My party, 6 at level 14 (using slightly better an array than normal- so they are ECL 16-17, effectively-they consistently take down the 6-character conversion versions of monsters with little trouble), is quite unstoppable using tactics of flying out of range and making distant attacks with arrows (one can do 80-120 damage with arrows at a range of nearly 200 feet).
I want to give them a challenge while still respecting their individual abilities.
In the showdown for Nyrissa, how could I rules-legally, nerf their flying and any distance issues so they don't just essentially avoid all damage?
My current plan is:
Permanenced Dimensional Anchor on the room? (so mages can't teleport out)
Pillars and walls so the archer can't shoot from overly-far-away.
But how do I deal with flying? will it be good enough to just have a 25 foot ceiling?
Any other suggestions for making the final battle memorable?
First, I am aware of the 6 Player Conversion; I suppose the first step will be to use that conversion (I used the conversions for books 1 through 3), but I don't think that is enough...
Two questions (rationale for why I am asking them is below):
---
1. Should I really be increasing the power of enemies? I don't want things to be save or die, though, or is that going to be the only real option? I've heard a bunch of people consider this book to be really challenging with its fights, but it has only been challenging when I limit my players by putting them in a cramped space where they can only attack 1 on 1.
2. Is there a better way to run upcoming encounters so they remain challenging? I would like Ilthuliak and Nyrissa to be memorable fights, and I would also like the wriggling man to be challenging.
--
My group is now in book 6 and they are fighting the fey in the fey realm. They are having fun; still, I want to ensure that I am not horribly mis-playing the enemies.
The group managed to take down the nightmare rook (at full power) CR 16 with taking only around 30-something damage to one player who was snatched. (The rook was killed before it could fly away). The ranger could negate its displacement and when he hit with a critical and the creature was 220 feet away, he staggered the Rook, which allowed the players to get another round of attacks on it.
The group also managed to take down Karstagg (CR 17), who only managed one hit before he died.
The adventure recommends a party level 16 before going into the fey realm... but my group, which had little trouble with those creatures, was the following:
Level 14 Ranger (gear is effectively Lvl 15)
Level 14 Druid (gear is Lvl 13 or 14)
Level 13 essentially a spellcaster who only uses fireball (Gear is Lvl 8 or 9-did not spend any money or take anything)
Level 13 Rogue (gear is level 12 or 13)
several others were inactive for this adventure- (a witch and another blaster caster) the above were the ones who participated in those fights.
Now, given the ability score array we used, my estimate is that the party's ECL is one higher, so if it was ECL 14 before, it's 15 after that boost.
---
Environmental modifiers have worked- I combined the cramped spaces Narrow path -2 penalty on attack and dex tunnel with the Adv. lightning treants and had a hard-fight.
But when enemies lack reach weapons, they are destroyed. My group defeated the giants by math. (calculated that the ranger, who has a range of 1,200 feet and the spellcaster who has a range of around 220 feet (?) could blow them up before they could get anywhere near).
The Ranger has Deadly Aim, Manyshot, Improved Precise Shot, Staggering Critical, Precise Shot and other feats. He can do around 120 damage each turn and hit almost anything.
Has anyone converted some of Book 6's challenges into a mass combat system conflict a la Book 5?
Essentially, in my setting, fey armies will start spilling over into the River Kingdoms at the same time as the Civil War in Brevoy blows up.
Any hints or links would be appreciated.
My players are nearly finished with Book 5 and I am looking forward to crafting a suitably epic ending for this over 50+ session, 30-40+ kingdom building sessions, and 40+ side-session game that I've been running since May 2010.
6 PCs; currently level 12 across the board, had very little trouble taking down CR 14 encounters at Level 11. I intend them to be level 13 when Book 6 starts in earnest.
My group didn't stop Armag's ritual; they were scared off by the sisters, and threw a bunch of stones across the entrance. Armag is likely to easily get out when the ritual completes.
Did you have a similar situation happen to your group?
