Hello!
I'm looking for a gaming group that plays Pathfinder (D&D will do as well) in the Yakima area!
Weekends work the best!
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Thankfully, a touch is just a touch (whew!). The Paralysis AND the Fear Aura will be helpful vs. the grapples. The Shirt of Immolation is a great idea, it would be an awesome treasure for the grappler after the battle as well. The Teleportation Power is perfect. Just one question though, would Vordekai be able to cast his spells after this wizard ability or would he have to wait a turn? Its a swift action, and it would be very strong to be able to teleport then cast. Or is this more like the Dimension Door official spell?
Touch spells can be 'held,' so if he can cast it beforehand, it should be fine. He might not even need to cast - a lich's paralysis touch should stop any grappling going on if the monk fails his save. It's a touch attack, and he can do those if he's only grappled. Won't Vordekai still have to make CMB check against the monk's super high CMD and then the Monk gets a Fort Save to resist? Anything that gives a miss chance should be considered as a buff as well. Blur, displacement, heck, even darkness(since he's a human and doesn't have darkvision) can work. I'd probably combo darkness and fly, and if he still manages to touch V, much less grapple him...I tip my hat to him. I really like the "miss chance" idea from all of those spells you listed, as well as Ray of Enfeeblement or Exhaustion during those first turns. One of the suggestions in there is to effectively have V have spells which split the battlefield in twain - wall effects etc. That way, some of the hard hitters can be kept at bay whilst he deals with the squishies... :) The wall spells would be pretty good at countering the melee fighters. Without an arcane caster it will be hard to get to him (especially if Big V is flying). My cleric in the group has 1 Dispel Magic prepared he hasn't used...he'll definitely find some use this fight! Thanks for the suggestions so far!
Well, he can jump pretty high. The bestow curse is a good idea but it requires a somatic component. Vordekai would still have to make a CMB check to be able to move his hands. Fly is probably the best first tactic. Thanks for the help!
Hello! I have four 9th level characters in the Kingmaker Game I'm DMing right now. The group consists of a Human Tetori Monk, an Oread Cleric, a Goblin Ranger (bow), and a Ratfolk Oracle. Im just having an issue with them easily taking care of the final boss... Final Battle Spoiler:
They have arrived into Vordekai's throne room together and just had it off with him in serious of verbal diplomacy checks to try and get him to "surrender" (hah). The cleric and oracle are basically out of spells and the monk is at a 7 Wisdom (from the Soul Eaters), but I still think they could easily take out Vordekai (even with the Greater Water Elemental, which I moved back into the throne room as his minion for the final battle). The Tetori Monk's CMB bonus to grapple is +17 (CMD is 35), and he has all the grappling feats (greater grapple, rapid grappler, etc) and all the Snapping Turtle Style Feats which makes him very dangerous. At 9th, he can now counter freedom of movement and magical bonuses to escape grapples with but a single Ki Point. How can Vordekai deal with him in combat to prevent being grappled, or better yet, what can Vordekai do to survive the grapple? With only the 2 Dimension Doors Prepared (for healing and coming back) its gonna be tough for him to continually avoid getting grappled. I know Vordekai's CMD is strong, but his CMB isn't high enough to break the grapple. Are there some grapple rules for being large sized that I'm missing? Im totally open to changing spells around etc, and he has played with them significantly from far distances and should know their strengths and weaknesses. Any ideas? Thanks for the help in Advance!
Woaaahhhhhhh Liam! So many ideas! Thanks for all the hard work posting different suggestions up! It has been working very well with just a flat standard pay per month of only at 100 gp and it has been going well (for over a year and a half in game!) They have to spend their money on their home and it can't be for adventuring materials at all. My players and I are appeased for the agreement!
I agree with Bed the Red! Handouts and Letters always enhance the gameplay experience!
Just found out about Ultimate Rulership through reading this thread. It looks excellent Jason! If you could send the extra events to me as well, that would be really helpful! This reminds me of the old Challenge of Champions from Dungeon! Spoiler: garmsumner at aol dot com
Woah! Thats a lot of work! Some good ideas written here...thanks Liam Warner! Now I like the idea of it being during the taxation phase, thats something I think will be able to fit regularly into our game. However, our game goes months (Even years) at a time before these adventurers level. If they are getting a couple thousand gold a month to spend on personal use, it will very much add up and will totally offset the wealth by character level chart. Any suggestions to offset this? I really want my players to feel like they are getting paid for there hard work, but I don't want them playing Scrooge McDuck and sleeping on gold after a couple years haha. Note: I do like the idea of moving the currency down one level (platinum to gold etc). This economy needs some deflation!
