Golbez57's page

Hello, all!

I have been a fan of Pathfinder and especially Golarion from the time my Dungeon/Dragon subscriptions carried over to the Adventure Paths.

My friends and I are currently loving Extinction Curse; we're nearing the end of the first book. Like many, we have played online for the past year. Our first 10 or so sessions were all played using a combination of different Google tools (Meet, Slides, Sheets) but they nudged me gently into trying Roll20.

I am an absolute R20 rookie, but enjoying learning the tool as I go, with some support from my patient players.

During our first real session on it, we tinkered with the built-in icons to represent conditions.

Since that game, I have been working on the attached tool. It's a Google Slides presentation with each P2e condition matched to a stock R20 icon, then linked to the Archives of Nethys text describing the condition. I kept it all in one set of Slides to minimize tab-jumping or having to wait for the site's search results to load. The "home" icon in the upper right corner of each slide jumps back to the first.

For conditions with durations or levels, I plan to use the color tool built into R20; green for a "1" (such as Sickened 1), yellow for 2, orange for 3, red for 4.

I know that tracking multiple conditions that way could be tough, so on those cases, we'll note it elsewhere.

If you're a Pathfinder 2e GM or player, feel free to Make A Copy and swap around the icons as you see fit; only the text is linked. In the last two slides, I marked all icons I used with red borders, so it's easy to track which ones are available and note any changes you make to what's what.

While I have participated here much less often than I did years ago, I always enjoy the time I do spend at the Paizo forums, and hope this tool is helpful to some of you swell people.

Happy gaming!

Pathfinder 2e Conditions and Roll20 Icons

We are currently playing The Fall of Plaguestone as an introduction to 2nd Edition.

My intention from the start has been to run an Adventure Path after that, so long as we have fun with the new system and can keep on a schedule.

I am seeing MANY similar themes and even encounters between it and, on a first reading, The Show Must Go On.

Have others noticed the same? What are your feelings on those?

As described here, I'll be using Kingmaker as the core of our gamified classroom this coming school year.

I have my 25 5th graders for Reading and Math instruction, while they go to my two partner teachers for Science and Process Writing. I'll have all three groups of 5th graders for Social Studies.

My homeroom class will be the main "players" and will be the ones exploring the Greenbelt, etc. One of the other 5th grade classes will be developing Varnhold and the surrounding lands, and the other will be doing the same for Fort Drelev. I only have each of those groups for just over 2 hours a week, so, that was the best way I felt I could incorporate them into the main storyline. They'll eventually be taking on the roles of some of the leaders within the larger kingdom. 75 heroes all teaming up to tame The Stolen Lands!

The four-panel map will be a huge part of our game, essentially our "game board" since my homeroom class won't move through all the encounter areas in the traditional way.

Volume 3 is very specific on which hexes are annexed as part of saving Varnhold (2 hexes in every direction, along with some of the road leading northeast). However, Volume 4 is less specific about which lands encompass and can be annexed after liberating Fort Drelev, and Volume 5 says "refer to Volume 6 for information on annexing Pitax"... but I wasn't able to find specifics there, either.

Special considerations: my class will be able to generally explore one new hex each of our 180 school days, starting on the second week of school (Day 5) after they've created characters and formed into four guilds. There are 319 total hexes (some on the borders partial, about 20 of those technically part of Brevoy) on the four-panel map. I am pacing the game to play out over the three trimesters, so two volumes per trimester, which each end in late November and then in early April before finally wrapping in mid-June. On that schedule, Varnhold will likely be annexed around half-way through the school year, in mid-January, with Fort Drelev joining the kingdom near the end of the second trimester, in mid-March. Those events (along with Pitax's annexation) will add a lot of territory to their kingdom.

What are your suggestions for how large an area to include in each annexation? I don't mind if they explore the whole map; in fact, I think they'll be driven to do so once they start discovering the adventure sites and the cool things that are there.

Thanks for any and all input, ideas, and inspiration!

I've been a fan of Golarion from its very first breaths. However, with a 7-year old and 3-year old, and a teaching job that's become my hobby as well as my professional work, there's unfortunately been no time for regular tabletop gaming.

When I recently started researching gamification and thinking about how I'd bring those concepts and procedures into our 5th grade classroom, I decided to include some maps in our class game. That turned my thoughts to the four-panel poster map of The Stolen Lands. In short order, I was digging out my old Adventure Paths.

