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The thing about iconics is they are, well, iconic representations of Pathfinder character builds. Making Valeros a Qadiran Dervish dual wielding kukris makes him an optimized two-weapon fighter, and a perfectly legitimate build - but he's no longer Valeros.

To be honest, I don't understand why you would want to try to optimize Valeros rather than jsut starting from scratch and building a PC/NPC of your own. If you want to use him, just use him as is. Otherwise you're just building a different character. Maybe this is sort of a rigid way of looking at it, but for those of us who kind of like the 'character' of the iconics (myself included) this seems a bit disingenuous.

It does make for interesting theory-crafting though, so if I'm being a wet blanket, that's fair enough.

I've actually played Valeros, exactly as per the stats in the NPC Codex at various levels. I am of the opinion that he can be perfectly effective and fun to play if you simply leave him alone. Is he perfectly optimized? No, but the iconics aren't intended to be.

If you want to play around with alternate feats, archetypes, or whatever, that's perfectly fine. I just wanted to let you know that you can go pretty far and have a fair amount of fun with what some people consider sub-optimal stats and feat selections.

Also, if you want to play the character using the 'method acting" approach to role-playing, you can get a fair amount of personality insight from the Pathfinder comics he's been featured in.

So it turns out that I really don't have the time needed to devote to this game to make it worth everybody's while. I thought I would have ample time to post in the evenings, but I have been incredibly busy with work (I own a construction company) even when I'm not at work. In addition I am building my own house and helping my girlfriend move. Yeah.

I apologize profusely to everyone - it might be possible to find another GM for the game if you would like to keep it going. Sorry to let you guys down.

Each round you can make an Opposed Difficult (-10) Deceive vs. Scrutiny Test against the other players and Worldsbane. Each degree of success on any of these tests adds a +5 bonus to a final Challenging (+0) Opposed Logic Test. Alternatively, you can choose to cheat by making an Opposed Difficult Sleight of Hand vs Awareness test. Each Degree of Success on this test yields a +40 bonus to the final Logic Test. On a failure, you are caught cheating. This could be bad.

You can also aid each other if so inclined. You can pass your bonus on your Deceive test to any other player for use in their final Logic Test.

You can wager anything you have, and by "buying in" to the game, you get several items you can wager, including 30 Adamantium ingots, 2 skin deeds, a vial of essence, 3 icons and statuettes (One of a Nurgling, one a skull icon of brass, the other a chaos circle pendant). You do not have any slaves at the moment. It is up to you who has what.

Samsun is the first player to wager, followed by Hephaest and Feustus. Corbin Worldsbane will wager last. He looks at you expectantly.

If this seems confusing, it did to me at first too. Let's give it a shot though. What's the worst that could happen?

I have Samsun, Hephaest, and Feustus at the table. Zurias and Karthuus are...mingling? Scanning for threats. Yeah, let's go with that.

The old man stands up as you sit, and with his crooked smile still in place, mockingly bows. He glances sharply at the other players who seem to realize that their time playing Spiked Circle is done, and make room at the table for the new arrivals.

Haven't had a lot of free time this weekend. I do want to go over everything and address any issues (Flesh is Weak, acquisitions, etc.) but I need some sit-down time to do so. So hang in there - should have something up Sunday evening and starting Monday I will be posting regularly between 5-12 PM EST.

On second thought, guys, I don't think I have the time for another game. I'm going to have to pull out. Luckily, I'm sure there are some other people that would love to play.

Whatever. We've got that other guy who posted in this thread who basically has a character ready to go. Should I send him a PM? EDIT: I just did.

Feustus and Hephaest make their way to a table. A bartender - scratch that, some kind of servitor with multiple coiled metal appendages asks in a high-pitched mechanical voice that is almost comical...

"What are ye havin'..TCH TCH ye havin'?"

A dataslate flips up out of the things chest and scans through the hundreds of drinks, much too quickly for you to discern what any of them are.

The blade-tavern is about half-full - some regulars you recognize, some you do not.

An older human sits at a large round table, usually used for games of chance and cards. There is a large mound of...tentacles and eyes seated nearby, an uneasy looking woman in a tattered uniform of some sort (with various mechanical augmentations), a figure dressed in black with goggles and a mask, and a woman wearing an Imperial Guard uniform with a massive pink gash running the entire length of her face on the left side. The right side of her face is quite attractive, by human standards. None of the other players seem to be faring very well - a large pile of writs, parchment, and other items lie directly in front of the older man.

He looks up and sees the astartes traitor and the heretek. The man has white sideburns and white hair, and his face is hard and leathery. His right eye is milky white and shows signs of plasma scarring. He smiles crookedly and shouts:

"Come join us. You look as though you have valuables to lose." He chuckles slightly, still smiling crookedly "This lot is almost out. Just a friendly game of Spiked Circle to pass the time. Might even be worth your while. If you have associates arriving, they are welcome to join us."

