one day
-craft a mwk component for a weapon in 6 days
-craft a CR 8 mechanical trap in 80 days.
-craft a mithral component for heavy armor in 90 days.

Yes, it's not perfect, but it's less broken that the original mechanic, imported unchanged from 3.5.

The entire duration depends on the value in bold, which can be modified(if the durations are too short for you, consider making it 10).I would like to hear you input on that value, any any other points in this mechanic.

Thank you for reading and thanks in advance on any advice.

I tried out the Craft skill.I built a level 6 expert with Craft(Weapons) +6(skill ranks) +3(class skill) +2(int mod) +2(Aid from apprentice) +2(Masterwork Tools) = +15

A masterwork component for a longsword cost 300 gp(3000 sp) and has a craft DC of 20

Even if he has an average of 10 + Craft 15 =25 * 20 = 500 sp each week, it still takes the expert 6 weeks to complete it(500 sp * 6 = 3000 sp).

Working 8 hours a day, on one sword.

What if you want to equip an army?

I'm planning to run a campaign in a fantasy world that has entered an ice age apocalypse, picked up Frostburn for my needs, and someone on the board has pointed out to me that Mr.James Jacobs was one of the co-authors.I have a number of questions related to that book, if Mr' Jacobs doesn't mind.

1.How compatible is Frostburn with PF, in terms of creature CR's and spells?Are the monsters balanced with the fact that sorcerer/wizards get a great number of fire spells?Is there an adaptation of the Cold and Winter domains anywhere for PF?

2.Is there any 3.5 or PF table somewhere that details the amount of edible food and any valuable skin/fur/bones the PC's can get off a creature of a certain size, and their values(in a frozen world, food is scarce and bones/skin/fur are essential trading items)?

3.I'm planning to create the setting as the southern part of a continent, with glaciers slowly crawling southwards over the mountains in the north, and a frozen sea on the south, east and west sides.What is the average temperature band(from Frostburn) that I need for that effect, and would the frozen sea would also turn into a glacier itself, and start crawling over the land?

4.Do Resist Energy and Protection from Energy count as the same level in terms of level of protection against cold(from Frostburn)?

5.Do Armor Insulation and the Cold Weather Outfit stack as level of protection against cold?

Thank you in advance!

I'd also like to congratulate Mr. Jacobs and the entire Paizo staff for an excellent gaming system.This game rocks!

You should repost this here. James was one of the authors, but you probably know that.

I actually had no idea, thanks for the tip!

Meanwhile, if anyone else wants to take a crack at the questions, they're more than welcome.

Here's another one:

6.I'm looking to limit spellcasters.While it's obvious that material components for spells are scarce, and will cost more, are there any ways to limit divine spellcasters in a similar manner?

29.My campaign world is built around the old 3.5 gods, is there a table somewhere of them with the new PF domains added?

I'm planning to run a campaign in a fantasy world that has entered an ice age apocalypse, and I need the advice of a few veteran DM's, preferably ones that have read the Frostburn 3.5 book.

1.My campaign world is built around the old 3.5 gods, is there a table somewhere of them with the new PF domains added?

2.How compatible is Frostburn with PF, in terms of creature CR's and spell power?Is there an adaptation of the Cold and Winter domains anywhere for PF?

3.Is there any 3.5 or PF table somewhere that details the amount of edible food and any valuable skin/fur/bones the PC's can get off a creature of a certain size, and their values(in a frozen world, food is scarce and bones/skin/fur are essential trading items)?

4.I'm planning to create the setting as the southern part of a continent, with glaciers slowly crawling southwards over the mountains in the north, and a frozen sea on the south, east and west sides.Can any geography inclined GM tell me what is the average temperature band(from Frostburn) that I need for that effect, and if the frozen sea would also turn into a glacier itself, and start crawling over the land?

5.Do Resist Energy and Protection from Energy count as the same level in terms of level of protection against cold(from Frostfell)?

Thanks in advance!

Thank you for the replies, they've helped clear the rules up a lot.Unfortunately, I've got another set of questions(should be the last) so I'm going to bump this topic again.Sorry about that.

In any case, thanks again for all the help.

21.Does the Flame Blade Spell get a modified damage roll(1d6) for a small spell caster?Do similar spells change damage type to suit the size of the caster?

22.Does beast shape and similar spells change their ability bonuses if the Caster is of a size other than medium?