Wow... I had not really forgotten how richly detailed and inspiring these adventures were, but it was sure fun to be reminded.

I am in the process of creating pared-down mechanics for our class game, and things are moving along well! That journey will be posted at a Facebook page if you care to check it out. Your feedback there or here is welcome, too. I'm also blogging about the process at talkED.tv under my name, Kyle Anderson. In the weeks ahead before school starts in September, our class website will be rebooted and include the game rules and information about the game's story, which will very closely follow the AP, minus the gods, demons, and sorts of things that tend to get conservative folk in our community all frothy at the mouth.

Here are some pictures of what I did with my maps of The Stolen Lands several years ago. I'll be using them again as the students' characters explore, discover, and settle.

Laminated and posted

Laminated hexes with sticky tack, which this time will be numbered for easier reference as students have potential to explore one (more with special abilities and items) hex each day

Just for fun before covering the maps

The finished product, with the yellow areas being off-limits-for-settling land of Brevoy... until the game's story might lead to a revolution when we study the same in U.S. history later in the year

Thank you, Paizo, for providing the beating heart to what's going to be an incredibly fun experience for this year's students and those in the years to come! Thanks also to the community here who helped bring the world to life before it took on its own as one of the premiere tabletop role-playing worlds and game systems.

Even when I was tinkering with 4th Edition D&D and ran several sessions of "Edge of Anarchy" using that ruleset, I was toying with firearms in Korvosa. When I eventually get around to GMing "Crimson Throne" again, I'd like to give them another go.

The idea was/is to draw some firmer lines between the Chelaxian-Varisian Korvosans who have embraced firearms and the full-blooded Varisians and Shoanti who hold to more traditional tools of combat.

I'm sure this was influenced in no small part by cribbing ideas from Ptolus, which I think I'll always consider the benchmark for urban campaigning.

So, now with the Gunslinger on the horizon, I'm wondering how to best retrofit firearms into "Curse of the Crimson Throne."

One thought is to tweak Janderhoff as the source of firearms, rather than having them imported from Cheliax or elsewhere. I don't really want to have Korvosa itself be a hub of firearm production, since I'm not interested in majorly tweaking region-wide economics and trade as they're already established.

Another need would be a shop/shops--maybe a larger one along with a booth in Gold Market--that specializes in selling and servicing firearms. I'll need to go back to the "Guide to Korvosa" on that one.

Finally, there's the question of who exactly uses them. I guess I like the image of the Sable Company being the major group to use firearms, but am also tinkering with the idea of the Grey Maidens with them and cannons and other similar tools being installed under Ileosa's rule.

Other thoughts and ideas?

Long time, no stop by these parts!

After being overwhelmed by all the prep work I felt I'd had to do to GM a successful "Pathfinder" campaign, I'm thinking of giving a third try to "Crimson Throne" sometime down the road. My previous two games lost their steam due to player exit through a variety of circumstances, especially a few moving out of the area or moving on from gaming--hoping the campaign itself isn't cursed!

In reading through the editorials and introductions in the books again, I've been thinking a lot about what James said about the Cinderlander in the "History of Ashes" intro--how he wished they'd known of him earlier so they could better foreshadow him.

I love that sort of thing.

I'm wondering if and how others have done this. Only thing that's come to mind is to do so through conversations in Thieves' Camp while helping the Soldados or with random Shoanti in taverns and such. Maybe have one of Lamm's Lambs be an orphan from one of the Cinderlander's attacks.

Any other foreshadowing you might've used for other characters? Pilts, etc.?

I am loving reading "Kingmaker" but got some unfortunate news today that some of the friends with whom I was going to play are now unavailable. I will need to once again cancel my AP subscription; as good as the reading is, I can't manage $120 for the next Path when my gaming prospects have dimmed for the time being. I'd like #36 to be shipped by itself and be my last AP book for the time being.

Thanks for the awesome product, guys.

I love using props, handouts, music, and other atmospheric devices as a DM. Even though we played just a part of "Age of Worms" I still tried out some of the recipes for Zeech's Feast posted long ago at these very messageboards (bet that thread's still in the "AoW" archives). More recently, I've had lots of fun with the Harrow deck and especially the visit to Zellara's in our two "Curse of the Crimson Throne" campaigns. We even had some of the 'Varisian simmer' one night.