Feustus is the only one in the bar right now, but I am working under the assumption that you all know of each other. I don't know if you actually LIKE each other, but hey.

As the Nurgle-touched astartes enters the bar, an abhuman - something called an "ogryn" on Imperial worlds - holds up an enormous, misshapen hand. As he speaks, his words are distorted by a single huge tusk protruding from his lower jaw. He has small eyes and a snout like a pig.

"You know rule! No guns! Knife OK."

Anyone carrying a firearm or equivalent must deposit it in a secure locker before entering the blade-tavern.

As if to accentuate the brute's point, a spite-engine uncoils from the ceiling - a glance up reveals dozens of the sentient machines coiling around each other like a nest of serpents - and looks you over with five beady black eyes. It hisses, oily ichor dripping from iron mandibles.

Looks like we still have some players figuring some character things out, and that's fine. I figured we could at least get some RP posts up in the meantime.

I'm not being too much of a stickler about RAW with character creation. There are a lot of moving parts - as long as we have skills and characteristics, I can work with that. Special abilities and powers we can deal with as we go. Check each other out, and if everybody is fine with everything, then we should be good to go.

Oh yeah, gameplay thread is up HERE. in case you were wondering.

"A new wind stirs the warp and blows into the Malfian. With it come those destined to be the doom and the salvation of the fools who know only the corpse-god." - Torestus 2:2-3

Kurse. The last place anybody in the galaxy would want to be. A dead end in a place that does not know the yoke of the Imperium, but has little else to offer. Crater scarred and desolate, the seas of Kurse boil, and the pathetic life forms still on the planet's surface live brief and meaningless lives. Predator mutants hunt the wasteland, and cannibalistic tribes of scavenger creatures rise and fall. Of all the places in the Screaming Vortex, Kurse may not be the worst, but it certainly isn't anywhere anyone would want to stay for long.

Luckily for you, you got off that rock - only to find yourself on another rock, or asteroid called Belphagion. When the Dark Magi of Forge Kastir retrofitted some of the asteroids around Kurse for use as observation and reconnaissance posts, they did not anticipate these hab-platforms would become inhabited by outcasts from all over the galaxy, both human and xenos. As long as the proper offering is made to the Dark Magi, they leave well enough alone. So these platforms have become chaotic and ramshackle places, with the rudimentary structure of civilization - you can trade things, you can get a good stiff drink (just don't ask what's in it) in one of the blade-taverns, and you can find a temporary thrill in one of the pleasure-houses or by betting on combatants in the arena.

However, after several weeks aboard Belphagion, all of you are quite past the point of wanting to stay any longer. This hollowed out rock is no place to plot revenge or conquest, and that is certainly on your mind as you meet near a familiar blade-tavern known by the locals as "The Broken Aquila," since a damaged plasteel Imperial aquila hangs over the arched entrance. Various offal and stains unceremoniously decorate it.

Anybody want a drink?

Checking in. Looks like everybody has more or less got a character ready at this point. I've just skimmed everything for now, but I can go back through and check everything out if we so desire. I am going to put up a few initial posts in the actual gameplay thread (to establish the story so far, that kind of thing) most likely tomorrow evening. So if you want to pick an avatar for your character and put a stat line in there, that would be great.

Oh and good news! My LGS has Tome of Excess and Tome of Decay in stock, so I will pick those up the next time I head down there. I picked up Iron Gods and Mummy's Mask and that blew my budget. Next time. We should be good with the core book for a bit, anyways.

You...that's my favorite line from my favorite movie. I'm gonna have to buy Iron Gods now. You rotten bastards.

(I was probably going to buy it anyways)

Here's the deal. I've got five players from an Interest Check thread, who were all interested, and BayouSnowman sent me a PM asking if I could run. Normally, I would run a recruitment thread for a week where everybody submits characters and then I pick 4-5 players and 4-5 alternates. But that wasn't the case here - I was asked to run by these fine internet people, so run the game for them I shall do.

Trust me, 8 member parties in this game are a cluster@*!$. So I am going to have to limit it to the first five (BayouSnowman, TerraNova, Feustus, Olmek, and the Doom that Came to Sarnath) that posted in the interest check thread originally. I will keep anybody else who has already posted in mind for alternates.

For now, PLEASE limit this thread to discussion between the GM and those five players. This is not a recruitment thread. We are full up. Maybe next time. The Imperium thanks you for your cooperation. Additional heretics will be purged and processed.

Those are some nice re-rolls. Truly you have been blessed by your Dark God patrons, whoever they may ultimately turn out to be.