Any suggestions on what should happen now that the party essentially has given up on fighting Armag in his Tomb?
Also, how long do you figure his ritual should take? I would suppose anywhere from 2 weeks to a month.
I figure that if he emerges, he'll ride at the head of a horde with the Black Sisters. Interestingly, it seems that it would be easier for the party to kill him in the open rather than in his tomb.
I read this and did a search, but to no avail: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2m527?Armag-what-is-best-in-life#1
I was harshly criticized by my playing group for my Fort Drelev encounter. I know that there is much I could do to improve.
A.
What I wonder though is if my situation is unique here in that I have very knowledgeable players and/or my skills as a rules-knowing GM are very terrible (which exacerbates the issue-still, I already know that my players know the game far better than I do). Essentially, I want to vent a little and to try to figure out how typical my situation is?
I feel bad about this encounter at Drelev's because I walked away from the session feeling great! For the first time since they hit level 4 I'd been able to actually CHALLENGE the party! And I did it with an interesting battle- multiple levels of battle (ground, 30 foot staircase, inside a tower, on the battlements), three types of enemies (wizard, archers, hill giants) Re. Challenge: (e.g. 2 players never take damage ever in any session, but in this one, I'd finally been able to present them a little bit of a threat).
But then I was criticized for being too tough by some and for being incompetent by others (They thought I should have TPKed them and must have been fudging dice, or that I must have just been incompetent at preparing encounters).
They have given me a lot of good things to think about to improve. I accept the fact that I constantly let down my group because I don't know the rules well enough :(, but it's frustrating. I really HATE memorizing rules. I play the game because I like the stories. Rules are work, and they are unclear. :(. I do what I can to keep the rules straight though for my players because I know they like them. But the game has become very, very stressful for me-I can sense disapproval from the players with every encounter I make for them.
I had so much fun during this session because I wasn't arguing about the rules with anyone, because I thought I was actually playing the encounter properly, and then I received several page-long email complaints. A few months back I had to take a break from GMing in part because I felt so badly after every game- I was very stressed-out and unhappy. I don't want to be stressed out :(. But I like telling stories and creating them with others.
Still, this thread is aimed at questions about mechanical things rather than confronting my group about this- I already did that and they did try to help... but I'm just not good enough and don't have enough time to get the rules to a perfect level to satisfy them. :(
---
B. So I'd like to [share out of frustration and to] know:
1. How well optimized are your players in Kingmaker by book 4? What CR level can they take down?
----In mine, they [group of 4 level 7s +2 level 8s+ 1 level 4 +1 NPC bard who just did a singing buff to give a +1 (Fighter, Witch, Oracle (Fire), Druid with animal, Ranger with large wolf), Wizard, another Fighter (level 4)-Point buy is slightly above what paizo recommends; I believe we used 32 PB.] took down Vordakai from book 3 in 3 rounds even though I placed Vordakai behind a glass wall up 30 feet in the air, raised his level by two and added a CR 7 cyclops to the room. (If I recall properly). So that seemed to be a bit too easy, especially since the adventure recommends CR 9 to fight Vordakai. Is that...if not normal...expected?
The Fighter has a 33 AC I believe, at level 8 now and is immune to arrows (?) He also has a pegasus that flies and if he's not on it, he has fly crafted on his armor. IF he's ever on a charge-line, he gets a 3X damage on all charges if he hits...and he will almost always hit.
The Ranger has AC 28 and 3 attacks, at I believe +14/+14/+9 and +4 v. humans with his bow... he could almost win the Archery competition in Book 5 at his current level.
The others are more normal.
The Fighter and Ranger also claim that their characters should be the weakest in the group and that the others aren't playing optimized enough.... It's hard to scale encounters since everyone else's AC is below 22 except the Druid (who is 26 I think?)
I allowed crafting, but their wealth per level is at level 7 or 8-the appropriate amount. It's not a monty haul campaign. I also did not use the Kingdom-selling magic items rules AND I limited the gold level that they could purchase any magic item to kingdom built buildings- in order to slow down the magic christmas tree effect a bit and to make things more manageable on my end.