Hoping that when we run "Kingmaker" it'll have more longevity than past games.

Really drawn to this AP due to growing up in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and exploring the rivers and forests near my home on weekends. We'd even occasionally bring along some RPG stuff and game with flashlights in the tent at night while camping one one stretch of land or another that didn't look occupied. ;)

One thing I'd like to do to help players better establish PCs' personalities and the frontier exploration is set up a "campfire" at our gaming table. This would be used primarily at the beginning of sessions to allow everyone to talk over the previous session in-character, helping us pick up where we left off and getting everyone in the mood to role-play.

I'm having trouble figuring out how to do this in a way that won't overly-clutter my friends' basement where we'll likely have our games. Hoping to include some element of dimmer light, since I'd like to have all other room lights off for this time.

Ideas are welcome!

Okay, you've got me. I was a charter subscriber until the first couple issues of "Legacy of Fire" when I started DMing "Crimson Throne" and thought I'd be good on campaign material for as long as I'd be playing--having subscribed to the previous mags at the tail end of "Shackled City"--but of all things, it's the support articles that've brought me back as a subscriber. (And, yes, the unique AP design of "Kingmaker" has me intrigued, too.)

In particular, I love the stuff on the gods of Golarion. Fantasy RPG mythologies are one of my favorite parts of the hobby.

After recently picking up "Gods and Magic" and seeing a couple of the minor deities noted in it given more detail in "Guide to the River Kingdoms" I'm wondering a couple things:

1) Is there a list of the Pathfinder products, AP or otherwise, that tells where each of the gods have gotten an extended treatment?

2) When Paizo plans products, especially the APs, do y'all consider which gods have not yet been detailed, and then lean the products towards including them?

3) Any plans for an expanded "Gods and Magic"-esqe book that collects these articles once the core pantheon has been thoroughly expored, perhaps with new material connecting their shared mythology? I noted "Book of the Righteous" as my favorite 3E 3rd party product in the stickied thread Jason started, and noticed I wasn't alone.

I've found fan conversions for 3.5 domains in a few different places, but haven't come upon one for the Summoning domain. Has anyone here done one yet, or know where I can find a fan conversion? Barring that, are there any suggestions for 1st and 8th level domain abilities?

I should add that Grachius' connection to Gaedren Lamm is through his father. The weaponsmith has been framed for a crime by Lamm, and upon his return to Korvosa, Grachius found he had been imprisoned. Again, not certain of what crime to use here. If we go the "bad guy" route with Viralina's late husband, perhaps it was Grachius' father who attempted to confront Lamm after being targeted by one of his pickpockets.

Before I recently got a spark to revisit Curse of the Crimson Throne and begin planning a new campaign, I had spent the past 6 or so months digging into "Ptolus." My wife bought me the Big Book back in 2006 to celebrate my new teaching job, and since then it had been skimmed but not thoroughly read or used.

For our new CotCT campaign, I'll be borrowing elements from Ptolus to create a unique flavor for Korvosa. The biggest departure from Golarion-core will be a more advanced level of technology. It won't be anything on par with Eberron (where I DMed games for many years), but I do want to use its presence as a way to differentiate Korvosans from the Shoanti.

The game will be D&D 4E, and I love the Primal power source as developed by Mike Mearls in "Primal Power"; this will be strongly associated with the Shoanti. I'm not thinking too much about the ripple effect of technology on other areas of Varisia and Golarion, since the campaign will contained to the Adventure Path and I don't plan to continue it past "Crown of Fangs." However, I'm toying with a tech-boom in Cheliax having happened along with the infernal infusion, and Korvosans adopting this technology in an effort to court favor.

So, a sort of 'purity of nature versus the corruption of technology' theme.

Here are my thoughts on using specific parts of Ptolus in Korvosa; please share your own if you've got 'em! Before the campaign starts, I might also revisit "Sharn: City of Towers" and add some things from there, too. I love city books.