There's no real tricks to stat allocation. An Apostate is going to want high Fellowship (Fel). A Heretek will want high Intelligence (Int). Agility, Perception and Toughness are all fairly important for all characters. Strength, Weapon Skill, and Ballistic Skill are important for CSM Champions and Chosen, and human Renegades. Don't worry about character optimization - Black Crusade gives you 7000 XP to play with to start. Yeah, compared to Dark Heresy or Only War, you guys are bad asses from the get go. Chaos rules.

Once you have figured out your characteristic stats and archetype, put those stats in the byline under your characters name (where Feustus has "Male Chaos Space Marine Sorcerer" now). It is going to make the game go a LOT more quickly if I can see those stats at a glance. Something like - WS 42 BS 23 S 45 T 40 and so on.

So far we have a Heretek, Apostate, and a Sorcerer. Chosen or Champion? Psyker or Renegade? Forsaken? The choice is yours, but choose wisely. Or let the gods decide....

Once you determine your Archetype, make a 1d5 + x roll to determine your Wounds - it varies based on which one you pick. Take note of your starting skills, talents, and gear. You also have a Special Ability, and may have some XP points to spend on Psychic Powers.

You don't have to roll for your Pride, Disgrace, or Motivation, just pick one that's appropriate.

Of course, I'm assuming that you guys have managed to snag a copy of the book somewhere in the warp. I can also provide any info or explain things if you need me to. Just let me know.

According to the briefing in the adventure:

This adventure offers ample opportunities for both savvy roleplaying and gruelling combat, and the scenarios contained herein are designed to appeal to a wide variety of group types and play styles. Chapter I and Chapter II are geared toward the more academic or diplomatic types like Apostates and Hereteks, and require the Heretics to think their way through their challenges. However, there are opportunities for combat-oriented characters to do their bloody work. Chapter III pits the Heretics against an unstoppable and implacable foe and is largely combat oriented, allowing heretics like Renegades, Champions, and Sorcerors to really shine. Even then, though, the foe's defeat may ultimately lie in quick and creative thinking on the part of the Heretics.

That's all well and good, but I have PLOT KNOWLEDGE, so...I still think you can play what you want, just be aware that if everybody picks Khornate Champions, you might all wind up in the gladiatorial pits on a demon world - which sounds great for eternal carnage, but not so great for a play by post game. The group is probably going to need diplomancers and rogue-ish types in some instances. Even Chaos Space Marines need some guile and cunning before they rip their enemy's guts out, right?

In short, play the character you think would be most interesting to play from a role-playing standpoint. If any of you want to include some background fluff, that would be awesome.

Character Creation / OOC Discussion Thread is up HERE. I'll be creating the campaign thread and all that fun stuff shortly.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I don't know what everyone's level of experience is, but I'm a pretty easy-going GM. I've only played this a couple of times and run it a couple too, but the system isn't too hard to grasp.

It is the 41st Millennium...

Welcome to the discussion and character creation thread for Black Crusade - Hand of Corruption! Let's get to it.

The major mechanic of the game is making Tests against Skills and Characteristics. These all have a Difficulty that can range from Trivial to Hellish. Essentially, for the purposes of this play-by-post game, you (the player) tell me what you want to do, and I get to tell you if you succeed or fail, whilst describing it in gory detail.

To create a character, you are going to need to choose a "race". You can be a Chaos Space Marine or a Human. Ah, choices. Humans tend to be a little more flexible, but lack the martial prowess and sheer physical might of CSMs.

Something that isn't quite spelled out, but becomes apparent through gameplay - you start out sort of unaligned. Certain aspects of your character steer you towards one of the big four throughout the game play. So, you don't start out as a Thousand Son, Death Guard, Emperor's Children, World Eater, and so on. Those guys are all Heresy-era traitors, and are generally a higher power level than starting characters.

The next step is rolling stats. There IS an allocation system - but this is CHAOS, so we're going to roll. You can assign the rolls in whatever Characteristics you want. Roll 2d10 + 30 for each characteristic if you are a Chaos Marine, 2d10 + 25 for a Human (Nine total: Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Toughness, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, Fellowship) and then roll 1d5 + 19 to generate your Infamy.

Because you have been blessed by the Dark Gods, you can re-roll any one result you choose (even Infamy), but you must keep the new result, even if it is worse than the old one.

Once we get Characteristics stats sorted out, we'll move on to Archetypes, and start spending some XP.

I can accommodate all five of you for a Black Crusade game. We can use everything in the core book, plus The Tome of Fate and the Tome of Blood (Tome of Excess and Tome of...Nurgle can be used too, I just need to get copies of those).

PLAYERS:

BayouSnowman
TerraNova
Nohwear
The Doom That Came to Sarnath
Olmek

If you would like to start thinking about character creation, it basically breaks down like this:

If you would like to play a Chaos Space Marine you can choose from the following Archetypes:

Champion - a warrior and commander, leader of soldiers either by fear or devotion.
Chosen - A consummate soldier and hard bitten veteran
Forsaken - An outcast from his former allegiance, a lone wanderer who joins other warbands out of necessity.
Sorcerer - A Chaos Space Marine that has mastered the art of the psyker.