2. How did your liberation of Fort Drelev go?
--For Fort Drelev, they beelined there, avoiding all other encounters, at level 8 (nearly level 9-essentially 2 minor encounters would have leveled them all up, and they all leveled after this session). Only 4 players (Fighter, Witch, Druid, Ranger) showed up for this game. Now, Fort Drelev should be approached at CR 11. It should also be a sneaking game and they did meet the refugee who told them that they should sneak in--they didn't trust her and they didn't want to mess around with that, so they demanded an audience with Baron Drelev. He put them up in his fort.
They spent a night and then were escorted into a courtyard where they were jumped by 4 archers (lvl 4) on the walls, 4 hill giants at the courtyard exit. And the Wizard was located in a tower 30 feet up, shooting out a small near-murder-hole window that gave him 3/4 cover. I used the 6-player conversion for the wizard, but all that really added was 2 extra level 7 spells... and he failed at using Forcecage on the first round.
The party managed to flee, flying out to safety after barely managing to disable the Wizard.
One player was upset because the hill giants knocked the player down to 0 hp in 2 rounds and that player was not a front line fighter. My explanation was that the particular player was the closest to the enemies...
The fighter was disappointed in the session because in his opinion, the Wizard was played incompetently :(. He said if I had played right, I should have TPKed them since the encounter was CR 14 and they were only 4 PCs at level 8.
He followed that up by stating that he was annoyed that the CR was so inappropriately high and that it's not a fun challenge to fight something far above their expected challenge level. I'm not as worried about that because story-wise, the CR WAS appropriate given that they didn't slink around and decided to face things with guns blazing.
--I opened with Force Cage on the Druid- who the wizard figured
probably had been the big monster in the sea, so he didn't want him
changing forms. (This was a 6-player group spell list)
Surprise Round.
--I followed with disintegrate on the Ranger (Paizo's spell list)
Players finally locate what's hitting them. Roll initiative. Wizard wins.
--I followed with chain lightning centered on the Fighter (Paizo's spell list)
Then the players FINALLY got an action.
--Then I was going to use empowered lightning bolt, but the Fighter was out of sightrange, so I used Enervation on the Druid??. (both in paizo's list)
-Then the Fighter got inside (squeezed in the window) and the Wizard activated his staff for a fire wall. (in paizo's character sheet)
The fighter has the wall centered on him, so he just walks forward (takes no damage) and knocks the wizard to 20 hp. So, the wizard steps 5 ft back and casts his escape spell.
I was told that I "picked the WORST targets for your spells. [I should have] Chain Lightning the Witch. Disintegrate the Druid. Force Cage the Fighter. Target our worst saves, not our strongest." and that the Wizard who they were fighting should have had a potion of greater invisibility and he should have prepared more area of effect spells :(
Spoiler:
They are trying to be helpful; the fighter recommended this:
Need to stop the Ranger? Windwall.
Need to stop the Casters? Cast Silence on a rock and throw it at their feet.
Need to stop the Fighter? Any Enchantment spell should do the trick.
I really had thought what I did made the most sense... Force Cage the guy who can change his form to be like the lake monster and the Ranger, Disintegrate the guy who can shoot me full of arrows, chain lightning centered on the fighter to get him down a little. On re-reading the stat block admittedly it seems that the wizard's tactics were to focus on people one-by-one... I misread that. I also didn't see his special ability to give +6 damage per spell...
-So the players' current opinion (In their LG nation] is to round up all their army and all the PCs and NPC allies, and destroy the fort of Fort Drelev...which is fine and still valid, but I can't say I've seen anyone take that tact on the boards. That's not a problem- that's more of an interesting point.
3. So Question 3- If you have very powerful characters and almost NO time to prepare for the Rules part of the game; how do you run things? My players don't trust me to know the rules properly so they don't trust me when I say "GM says so." They just say that I'm being unfair because we "follow the rules all the other times."