Yes, I agree Suthainn! I do believe though the players being able to personalize their home with certain furnishings and workplaces would bring more roleplaying to the game and more realism. Not often do you get to decorate your house with furnishings in Pathfinder.
I like the idea of having them pay for the necessities that they are using as members of the leadership. I'm now toying with the idea that they should have to buy their own houses somewhere in the kingdom and pay for all the furnishings that would be necessary for them.
Yeah, Daviot's idea is solid. Thanks for the link T.A.U! I believe I'll start there...
My players are all 7th level right now and have finished up the 2nd Adventure (Rivers Run Red). They are: An Oread Cleric of Torag, Vow of Poverty Human Monk, Goblin Ranger, a female Sylph Rogue, a Ratfolk Oracle, and a Female Half-Elf Paladin. (I encouraged them to try out different races!) The Oread Cleric (the General) wants a salary for all the council members...1,000 gold pieces per month. Now we are in the 7th year of the kingdom at this point. They have 4 settlements, but only have about 12 hexes under the command (they haven’t gotten to Oleg’s Trading Post yet). I have read the rules about withdrawing money out, which causes unrest and loyalty loss.
I don’t want to give them this much money because it will totally mess up wealth per level of the characters. Also, they would just spend this money on magic items to benefit their character. Does anyone here on the boards have any suggestions for this situation? Maybe reduce the money per month? If you have any other questions about the game, go ahead. Thanks for the input in advance!
I like the idea of a professor ghost side quest! He is the reason why they are there in the first place! Having it be at the site of his death would be what I would introduce his restless spirit. Also, when I ran the adventure I had priests of Pharasma help greatly, giving the players aid through information. If the party needs help I don't see why having a priest help them out in the prison! Could be a fun NPC connection that goes through the entire adventure path. The temple hasn't helped probably cause they believe the prisoners' spirits are permanently locked in that prison never to escape. Any first timers in your group?
They brought back a nerfed version of Close Wounds from 3.5 for the Healing Blessing! Not very sure how I feel about the balancing of that...leaning towards too good. Make's them a much better tank!
The versatility for this class is way high with the martial maneuvers class feature! Versatility in the martial world is great!
The lack of class features makes this class sad and depressing. Although, I don't see why it would be too bad for NPC characters, allows the usage of arcane spells without having to put as much work into choosing spells!
I think she's going to go fighter levels, then swordlord dip, then duelist. Thanks for the help Kiinyan!
Well, we have a monk, paladin, and oracle for the other characters.
I think the fighter idea sounds good, the aldori swordlord prestige class is only good for 1 level? That's kind of depressing. Would it just be better to do duelist and just use the flavor? Is it really that bad? Thanks for the help so far!
Maybe some Ranger levels?
Horseshoes of Speed? Or a similar item dedicated to that animal?
I'm getting close to finishing the first book of the Kingmaker Adventure Path and my characters are leveling up to level 4. Question: There is a Sylph Rogue in the party who is wielding an Aldori Dueling Sword (which i gave her proficiency with after she took the Sword Scion Trait). She has three levels in Rogue and is wanting to take the Aldori Swordlord Prestige Class. What would be the best build for entry into the Prestige Class? (She wants to play a duelist character, dex based, and having dueling sword in primary hand and nothing in the other) Maybe start taking levels in Fighter? Her stats are 12 Str, 16 Dex, 11 Con, 16 Int, 12 Wis, 14 Cha She has already taken Weapon Finesse and Weapon Focus (Aldori Dueling Sword). Any ideas? Thanks in Advance!