If you would like to play a Human, you can choose from these archetypes:

Apostate - An infiltrator and silver-tongued serpent, a powerful leader of the masses.
Renegade - A warrior who survives on skill of arms rather than brute force
Heretek - One initiated into the mysteries of technology, a rebel from the cult of the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Psyker - An unsanctioned and chaos-turned psyker, extremely powerful and infused by the warp.

I have a couple of options. I started off with a version of "Broken Chains" that I still have a bunch of text for - that was the previous game that got cut short. There are a couple of other things I can adapt (False Prophets, Rivals for Glory). Or, we can jump right into a big campaign like Hand of Corruption. I like using the published stuff as a base, and then jumping off from there.

Personally, I'm inclined to jump into Hand of Corruption. Because it is 1) amazing 2) gives us a lot of leeway in terms of accomplishing PC goals and 3) I already have it, and it reduces my work considerably!

If we are good to go I can start a new thread for character creation. I'll outline all the stuff we need to know there. Don't worry, you can roll d10s and actually select where you want to put them, as opposed to straight rolling or whatever.

Hey - I'm actually kind of psyked about this.

I could do either Black Crusade or Deathwatch. My preference would be Black Crusade, because Chaos can be really interesting to play (especially if players have goals and aren't just "randumb evil lol") However, I think Deathwatch would be equally cool. Whichever you guys prefer!

I would need a little time to prep for either - it's been a little while (over a year maybe?) since I ran the game and used the rules.

I would be looking for four players. I would also need about a week to get things ready, so if you're interested, let me know in this thread.

Once we have enough people, we can go through character creation, and then jump right into it. These games (40K RPGs) do tend to be combat heavy...which sometimes makes it a little difficult to do by play-by-post, but hey, let's give it a shot!

Thanks for the great and helpful replies guys! There are a lot of very good suggestions I am going to implement the next time I decide to embark on another play-by-post game.

I did start making it pretty much mandatory that you had to at least post once per day. I also rolled initiative for everyone. Essentially, anything I could do to keep the pace up, yet provide for a lot of detail and fun dialog, I did. I did have a concern when running adventure paths that I was hugging the rail a bit too tightly - keeping the party on track without seeming like you are controlling the players is a tricky thing to do. Requires a "light touch" and some subtlety.

There was a campaign where I got discouraged as A GM and bowed out, but I made sure to let all of my players know. I think making use of the OOC discussion threads worked very well. I tend to be very detail-oriented, and perhaps do it by the book. The campaigns I HAVE finished have usually been shorter modules, like We Be Goblins! for instance.

I also think that player selection is important, so I always hold a sort of draft where everyone submits their characters and backstory. It's not always easy to tell if a player is going to be up for a long-term AP type of campaign, or even if they are going to be a problem. Some of the best players were GMs for other games (go figure). Sometimes players would start out great, then lose interest. I would usually select at least as many alternates as players, after encountering this first hand. I also tell folks to take a look at the actual play by linking to one of my previous games on the forums and see if you like my GMing style.

I really like the format and the flexibility play-by-post games can provide, and I have been debating if I want to try it again, even if I have been a little disappointed in the past. I thin I may have gotten a little inspiration from starting this topic though!

I only have the books for Deathwatch and Black Crusade. I was a pretty big Chaos player and fan for a while. I would have liked to pick up the rest of them, but alas, the interest waned in that aspect of 40K pretty quickly with our local group of wargamers.

If you guys are going to do an Only War game I wish you luck - and remember, The Emperor Protects!

Yes, because playing a monk can be rewarding and fun. Your experience may vary.

I've actually attempted to GM a few play-by-post games in the past, but I'm reluctant to try it again. I have some experience running Pathfinder, but I didn't play or run a lot of 3.5, so sometimes I run into the problem of players knowing the rules better than I do - so I thought play by post would be a perfect way to get some GMing experience that I could use when I actually had an IRL group.

However, I really liked the ability to WRITE dialog and keep the story going that way, versus doing all the improvisational work that tabletop GMs do. I can do that as well, but I have a long way to go before I would consider myself good at it. It's also convenient, and the slower pace allows you to really play it by the book. Which can be good AND bad, I suppose.

Another issue with play by post games has been keeping the game going without everyone either losing interest or dropping out. I really try to keep it compelling for the players - I've made maps, I've established personal connections to NPCs, etc. - Adventure Paths are great - but doing things by the book, they could actually take YEARS to get to the final volume doing play by post games. So you have to cut corners and hand wave, and there are players who DO NOT like that. The other issue I've had is players who create a character, and then realize that they really don't want to spend a long time playing that character - they get bored with the concept. This happened in one of my tabletop campaigns too.