===I don't know what to do any more. I can't challenge the party AT ALL with CR-appropriate encounters, and when I challenge them, I am criticized for being unfair or incompetent. CR14 v. only 4 of them was a bit too much- but STORYWISE it was very appropriate given that the Fort had an entire day to prepare for an ambush- I actually think I went light on them- I could have sent all the hill giants and all the guards-- and that would have been justified since they had approached the city on a flying pegasus and as a polymorphed druid as a sea monster who looked like Lil Hooktongue (!) [Suffice to say, panic levels in the city and liberation points are well in the negatives].
--
Essentially, I'm so nervous that I'm unhappy to run games for my group any more. I don't have time or the interest in the rules to do things right enough regarding the rules. But I love the story and I'm really looking forward to finishing it.
My group has given me the best advice they can; I've taken what I can. And I'm just very sad. Can a GM like myself, who values a deep and involved story and who doesn't have the inclination to memorize rules or the time to study the rules extensively before every session, run a game on the fly while satisfying players that he is doing his absolute best to be fair? *sigh*. I really just play the game to try to relax and I cannot relax. It's frustrating.
Spoiler:
What's worse (and another issue entirely) is that I used to run Call of Cthulu books- no one else had a rules book :). But they liked the games so much that they bought rule books (I had 2nd edition- they bought more recent ones) and they started challenging all of my rule rulings. So I can't even GM those any more without constant arguments :(. And they're always right about the rules- at least as far as their rulebooks go :(. (Not all the rules are in mine). I'd love to say "GM's word"... but I just get countered with the very reasonable response- "It's not enjoyable if things are arbitrary." My response that the "rules are arbitrary." gains no traction because "at least we all know and operate under the same arbitrary rules- and they are balanced to be fair- you don't know the rules well enough to balance them fairly." :(.
Let's say that someone casts a fly spell on a war horse, presumably granting it good movement and 60ft fly a round.
Can it charge in the sky?
I'm tempted to say no, but I can't really point to any reason to disallow it. If it's allowed, I'll say yes, but it seems abusable.
Theoretically, it would have a 120 charge range. So even though it costs double move for ascending, the charger could reach a target if it's about 30 away and 30 up (plus the 10 foot reach from a lance)
Would the double move cost be a reason why you cannot charge?
Does anyone know where the stats are for the Forest Drake (mentioned in "Forest Drake Hunt")? It does not appear to be in the Bestiary or in the AP issue itself?
In my game I had a Thawn throw a horse at someone's head. It hit, and we had a bit of a discussion about the amount of damage to be taken.
We eventually ended up with 1d6, based on 1d6 falling per 10 feet, but I really thought that more damage should have been given. Without a rule to justify any particular amount of damage though, I caved.
Later, another Thawn ended up throwing a PC at a third PC and the same discussion ensued.
However, I did not see any calculation for how much damage a thrown object larger than a stone should give. Am I missing the rule, or is there none?
Lets say that I want to host my notes for a game of Kingmaker for easier access for my players-- that is my edits to Paizo's approved campaign setting lore for my game's background.
I also have my own historical figures, I changed some history of the world and I redid some of the map.
While I realize that the community can use some of what paizo really creates if they comply with the community use policy- what I was more concerned of was that even with a disclaimer that this is "my" concept of how kingmaker works, whether what I write could be hosted on a public server.
Example:
One entry of this blog, or whatever would say:
Lord A. Surtova - cousin to Queen Natala and her secret lover, etc.
and I might link to an article somewhere on the net or a thread that explains the real details of the Queen, but most of what I have would be my own interpretation of the setting.
-And of course I would have a disclaimer on the site.
---
Would it be all right to create "new" lore in this case?
I would much rather run my project in a private fashion, but would rather not set up a server for access to my computer, which seems to be the only way to really make this private and still accessible to players. Thus, I am asking if it is possible to publicly run a blog, or whatever that "edits" some approved Paizo history.