I enjoyed running this adventure greatly during the Haunting of Harrowstone adventure (as well as the other one written by legendary games). 1) I'm not particularly sure of that. However, I've been developing the "Dark Stranger" in the minds of the characters as a pretty powerful and ruthless goatfolk (adapted from 3.5 D&D Monster Manual 3, you can use anything with hoof prints). I think there is great opportunity for the DM to adapt that villain to one that could be a continuing nuisance throughout the adventure path, as there really isn't that "primary evil villain" that everyone hates since the beginning (which i generally live having and building). This is especially if the characters save the "fiddler" and discover that she isn't the source of all the evil and undead. 2) Meh, I didn't really inflate the PC experience too much (almost nothing in the long run). I would say their character class and race choices will impact their power level much more than a couple hundred exp. However, there is a great deal of trust points to gain from this adventure, which opens up their connection with the town and its civilians (especially after saving them from their old family and ancestors. Compensation exp wasn't really that necessary for me. Also: I made Old Jack into a sentient being, an old human spirit trapped inside the body of the dog ( I used riding dog stats because of he defends the children vs. the hands), with the ability to understand but not speak Common (he can only respond through barks, my characters use 1 for yes 2 for no). He has become a pretty popular NPC character. Didn't really think about this when I ran the adventure, but having the dog gaining exp (or another NPC maybe Rufio) as well as the PCs would have also lessened the amount of exp so that they wouldn't be too far ahead, if that is a concern. Hope this helped!
Your documentation is pretty thorough Maplewood! I have a calendar that I have the players fill in for what important things happened that day, but never to the detail of your document. Good Work!
Well, I'm doing the card sleeves and washable markers for the cards. My players each have a colored square metal tin to keep item and NPC cards in (I also use the Face Cards from GameMastery). For basic items like number of torches, I leave it to the character sheet. Some items just cant be tracked with item cards (and tracking them with pencil on character sheets is just easier!). I leave the cards for primarily magical items (especially one-use magic items, players always seem to ignore/forget about them when they're on character sheets). Just keep the card next to you, and when they find the item, write it on the back then and there. Hope this helps!
You're ignoring the best item: Manfeller, a +1 human-bane battleaxe You're right! I forgot about that item, that is also really powerful! And the cursed Grasp of Drosker was really good too!
Caster level is important, extra 1d6 damage for fireball eventually. Its also worth a lot of gp! You're forgetting the immunity to frightful presence of dragons! That is soooo good as well! But there isn't a limit on how many uses it can have per day! The characters could eat hearts for restoration, Remove disease, and Cure Serious Wounds! (a 4th and 3rd levels spells! What!) Thats also ignoring the Divination or Flaming Burst abilities it has as well! They can Coup de grace when they knock someone unconscious...doesn't say they have to be in positive HP. But its 2nd level...how could someone give treasure like that such low level!
Okay, the characters do have to do an evil-ish ritual. But the ritual grants them way higher levels spells like restoration or divination! The crown grants +1 to sorcerer caster level! I guess my players don't particularly worry about how things look sometimes or rituals, especially when the items powers are ridiculously good.
It can't be just me.... Spoiler:
This adventure gives the players a Heartripper Dagger and the Crown of the Kobold King
Why does this adventure grant these items?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?
No problem, glad to be of help! Update us on how your first session goes!
I have not gotten a chance to read through Shattered Star, but I enjoyed the quick read through I did of Skull and Shackles (I have not had a chance to GM it). But then again, I've been really into pirates since I ran Dungeon Magazine's Savage Tide Adventure Path! (Made by Paizo!)
Welcome to the Pathfinder GM club! In my opinion... Adjusting Adventure:
I believe that it truly depends on the group composition and the player experience as well. I'm DMing a group of 5 people right now through an adventure in Pathfinder, however they are younger and without much experience in the roleplaying/pathfinder world. I adjusted things very little for right now and they are doing alright, and they are learning the different tactics specific to each type of character. If your characters have experience playing as well as have a decently balanced group (at least one type of healer, etc), then you might want to adjust the encounters a little bit.
Adjusting them by adding smaller minions to the encounters, is most of the time a good idea. It helps out the morale of the players as they quickly destroy the chump monsters, but it also makes the normal encounters harder because it gives more turns to the planned evil creatures because the minions are the first to go. (Magneto X-Men 3 "That is why the pawns go first" during the endbattle.) I would probably upgrade the CR on encounters that you feel are significant. But in the end, you're the GM! If you feel after the fact that the encounter drained more resources then was planned (after you adjusted the monsters) give them more XP by upping the CR. A good GM needs to be able to adjust things on the fly, cause even if you completely prepare for an encounter, you never know what ideas can occur in the minds of the players, good or bad. Also, unless you're planning to play the entire adventure in one sit down, you'll be able to see the power level of your players and be able to adjust accordingly! If they get destroyed in one encounter you adapted, then don't change a later one down the path and see what happens. When you GM more, you'll get better at this! Hope this helped!