So, for those of you who have run successful (and more importantly, long-term) play by post campaigns, what was the trick? Or, what was the combination of elements that made it successful?

Well hello there, BayouSnowman. I know the fluff, I know the background, and I've even run Black Crusade and Deathwatch via play by post.

I've got 5 Deathwatch characters made up and ready to go. I don't play the miniatures games anymore, but I've got a bunch of Deathwatch and Black Crusade hardcovers sitting around and getting no love. So I would be interested.

I do have an example of a sadly short-lived play by post game that I ran for some friends of mine here if you want to take a look. I think the admins were playing around with dice tags, but I just used a random dice roller and cut and pasted the results. I was used to the Paizo format.

I've been looking to run a game on here again, too.

Also remember that in the days when TTRPGs did advertise on TV, the industry was much more monolithic. For that matter, so was television (We usually got about 8-10 channels!) In the early 80s, TSR and D&D dominated. Now there are a lot more options regarding the system, publisher, and so on. So while the industry overall might be more popular than ever, it doesn't resemble what it looked like in the 80s.

I would say that video games have emerged so they are no longer a niche product, but have mass market appeal. Sort of like how nearly everyone buys things like food, soap, cars - these products need to advertise to reach as many people as possible. Video games are more like movie releases these days. TTRPGs have a ways to go before we can say that everybody played one when they were a kid. I think that is called market saturation? Been a while since I took marketing.

So I have been working on developing some of the languages of the various regions of the setting to work into my games. I feel like this would give a little flavor - instead of saying, "The ancient wizard says something in Thassilonian", as a GM I could actually say something in...Thassilonian, whatever that may sound like. So far, I've gotten as far as breaking down the runes into letters and/or sounds, based on some of the names and words I do know.

Do any of you have any languages you have developed? I am thinking of doing ancient Osirian and Varisian next. I would probably base these on the actual ancient Egyptian and Roma languages, changing some words and sounds slightly. Skald could be based on Old Norse, Tian languages on Chinese/Japanese/Korean and so on. For languages that do not have an "earth-equivalent" I would have to be more creative. For fantasy races, there are obvious starting points. But for monstrous races...has anyone ever developed a kobold language, for instance? What does the dark folk tongue sound like? Giant?

I don't think I want to develop an entire grammar and dictionary, but a few phrases would be useful. Are there existing resources, or should I just read up on linguistics and start developing my own? A languages of Golarion phrase book would be a great player companion or campaign setting book.

EDIT: I have found some useful inspiration when I searched some older threads, but I'd like to know if anyone else has some different ideas.

It may also have to do with mass market appeal. These are niche products. You have to sell them through the right channels to reach your customers. Internet, conventions, local game shops, comic book shops, bookstores, and so on.

You are dumping 3 stats to get a stat of 20 with a 15-point ability score buy for an eleven-year-old child character. Correct?

So you would be playing a child prodigy, albeit a very weak, impulsive, and unlikeable one. One wonders exactly what type of adventurer would agree to adventuring with such a person. Or why this person wouldn't just use their prodigious intelligence to outwit and outsmart people into giving up their coin and treasure. Adventuring seems far too risky and dangerous - oh wait, there's that wisdom thing again. Your character might have fallen down the well to test a theory on elemental gravity inversion long before embarking on a career as a child adventurer, I think. Or mayhaps a party of evil n'er do-wells might have talked you into something unsavory.

I think a lot of the excitement comes from it simply being a new edition of D&D - still a valuable brand, and still capable of invoking nostalgia among all the old-school gamers, as well as having geek cachet.

As far as the game goes, time will tell. There is a lot of stuff buried in the PHB (I'm still reading through it) much of it reminiscent of past editions. There's some 4th edition stuff (Mearls is still lead design on this) some throwbacks to 3.5 and earlier, and some pretty well integrated new stuff.

I like the advantage/disadvantage mechanic. It's simple, applicable in many situations, and it keeps the game moving. While I like the complexity of Pathfinder, and will probably continue to play it, the new iteration of D&D is much less daunting to pick up and play and /or run as a DM.

Drawbacks? I don't see this being a gridless game. Miniatures and maps are always optional I guess, but I certainly couldn't imagine playing Pathfinder without them. (I am a meticulous picky painter from a wargaming background, so I always get a little frustrated at unpainted minis and prepainted blobs on the table!) Also, I think sometimes folks want to play D&D or its iterations at the exclusion of all other games - even I was reluctant to try the Dresden Files RPG, and I love Numenara...but nobody seems remotely interested in playing it.

I generally think it looks like it might be a very good iteration of D&D. Given that is what a lot of tabletop RPGers play, that's a good thing.

Also, as a final side note, the artwork is a vast improvement over 4th edition, most of which I found dreadful.