--
Re: " You may descriptively reference trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, artifacts, places, etc.), locations and characters from products listed in Section 1 of our Community Use Approved Product List at paizo.com/communityuse/products, provided it is clear that these are our marks." I'm not exactly sure how to make it clear that these are paizo's trademarks, but I can certainly try to discriminate.
--
Thank you.
Although there are likely more than enough roles in the kingdom for anyone who is playing Kingmaker, I believe in the saying that "the more roles the merrier."
Things to keep in mind when brainstorming:
-What positions may have been necessary in a medieval kingdom? In a fantasy kingdom?
-Game Balance (If these positions are added to your game, you may want to increase the difficulty class for some rolls)
With each newly presented role, I add a Note disclaimer to warn players what roles the new position may be stepping on.
With that disclaimer; here are some of my ideas:
---
Counselor/Magistrate Note: This may step on the territory of the Ruler, Grand Diplomat
Provides legal advice and presides over legal issues.
Benefit -Increase economy by 1/2 Counselor's CHA or INT
-Increase loyalty by 1/2 counselor's CHA or WIS.
Vacancy Penalty- Decrease stability by 3 (Or alternatively increase unrest by 2... Unrest seems very important however so you may want to go with stability)
---
Liaison Note: This may step on the territory of the Councilor
Interacts with craftspeople and manages market-based foreign relations and trade routes
Benefit -Increase economy by Liasion's CHA or INT.
Vacancy Penalty- Decrease economy by 4.
---
High Druid Note: This may step on the territory of the Marshal or Grand Diplomat
Manages relations with fey and plants and animals. Agriculturalist. Also manages the castle's animal-life. May also serve as a falconer/game warden.
Benefit -Increase economy by 1/2 WIS or CON
-1/2 cost logging and farms
Vacancy Penalty- Decrease economy by 2, stability by 2. More animal/fey unrest
---
Royal Chronicler Note: This may step on the territory of the Spymaster or Councilor
The Royal Chronicler or archivist conducts propoganda for the empire, developing flags, national animals, and working with the Councilor to brainstorm appropriate festivals.
She also conducts research into old things and historical background of both the leaders and the land, to ground it in a strong history and to provide it with a sense of pride.
Benefit: Increase Loyalty by 1/2 CHA or INT
-Loyalty bonus an extra +1 for each festival level on the chart
Vacancy Penalty: Decrease Stability by 2, Loyalty by 2.
I don't know if this is in the rules or I missed it somewhere, but I was considering how exploration might be hampered in the event of rain. So, I drew up a calendar and listed all the days of the month, then I listed on which days there would be rain, which days would have severe storms, and which days would have snow, etc.
Then I slowed exploration speeds by one "step" for each day of rain, due to difficulty of having adventuring and measurement gear work and more limited site ranges and chances for horses to get caught in muck and mud.
Next I slowed exploration speeds by two "steps" for each day of severe storms.
I also have a plan to give players negative morale modifiers to their rolls if they insist on exploring in the muck; basically if they have just traveled in the muck and not cleaned off, they could have a -1 morale modifier for one day of rain. Then, if the rain persists for 3 or more days, they would have -2 morale modifiers unless they have adequately prepared or have sufficient shelter.
Are there some rules for this that I missed, or are there other suggestions for incorporating weather into Kingmaker?
I think this (could) be posted in the Campaign Journals section, but it also seems to be appropriate for this section of the forums.
This tale is built from the Kingmaker adventure plus many of the optional adventure side-quests from this thread. So even if you read the monthly pathfinder issue, there should be more than enough surprises to go around.
Some (minor) artistic license was taken for this tale from how things happened at the table. But basically, this is how things happened. Or, as the movie Judge Roy Bean would say, if this wasn't exactly how it happened, then this is how it should have happened.
Predicted Major Themes: Exploration, Honor, Self-Discovery, Relationships with the community
Actual Major themes (Thus Far): Exploration, Intricacies of Obscure Laws, Mild Incompetence.