23.Are the GMG settlement modifiers standard, or can I adjust them at will before adding the qualities/disadvantages?Should I apply the modifier to the DC directly, or should I just tell the player to add/substract it from his roll?

24.Are undead creatures necessarily evil, and if yes, why?

25.Do items like Headband of charisma/intelligence/wisdom modify the number of bonus spells that bards/wizards/clerics receive?

26.Any good tips for a DM on how to roleplay getting lost?

27.Is there a reference sheet for weather and terrain types?

28.What would be the gp cost of a book in a medieval world with the printing press(lets say, 1 printing press per small or large town, spells can’t be copied, obviously)?

Hello again, good people.I'm reading up on the Pathfinder core, and I've come across a number of questions regarding specific spells to which i haven't been able to answer by myself.Thanks in advance for answering any or all of the questions!

1.Can the noises produced with Ghost Sound be shaped into giving an academic lecture or something of the sort?

2.What are the attack values for Mage Hand?

3.What are the HP/AC values for Mage's Faithful Hound?

4.Do attack and damage values from Magic Stone stack with the ones on a magic sling?

5.What happens when a creature that has a Geas or a Mark of Justice on it enters an Antimagic Field?

6.What the heck is a three-dimensional grid of energy described in the Order's Wrath(not a native english speaker)?

7.Do all the effects in the Prismatic Wall happen at the same time?

8.Does an illusion created by spells such as Project Image have a separate initiative track, and if yes, what’s the initiative modifier?

9.Does Rage stack with the normal barbarian rage in effects and/or duration?

10.What is the speed for the Spectral Hand?

I didn't want to make another topic, so if you good people don't mind I'll simply bump this one with some new questions.Thanks in advance for answering any or all of them!

9.What’s the difference between the campaign types presented on page 16 on table 1-2 and how do I work with that?

10.Do favorite classes apply to NPC classes?

11.How many hours of work/day are necessary while crafting?Can you do overtime?

12.Do I use Perception to search a room, loot, scavenge, etc, and how?

13.Can you combine the Improved Counterspell feat with a Ring of Counterspells?

14.Can you take the Toughness feat multiple times?

15.Does a Cleric need to make a CL check in order to cast a cure spell on an ally with SR?What if he casts it on himself and he has SR?

16.Can divine spellcasters counterspell, and can a counterspell be counterspelled?

17.Can you prepare low level spells in higher level slots(for example, Magic Missle in a level 7 slot)?

18.Are the changes in AC and attack related to size derivated from the modified Str/Dex or do they stand alone and stack with the new modifiers?

19.What is the normal, average falling speed in this game system?

20.What are the turning speeds and general speeds of siege machines?

Again, thanks in advance!

Hello,

I'm looking to play Pathfinder, and while going through the Core Book I've found some of the rules unclear, so here I am, with questions.Sorry if these have been answered before.

1.Does using the Vital Strike feat use up the rest of your attacks during the round?Or is it a standard attack?Can it be used for all attacks with the full attack option?

2.On page 178 it specifies that before you have had a chance to act normally during the first turn, your are flat-footed.Does this mean that if a monster get a total 3 on it's init roll(all combatants are aware of each other), does it mean it's flat-footed against all attacks that come before it acts in the first round?Or is that just the surprise round?

3.Does a Charge Bull Rush receive the -2 AC penalty associated with charge along with the +2 attack bonus?

4.Where can I find the ranges for improvised weapons?

5.Is the masterwork cost included in the magic enhancement cost(aka, does a +1 magic longsword cost 2315=2000(enhancement)+300(mw)+15 or just 2015(without mw))?

6.Is the Hit Die at first level considered maximum, or do I have to roll it?It would suck having a first level wizard with 1 hp.

7.Do necromancy spells count as evil spells for a good cleric(some of them have evil in the description, some of the don't)?

8.Lets say we have a character with
16(+3) STR, +6/+1 BAB
Two Weapon Fighting and Improved Two Weapon Fighting
a one-handed melee weapon in one hand and a light melee weapon in the off-hand.

so he's at -2 for each weapon.

As a full round action, does he get 4 attacks:
a +7 with the main,
a +7 with the off-hand,
a +2 with the off-hand(Improved Two Weapon Fighting)
and a +4 with the main(second BAB value)
?

Thanks in advance!