Gaming groups can be an interesting dynamic. I've recently taken a break from the first weekly group I've had in a long time. After running a campaign for nearly 8 months - a period in which I considered the group my friends, as well as my players, I was simply getting burned out - so one of our players wanted to do a campaign. It lasted 3 weeks, and now they've apparently moved on from Pathfinder entirely.

I think as a player though, I was frustrated. What went from being on time every week turned into starting late and wrapping up early. All of the fear I had of the whole group falling apart after I had worked hard to keep everyone engaged may have started when I stopped GMing and became a player. I argued with one of my players over something basic that I was convinced I was right about - and turned out to be dead wrong. So I became the problem player. I of course apologized, but it didn't feel the same. Something changed.

Even though I had less experience with 3.5 Pathfinder, I tried to know the rules as well as I could before every game session. I tried to diplomatically point out major rules violations and got pushback, all the time. I stood firm, but I still listened to my players when I did something wrong. But this bred a little resentment, which came out in ugly fashion as I tried to argue that my third level wizard could cast 3rd-level spells based solely on the bonus spells granted by his Int modifier. A complete lapse. Instead, I felt like yet again, they were pushing, when I was clearly right. In that case, I was embarrassingly wrong - but I couldn't see it. I had been waiting for hours to play, and was just angry. I exploded. It was poor behavior, and even though I later apologized profusely, I felt ashamed. I should know better.

At this point, I know have very little interest in maintaining the group anymore - schedules seem to always conflict (I'm the only one who has no children and works regular hours), and I finally threw in the towel and wished them luck if they wanted to do something else. While I hope we remain friends, I'm looking now at possibly helping to establish a PFS presence in my local community instead. I really enjoy this particular game, and would like to continue playing it with folks who share that enthusiasm.

Apologies if these seems like a confessional or something, but I appreciate the opportunity to get some lingering things off my chest, and this thread seemed like an apt place to do so!

Specifically, a headband of vast intelligence +2 at level 7, and a headband of vast intelligence +4 at level 12 - in addition to getting the normal stat bumps at levels 4, 8, and 12.

It's always a good idea to consider how magical items might affect your character builds, as the game assumes their use when determining appropriate CR for encounters.

I have a bunch of 4th edition books sitting on my shelves that I no longer use. I have almost all of the hardcover Pathfinder books on the same shelf, and I use those frequently. While they group I play with has expressed interest (branding...it's a powerful thing) I personally want to stick with Pathfinder. I'm still a long ways from mastering the system, and I've been playing it a while. I feel too invested in it.

Oh, and the adventure paths and campaign setting are what really keep me being a supporter, more so than the rules or mechanics.

Will I check out the new D&D starter set? Likely, since it's pretty inexpensive. Will I be buying a whole new set of books for a new edition of D$D? Unlikely.

Edit: Made a typo in that last sentence. Or did I?

There is a NPC in 'The Godsmouth Ossuary' module that is undead and non-evil. So there is some canon justification to say that in Golarion, there are intelligent undead who are not evil. It's still an exception to the rule.

You'll want to look closely at page 23.

Wow, Kyra looks fantastic. She's always been my favorite though.

Also really like Merisiel as well. Lem looks like he deserves some respect, very dignified. Great artwork all around.

For campaign info, the following books are helpful for Jade Regent:

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dragon Empires Gazetteer
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lands of the Linnorm Kings
Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends

For Sandpoint, there's a lot of useful information in the appendix of Rise of the Runelords: Anniversary Edition.

For tracking the caravan's progress, I did use the section in the Inner Sea World Guide having to do with time/months, and actually printed a 'Golarion calendar' (a template with the months and days changed) to keep track of how long the journey takes. To be honest, there isn't a lot of info in the Inner Sea World Guide that you're going to absolutely need to run Jade Regent. Hope this helps.

Bluff seems like an obvious choice.

EDIT: I was asking to be ninja'd.

Due to, well, just being busy as hell with work (I'm a contractor, and the owner of the business), and running games with my real-life gaming groups, I have neglected this game, and I apologize for that.

I don't want to throw in the towel just yet, as long as you guys want to continue. Would it be all right if I put it on hiatus for about a month or so? I can contact you by PM when I have a little more time to put maps together and can actually sit down and crunch out combats.

Sorry guys, life and work has been getting in the way of making regular posts. I also have a new IRL Pathfinder group of 3.5 converts I've just started GMing for on the weekends, which has been a lot of fun, but a lot of work too. I'll be back to my regular schedule by Monday evening.

Skitterfoot looks on in amazement as Hiro scales the wall. "Very sneaky, well done, climb climb climb and up we go, hee hee!

As Hiro opens the gate, the ratling looks inquisitively at the lock mechanism. As the party moves through into the gatehouse and the courtyard beyond, he produces the key he found in the light house, climbs up to the lock, inserts his 'skeleton's key' and the mechanism turns back and forth. "Well, it was much more impressive to go over the wall than simply unlock the gate, if you ask me, heh."