OOC: List of Characters
Spoiler:
1. Eloise - 1/2 Elf Cleric Female Noble (House Medvyed)
(Healing/Charm Domains) (Is a semi-legitimate daughter of a noble.)
2. Queryn - 1/2 Elf Ranger Male Pioneer (From Rogarvia)
(Absolutely devastating with a bow) (favored enemy: humans)
3. Sardan - Human Wizard Male Noble (House Issia)
4. Balun - Human Fighter Male Assistant
x. Jacobi - The Porter from Crystal's Hirelings Supplement
xx. 3 Mules and 1 Horse (Queryn's).
(Which means that the group has a great deal of carrying capacity)
PROLOGUE
23rd of February
-Spring comes late to Brevory Land, but with the first thaw and the first ringing of the bell in the center square of Restov, the adventurers gathered together. This was the first time they would meet, but they had corresponded for several weeks previous-- put into contact by their Noble families who arranged the matter of their exploration.
-Sardan came first into the square, blue and purple cape trailing behind him. He was the fifth son of his family in Issia. He had the noble, long Issian nose, and the regal bearing of the ancient people.
On his shoulder perched Ix, his toad familiar, flicking its tongue in and out in metered pattern. And it stared at the passing people, long and hard--evaluating.
Sardan's family sent him south because funds were running low and there would be little or no inheritance for him in the future. A chance at winning glory through exploration seemed a fortuitous solution to the family's dilemma, so away Sardan went.
His father, a proud man, had not the heart to send Sardan alone, however, and so along with a total of 750 gold--nearly all his guaranteed inheritance-- he was accompanied by the House's most loyal retainer, Balun, a 34-year old who had served the family in jousts and as a bodyguard since his teens. Balun spoke little-- he let his actions do the talking. He was loyal to the bone, and he would stand beside Sardan until both would fall.
-Next, Eloise, a beautiful soft-featured raven-haired half-elven lady strode into the city square. She traveled from the woods of House Medyved, where she had been raised by her elven mother-- and funded by her father-- a human noble of the House who never married the Lady.
With his funds, she attended training at the local Temple to Corellana, goddess of healing. Now, as a graduate, she was notified by the temple sages that she must begin her apprenticeship to the goddess by traveling with those who must plunge into danger. So she had signed up for the exploration, eager to heal, to help, and to prove her worth to her father who had funded her so well-- but whom she had never met.
- Queryn, the half-elven ranger, was last. He was sent to accompany the others as a guide, and was paid by House Rogarvia as a representative of their interests in the expedition. Though not noble himself, he was blood friends with a noble of the house who, lost in the wilderness, had been saved from a bevy of bandits by Queryn and who had in turn adopted him as a protege, providing Queryn with the best instruction and housing that he could expect.
Queryn rode into the square mounted on a bay-colored highborn highlands horse. He looked down at his partners, and sighed. Cityfolk, all of them- except for perhaps the older fellow. Queryn could only hope that the others would pull their weight in the wilderness and that they knew something of surveying and cartography.
-The last to join, Jacobi, was a porter-- provided by the Swordlords of Restov gratis save his daily fee. He came leading three mules on which were packed many of the group's supplies.
The group introduced themselves; Sardan, on seeing the noble-looking Queryn mounted on his horse, grimaced. His father had not thought to leave him with a horse and now here Sardan was, at a social disadvantage to what he assumed was a rich and powerful half-elf.
Speaking, and staring directly at the half-elf, Sardan invented a colorful name and background for himself- "Half-elf, well met." He greeted. "I am Sardanodraxyl, descended from dragons and he who has studied at the feet of the Great Mage Androdroschenes. I have access to grand spells and insights into the world that will aid us in exploration of the land, and in extermination of its bandits. This man beside me is my loyal retainer, Balun." Lies, most of it, but what were the chances that this half-elf would see through his deception?