You can always force a meeting with the Dryad. Move her tree closer to the PCs. Or even have her travel far from her tree because she is desperate to find help with the Silent Island. Or force a friendly encounter with Pezock away from the crab. Maybe he is fighting off a couple of cannibals. He might direct the PCs to the Fey's tree. Im hoping that they want to explore the rest of the island after they finish the main quest. They have explored so much of it already, I highly doubt that they will leave a small section of the map unexplored. They are just like that! I was toying with the idea of making her mini "sidequest" more significant and doing a mini-adventure out of it. But its less likely the later on in the adventure it gets. Maybe I will have Pezock make an appearance somewhere...its these times where all numbers on the random encounter table are the same item! I like the idea of it being in the witch's hut better, then it wont tempt them to investigate fully every derelict ship on the outside of the island.
I know that this thread is very old, but I'm planning on integrating some form D&D or Pathfinder into my future classroom (in teaching program right now), you wouldn't happen to still have a copy of the proposal would you? That would be awesome to look through and take some points from. Your successfulness gives me hope! Do you still do your sessions with the kids on the weekend? Also: Reading the D&D Players Handbook 3.5 (as well as the DMG and Monster Manual) when I was 13 years old gave me a big head start on others in Middle and high school. There are so many words, lots that people don't use everyday, that helped expand my vocabulary immensely!
Just wanted to say that I'm halfway through GMing your adventure "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv" and my three younger cousins (their first tabletop RPG game) and myself are really enjoying it! Souls for Smugglers Shiv: They love the "sandbox" type of style play that the adventure grants, but also the amount of realism thrown into it! They weren't expecting the diseases, having to find shelter, and dealing with having enough food for everyone! Also, all the surviving castaways have great personalities and are fun to roleplay! I compiled a bunch of Pathfinder/fantasy style jokes from the internet, and I use them for "Gelik's Joke of the Day" which they always look forward too!
My question to you is, are there any other adventures that you recommend that have this same style of gameplay? (Feel free to plug yourself! This adventure has been great so far!)
Sadly, they lost Ishirou to the Lacedons in the Treasure Pit, (Being Paralyzed is so nasty!), They lost Sasha to a Dimorphodon (sp?), and they ran away from the Giant Crab after it began to move its legs! So right now we only have Aerys, Jask, and Gelik, and I Like the idea about throwing in a cure light wounds wand from one of the ships they investigate. They have gotten really attached to these characters, so I assume they'll be asking one of them to come. They survived mainly because some have darvision. Without darkvision, I can see (pun intended) where you may want to have an NPC help out. Yeah, I agree, that encounter with the mother looks like its gonna be trouble. We do have a dwarven ninja which should be helpful, but everyone doesnt have Darkvision. Their characters aren't particularly optimized for combat either (the cavalier put his feats in the mounted combat tree and the Druid has been more healer then summoning an army of animals.) I think that continuity is important and they have lost some of their friends, so unless they make a significant Diplomacy check with an NPC (and have the highest level of relationship with the NPC) I don't think they are going to go. Shouldn't be too hard, as the Rogue and Cavalier are charisma based and have very good Diplomacy checks for their level. Bonus: One thing that I'm depressed they haven't done yet is met the Fey Druid, I think she could be a helpful NPC in this campaign, but I'm not sure their path will them through her.
I'm about half-way through GMing this adventure (they are about to hit the Cannibals, they have been exploring almost all of the island before going to the camp), and I was wondering how did your NPCs fare during the later part of the adventure? Did Gelik, Jask, Aerys, Ishirou, and Sasha go with the PC's during the "dungeon crawl" combat portions of the adventure? Did they stay at camp and not travel with the group? How many of them survived to the end? Follow up: My group is a Order of the Dragon Human Cavalier, Elven Rogue, Dwarven Ninja, Half-Elf Wizard, and Half-Elf Druid and it seems like they have had issues with a lack of Hit Points and healing so far. Do you think Jask would almost be necessary for them to survive? Thanks in advance!
So this past weekend, we had another session...and the group burned hero points like crazy! It definitely did turn the tide of battle in their favor... But as I think about it, if the 4 person group wants to spend 5-6 hero points to win a couple encounters...so be it. (Leaving All with 0 or 1 left) Because they are gonna wish they saved them for the ending battles!
Looking at Order of the Seal, I think this would merge very well with the Campaign...they are "charged with the protection of a specific object (or dangerous magic item)..." I think as a DM I would have loved to have Cavalier with this Order. The trick is finding an place or item that is relevant to the plot (or one that you can make relevant to the plot!) I would think an Order of the Seal member to be a "stealth" commander in reference to the Battle Herald Prestige Class. Roleplaying wise, this works great, as being a commandoish leader is awesome in my opinion. The abilities are cool as well! I see definite possibilities for easy integration into the Campaign is she playes an Order of the Seal/Battle Herald!