As you move quietly through the gatehouse, keeping under the cover of the balcony above so as not to arouse the suspicions of the bird-men patrolling the upper levels, you gaze into the courtyard beyond.

The barren courtyard of packed dirt contains clumps of weeds, furrows in the ground that look like tracks (made by taloned feet, perhaps?) and numerous chalky white mounds of...something that is probably dung, roughly the size of a human head.

A stable lies to the west, and to the east you hear the sounds of grunting and exertion, some of it in what sounds like common, and some that sounds like another language.

A massive wooden door must lead to the main hall - it rests in a wall that juts out at a 45 degree angle to the rest of the castle.

You cautiously move into the courtyard, keeping your eyes open and weapons prepared for an ambush. The bird-men on the ramparts do not seem to notice you - they all seem to be looking out past the castle walls instead of looking in on the courtyard area.

You can investigate the stable area, the 'cloister' area to the east, or try the main door. Any activity in the courtyard will probably eventually alert the bird-men, although they seem really inattentive.

Map is coming up!

As the paladin and fighter debate the finer points of negotiating with monsters, Eliaera looks at the rusted gate and pushes hard against it - it gives a bit, but not enough to break the rusted mechanism keeping it locked.

Meanwhile, Hiro remembers a certain magical ring that was distributed as part of the loot the group found back in Brinestump. Slipping it onto his finger, he looks for footholds in the gaps where the mortar has begin to disintegrate, and somewhat deftly scales the wall, landing gracefully on the upper landing. Trying to remain as cautiously stealthy as possible, just in case, he descends one of the ladders that lead down to the interior of the gatehouse, quickly examines the lock mechanism, and sees a crude wooden lever wrapped in cloth has been grafted in place on the deadbolt plate. Pulling it, a mechanical click sounds, the gates swing open, squealing on rusty hinges.

I'm going to throw you guys a hint here. The sole surviving Ulfen raider probably knew about a secret entrance, and probably found out it led right into the nastiest part of the dungeons underneath the castle. Since they haven't been seen since, I would strongly recommend breaking the gate lock (or scaling the walls, but you know, armor check penalties, etc.) to enter the castle- you aren't going to be ambushed by anything, as the guards that are usually on duty aren't presently - and the grunting noises are coming from a long ways off, so you probably aren't going to attract a whole lot of attention unless you fire a cannon at the gate or something. Put some shoulder(s) into it, and you'll be in the castle. You can use Aid Another to boost the Strength check if two or more of you try to force the gate.

Sajan, the Iconic Monk, gets into a lot of trouble too. There's a Bestiary Art of him being crushed alive by a snake, getting lost in the woods with the iconic Druid (the horror!), but worse of all, the art of his twin sister, which was previewed by Jason Bulhman, was CUT from Ultimate Campaign! Now that's a low blow ....

As a fan of Sajan and his background story, I'd be interested to know if I can still see artwork of his sister anywhere, even if it was cut from Ultimate Campaign. Got a link?

EDIT: Ah, nevermind, seems there's this thing called a search box, and I found it here.

As Eliaera sneaks up to the gate, keeping a wary eye for any guards that may be posted, the mid-afternoon sun allows enough light to see inside the gatehouse. A packed dirt floor and wooden support beams keep the stone ceiling above aloft, and two wooden ladders inside the gatehouse lead up to the balcony above. Various debris and droppings of some sort litter the area. It's clear that this gatehouse has not been maintained in some time. There appears to be a lever mechanism that operates the gates, but it looks to be in very poor condition, much like the rusted gates themselves. A portcullis remains in a raised position in front of the gates, but the pulley system lies useless in the dirt. In fact, the corrosion of the elements on the hinged iron gates might make it possible to force them, either with a sturdy shoulder or a ram of some sort.

The gates are hardness 10, hp 30, Break DC 22.

Amelius wracks his brain trying to remember if he read anything about castle architecture. He seems to recall that most castles in Varisia featured secret passages, but they were mainly limited to the interior of the keeps. Secret entrances from the outside in were usually explooited by raiders or pillagers, and the design was abandoned nearly 200 years ago, perhaps out of a sense of paranoia. You could search for a secret entrance, but even if you find one, it's doubtful that it would be easy without an experienced locksmith to enter. Searching for such an entrance may alert other enemies to your presence as well.

Eliaera also notices that there appears to be no creatures either sleeping at their posts or patrolling the gatehouse currently. Faint sounds can be heard - grunting? It's hard to tell from this distance, but there might be creatures at a distance in the courtyard beyond the gatehouse.

Scaling the walls or breaking the gate seem to be the only ways to get into the castle.

The lyrakien cleric flits off in the general direction you came from, looking for the caravan, Eliaera's note rolled up and secured.