Queryn raised an eyebrow at Sardan's introduction, then lowered his head and spoke. "It is good to meet you Sardanodrax... May I call you Sarda'?"
Sardan was silent for a moment. He looked at Balun. Balun shrugged, and looked away, barely concealing a smirk.
Spoiler:
OOC: At this point, most of the table was pretty annoyed by 'Sarda's' official name which has never since been uttered in full, so we started calling him "sorta"; like the "Maeby" of Arrested Development. He did not enjoy this.
"Sardan will do." Sardan sighed. "Many find it difficult to pronounce my full true name."
"Not a good idea bandying true names about, not when there's pact magic users wandering the lands-" Queryn noted.
Spoiler:
OOC: What a slam.
In Sardan's silence, Eloise stepped up; "Well met then Queryn and Sardan." She said. "I am Eloise of House Medyved. I have come to provide healing and help to this exploration."
Jacobi merely introduced himself as the porter and explained that the Swordlords had sent him.
Spoiler:
OOC: Perhaps I will do more with Jacobi later or hand him off to a character, as the GM I don't want to steal their thunder, so I've had Jacobi speak as little as possible. Although I'm hard at work preparing some background material that could serve as future story hooks concerning him.
Handshakes went all around.
CHAPTER 1
...IN which our heroes encounter:
a. A nearly-abandoned campsite; and Sardan makes a fool of himself.
b. An isolated trading post; and Sardan makes a fool of himself.
c. A bunch of bandits.
d. A charming spell. "You Should Go Home!"
e. A beheading.
f. Apothecaries.
g. Kobolds and Radishes.
h. Sardan making a fool, nay, an Ass of himself.
I am very much enjoying reading the PDF. I haven't gone through everything; but I felt very inspired after reading a few pages.
Here are some of the ideas I had in expanding some adventures that I plan to use if I ever get a game together. (See Spoiler below)
Feel welcome to post some of your own diversions.
I tried to incorporate the below extra LOCATIONS and EVENTS into the storyline.
I also designed some of these (the letters, specifically) with a mind toward foreshadowing or introducing some of the backhistory behind a few of the people you meet in the forest.
Spoiler:
===
1. EXTRA ADVENTURERS AT OLEG'S
The abandoned fort has several mysteries hidden within its walls-- for PCs eager to spend some time exploring.
LOCATION
A2- Spiderhold
A DC 20 search under one of the beds reveals a loose panel.
If opened, under the panel a bottle can be found, sealed with a wildwood cork stamped with the Alestir Alehouse label. Within the bottle is an old parchment letter from a soldier who used to be stationed at the fort.
The letter details the location of a treasure trove, buried about half a day's ride east, underneath a rock. The letter goes on to lament "what must be my untimely demise," and then it urges a "Jonathan Trentovy" to deliver the treasure to the author's "fair Ophelia in Brevoy" if found. The letter is dated over forty-years old and is signed by a one Bartholemew Eledemon and further encourages the bearer of the letter to "let Ophelia know that I love her and to name our child after my father- Eudorus." Also included in the bottle is a wedding ring, worth 10 gp.
LORE: Bartholemew perished in a raid, along with Jonathan. No one else in the barracks knew that the letter was hidden there. The treasure trove is a bunch of recovered goods that Bartholemew and Jonathan lifted off some brigands instead of turning it over to their Captain.
Wilderness Lore???, Knowledge Geography (DC 15) or Knowledge Local (DC 18) to discover the treasure trove given the old, outdated directions.
The Knowledge Local check can be supplemented by +2 with advice from Oleg.
BATTLE FOR THE TREASURE: Some giant spiders (CR 3) have taken up guarding the rocks where the treasure is hidden.
TREASURE: When found, the treasure consists of 300 gp, a silver necklace worth 10 gp, two masterwork longswords, and strangely well preserved boots (with a magic spell of protection against elements +5 on them).