From the responses all you guys gave, I think I shall be keeping Hero Points around! Thank you all for your insights!
I interpret it as: You run the Adventure D1: Crown of the Kobold King and use the encounters that are above ground in the Dwarven Monastery from D0 as set up encounters before the characters delve beneath the monastery. :
The Encounters in Darkmoon Vale are the Witch's Hut and the Encounter with that Reptilian creature (where you would normally get items for the disease). So use the encounters from D0, but use the story from D1. Hope this helped!
I recently started running Serpent's Skull and introduced the Hero Point system into the game. I wanted to hear people's experiences with Hero Points: how they affected your game (are they too powerful?), and if you like them! Also: It seems like using two hero points to stop death is pretty powerful...too powerful? What are people experiences with it?
Well, would the character be of a compatible alignment with the rest of the group? (RMA's are usually neutral/evil) But to address your questions: : 1. Yes (I've DM'd part of it myself, I'd Allow it)
2. It will grant better roleplaying (or at least the opportunity for it), so no problems for DM (probably helps actually).
I second Coridan, Curse of The Crimson Throne has many last memories to share between our D&D group! And we finished that straight through...Serpents Skull was the second one I started...but I stopped after the first book (which was great)...second book and after were all not as good so we diverted away from that storyline.
Well, we had a ninja in our group...so this made it a little easier to catch her (which they did eventually) Although i dont believe anyone in our group or Trinia fell off the rooftops so i cant help you much there (although if the streets weren't crowded with people the ninja would have rocked it and then jumped up to a rooftop ahead of her) I do like the idea of making checks to bypass obstacles on the rooftops...so much that i bought the chase deck made by gamemastery that follow the same rules from this chase (and the same rules for pathfinder rpg) Sadly, i know I can't be of much help from my experience in this chase. BTW What was your group composition?
Depending on your players you can present them either way...some groups like to know the bonuses... However, In my opinion, not telling them about the mechanical bonuses to their abilities makes the actual harrowing that more powerful...because you never know when a group member could be like, "Oh, only +1 AC? Okay." Then they will be less enthusiastic and involved in the harrowing. My players always liked the harrowing part of each adventure, I would not allow the players to choose who the harrow deck focuses on for that adventure, I would just have the harrow deck "request" or "lean towards" one of the characters via certain omens. I also didn't not the characters about the straight bonuses as you are asking, but I would tell them about which choices they can use the harrow points for... Hope this has been useful! Did you just start the campaign?
The only issue with this idea is making sure they don't sell the item for big bucks! (no whammies!)
That's an excellent idea, Im trying to find something that will be something fun and remembered...and a filthy rich merchant (that might be continous throughout the campaign) would be pretty cool! Thanks!
Well, the Oracle is now partially a Ninja so hopefully it was passed to him!
It is difficult... :
Well, shes not immune to Critical Hits or Sneak Attack...so the ninja should be helpful.
Serithial also gives her negative levels, granted the dread wraiths would be easier if there were a cleric... Her main weakness is that she doesnt do much damage...only her spells are a problem (irresistable dance and the quickened charm monster being primary) I played this in 3.5 so in my final battle, the cleric (focused on undead turning) took care of the wraiths no problem. The sorcerer and rogue did most of the work on the queen along with the paladin. The strategy was to have the Paladin and Rogue Flank hitting her with Serithial and Smiting while the rogue does sneak attack. To deal with her flying our sorcerer just casted mass fly on the group countering the queen's fly. Also: if you think they need more help, send in some allies with them...Vencarlo, Grau, or Trinia perhaps (depending on how the characters have been interacting with them). Add a couple levels to the NPCS to make them decent and volunteer them...its their city too you know! Although with your group...I think it really depends if they can either fly or dispel her fly...as if not then she'll be taunting them all game from above. BTW: Ninja/Oracle is an interesting combination...
We Have a Human Cavalier (Dragon Order), Elven Rogue, a Half-Elf Druid (lion animal companion), and a Half-Elf Wizard (Evocationist) for the party composition. Yeah, the wizard hasn't chosen any area of effect spells...hes sticking with Magic Missile and Spontaneous Immolation... The rogue does have the tendency to try and to do everything herself...
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