Assume you have 3 flasks of holy water from the shrine.

As you approach the castle on its southern side from a distance, trying not to draw attention, you see that the structure is only two stories tall (with the exception of one three story tower) yet due to its position on a bluff west of the village, the entire thing looms large over the ruins and the surrounding region. The castle is built of grey stone.

You see no visible signs of any creatures watching from the castle ramparts. There are numerous arrow slits on some of the walls near the main gatehouse. The gatehouse structure has two large rusted iron gates, which appear to be closed and possibly locked.

The walls require a DC 20 Climb check to scale, and trying to squeeze through the arrow slits requires a DC 30 Escape Artist check. You can investigate the front gate (using Stealth might be wise) or sneak around the perimeter of the castle searching for a secret entrance, if one exists.

Well, it looks like the duplicate post got deleted by mods or a bot or something, so no harm done.

I do hate it when my tags are sloppy and the time limit to edit is past. Ah, well.

I'm prepping some stuff for Brinewall Castle, so it should be pretty fun to explore. Pretty much going to stick to script...I think.

How much gold was found?

93 gp

Sorry about the double post - sketchy internet connection...

Eliaera realizes that Spivey may not be a fey at all, as she is different from a pixie or brownie in notable ways. Maybe...an outsider? She did mention coming here from another place, another plane maybe?

The bowl atop the shrine to Desna creates holy water once a day, three flasks worth.

Zipping back out from her hiding place when the others show some curiosity towards the tiny creature, Spivey does her best to answer the queries put to her.

"ah, you have a friend in need? i heard there are many mysteries in the castle...perhaps you can find the cure to her malady there?' she says, looking at the paladin.

Seeing Amelius's familiar Skitterfoot up close gives her pause. what creature is this? a rat with a man's face and tiny man hands?

Skitterfoot hisses at the lyrakien. "What's this, a tiny flying she-elf - good for a crunchy snack maybe?"

Looking a bit amused, Spivey says "don't try anything funny rat-man. i'm not an elf, i'm a lyrakien, and i'm a faithful servant of Desna, bless her name. you try and eat me, i'll put a starknife in your eye. but you won't be nasty, will you now?

Skitterfoot sneers, but remains silent.

In response to the sorcerer's question, Spivey scoffs and says " ah, yes, the hairy, smelly northmen - and women. they were all killed by a sea drake, and the bird-men and ogres dragged them all away. all except one, she lived, but she went into the castle i think, and has not returned. they seemed very brutish and not at all like nice people. Not like all of you! well, not sure about rat-man."she says, smirking.

Looking thoughtful, Spivey says "maybe i could help your friend?" a hopeful look on her face. "i know many spells and healing magic that could help a traveller in need."

Eliaera, you had a lesser restoration spell cast on you.

The temple, only recognizable by the general shape of the ruined building, has been razed and burned many years ago. It seems to have been picked clean by looters, and damp and mold have turned any paper matter in a slurry of decayed pulp. A few inert skeletons, stripped to the bones, lie here - the unfortunate victims of whatever befell the place. It seems you'll find no additional clues to what happened to Brinewall here.

As Eliaera looks at the statue of Desna and quietly says "thank you" she thinks she hears a high, tiny voice say "you are welcome!"

As she drops some coins into the bowl and turns to walk away, she feels something brush past her. Taking a few more steps, she is suddenly face to face with a tiny creature that has colorful green and orange wings like a butterfly, and brightly colored clothing and chain-link armor. Its hair is a bright green, like a gnome's might be, and thins strips of gossamer-like ribbons trail behind it as it flits about. It has sharply pointed ears as well, and appears to be female.

"hello! you left an offering for the lady of luck! such a beautiful song too! She hums a few bars of the hymn Eliaera remembered, then continues. i didn't know if you were friends, but you all seem to have good auras...but not sure about the magus and his rat-friend...so i was reluctant to come out!"

i am Spivey! i have been here, tending to the eternal resting place of these souls for a very long time. perhaps you have come to rid the castle of bird-men! i would be ever so grateful if you did." The tiny creature sighs. "i have been alone all these years, so far from where i came from, and my mistress was eaten by a hungry plant!" tears well up in her small eyes, but she continues. "so i did what i thought best. i grew ever so lonely, and the beasties in the castle were horrible brutes! i showed them, though." she says, brandishing a pair of tiny starknives and posing in what she probably thinks is a fierce pose, but comes off as rather cute. "i can help you, if your hearts are true. i know healing magic, and have the blessing of the lady! oh, and that dish is not for coins - if you put water in it, it is blessed by the lady! you can also rest here, as a sanctuary, if the brutes in the castle are too much to bear. they are scary! i will stay here for now. thank you, thank you, thank you! it has been such a long time without hope! Spivey wishes you well.", she says, bowing mid-air.

With that, she flies off, and zips behind an elaborate grave marker.