DEVELOPMENT: Ophelia may be located in Brevoy with a Gather Information DC 15 in the city. She is now 58 and is married to a butcher named Fenris (58). They have four children, ages (34m (exp 2), 26m (rog 2), 24f (exp 1), 22f (com 1)). If asked, Ophelia reveals that she miscarried her first child on hearing about Bartholemew's demise. Only the first two children currently live with them; all save the 26 year-old male have married. Ophelia welcomes the return of the wedding ring, but lets the adventurers know she is going to send it on to Bartholemew's family since the memories of Bartholemew have long since passed her by.
[Experience award for this, but little else, although you do now have a friend in Ophelia, and the second son- the 26 year old (rog 2) expresses some interest in your adventuring party since he does not have enough money to get married- he wants to adventure. If pressed, he admits to "skulking around" to gather coins, and fears that the next time he is caught by the guard he'll be for the gallows- only his father's respect in the district has gotten him out of trouble the last three times.]
EVENT
Mail Delivery
A particularly enterprising trapper left a few letters at Oleg's for delivery south. Seeing as you are headed that way, Oleg wonders if you might be able to drop them off.
If pressed about details regarding the trapper, Oleg remembers her as a particularly competent young woman who wore a bow and traveled with a few others. She has visited the post a few times and appears to command the loyalty of a small coterie of associates.
1. Breeg Orlivanch (Dead Trapper in area E)
CONTENTS: "Breeg. I've got a few more of those special bear traps for you-- ready to import into Oleg's. However, I've received some reports that a few travelers were caught in your traps. Could you be more careful about your placement, maybe signify their location with a flag or something.
"Signed; Constance Devine"
NOTES: If read before the party heads to Area C, reduce their chance of wandering into a trap from 20% to 10% or less per hour if they take special precautions.
DEVELOPMENT: Twenty bear traps arrive at Oleg's 1d8 days after the "delivery" of this letter. Three of the traps are coated with a special immobilization poison extract (2 Con damage).
2. Davik Nettles (Area S)
CONTENTS: "Davik. I'd like to try to negotiate a better price than the toll you currently charge to cross your bridge. I can pay in bulk up-front for the entire season for myself and my associates and all of our cargo and gear that will be transported. If you are amenable to discussing this and the other arrangement we had regarding the passage of news and your little "black book" of travelers; then the rewards can be quite great. As a token of my appreciation for your ear, I am enclosing a gold sovereign.
"Signed; Constance Devine"
NOTES: Gold sovereign enclosed.
DEVELOPMENT: In Area S, hidden under stones, there is a "Little Black Book" that records the comings and goings of all travelers among the waterways. It notes the coming of the Stag Lord and Davik's experience driving him off. It also notes other travelers who have passed along the way.
When writing up a magic aura for an item that has two "schools" of magic, it appears the correct answer is to write "aura varies" as opposed to "aura evocation and illusion"... just making certain this assumption, based on a read-through of Pathfinder magic items, is correct.
*Note: Was crossposted in 3.5 forums.
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Has anyone ever tried using Skype, Gizmo, or any other VoIP technology to play DnD?
I can see a few problems with it, but have worked out solutions to most. Can you identify better solutions, or maybe other problems that I did not catch.
* Rolling (solved by TRUST)
* Maps (solved by digital cameras and emailing before-hand)
* Battle Maps/Marching Order
The last is the most difficult.
I understand Wizards' Digital initiative seeks to solve this, but it's already late and the Di has been disappointing thus far. Is there another solution to Marching order than sweeping the webcam around the room to look at miniatures?
Has anyone ever tried using Skype, Gizmo, or any other VoIP technology to play DnD?
I can see a few problems with it, but have worked out solutions to most. Can you identify better solutions, or maybe other problems that I did not catch.
* Rolling (solved by TRUST)
* Maps (solved by digital cameras and emailing before-hand)
* Battle Maps/Marching Order
The last is the most difficult.
I understand Wizards' Digital initiative seeks to solve this, but it's already late and the Di has been disappointing thus far. Is there another solution to Marching order than sweeping the webcam around the room to look at miniatures?