GENERAL ELEMENTS, PERSONALITIES, AND PLACES

Firearms and technology (p. 37)--elevate the level of technology to include firearms/black powder, spyglasses, pocket watches, spectacles, printing presses, hot air balloons, and steam engines

Heliothil (p. 46)--mined by the dwarves of Janderhoff and used in the construction of the few existing airships

Noble Houses (p. 87-100)--as appropriate, use these additional details to flesh out the noble families existing in Korvosa

Brotherhood of Redemption (p. 107-108)--a sect of the local Church of Abadar focused on “domesticating” monstrous humanoids and bringing them into the fold of civilization

Keepers of the Veil (p. 119-121)--use additional details for the Church of Pharasma in Gray District

The Shuul (p. 131-133)--borrow elements from these for the Queen’s Physicians

The Vai (p. 139-140)--analogous to the Red Mantis cult

The City Watch (p. 150-153)--use additional details to describe the Korvosan Guard, and add Guardhouses (Watchhouses) and warning bells throughout the city

The Dockmaster’s Tower (p. 172-173)--add both the Dockmaster and Secki to the tower on the Jeggare River between Midland and North Point

The Foundry (p. 186)--analogous to the Ironworks of Old Korvosa, minus the Shuul (GtK p. 30)

The Stockyards (p. 191-192)--analogous to the Horse Shop (GtK p. 14)

Cloud Theater (p. 201)--analogous to Marbledome in the Heights (GtK p. 21)

The Ghostly Minstrel (p. 204)--analogous to the Posh and Turtle, adding a "viewing area" for Old Tom (GtK p. 26)

The Griffon (p. 206)--use map for the Three Rings Tavern (GtK p. 26)

Iridithil’s Home (p. 207-209)--analogous to the Mierani enclave led by Perishial Kalissreavil in South Shore

Darthalis Temester (p. 305)--add him and the Book Wagon to Gold Market in Midland (GtK p. 22)

The Smoke Shop (p. 310)--add to the area near the Dock Trade in North Point (GtK p. 24)

Clock Tower (p. 319)--add to the same area as City Hall in North Point (GtK p. 25)

Secret Hall (p. 332)--add to the Merciless Cliffs near the Temple of Asmodeus; meeting place for Ileosa and the Red Mantis

Temple of Gaen (p. 385-386)--use for the Bank of Abadar (GtK p. 26)

Temple Observatory of the Watcher of the Skies (p. 389-390)--add to the grounds of Theumanexus College in East Shore (GtK p. 13)

The Godsday Festival and Tournament (p. 392-393)--use to flesh out the Founding Festival (p. 36)

MAPS

The Savage Shark (p. 175)--rough tavern near the docks, perhaps near the Old Fishery

Typical Workshops (p. 181)--various shops and businesses throughout the city (smithy, rope maker, wainwright, tannery)

Typical Warehouse (p. 182)--warehouse

The Foundry (p. 186)--use for the Ironworks in Old Korvosa

The Stockyards (p. 192)--use for the Horse Shop in East Shore

Typical Houses (p. 197)--use for smaler houses throughout Korvosa

Typical Store (p. 200, 309, 311, 353)--use for stores throughout the city (bookseller, wine merchant, baker, glassblower, chest shop, beer seller, pipes/tobacco/components, cloak shop, map shop, feed store, lamps & lanterns)

The Ghostly Minstrel (p. 204)--use for the Posh and Turtle in North Point

The Griffon (p. 206)--use for the Three Rings Tavern in North Point

Iridithil’s Home (p. 207)--use for the Mierani enclave in South Shore

North Point Restaurant (p. 214)--use for restaurants in the city

The Onyx Spider (p. 215-216)--use for the Sticky Mermaid in Old Korvosa (GtK p. 29)

St. Gustav’s Chapel (p. 220)--use for a church as needed

The Siege Tower (p. 237)--use for the Grand Cathedral of Pharasma, with the Meeting Hall and Barracks replaced with a sanctuary similar to St. Gustav’s Chapel (p. 220), in Gray district (GtK p. 15)

Swordthrower’s Social Club (p. 300-301)--add to North Point as the de facto headquarters of the Cerulean Society

Open Market (p. 303)--use for Gold Market in Midland (GtK p. 22)

Typical Apartment (p. 336)--use for apartments, especially in Cliffside and Pillar Hill

Typical House (p. 347)--use for larger houses throughout Korvosa

Temple of Gaen (p. 386)--use for the Bank of Abadar (GtK p. 26)

Watcher of the Skies Observatory (p. 390)--add to the grounds of Theumanexus College in East Shore (GtK p. 13)

It's been awhile since I kicked around the Paizo messageboards since I'm taking a break from DMing (most recently "Curse of the Crimson Throne"), but am enjoying being a player in "Second Darkness" using PFRPG Beta and looking forward to the big PFRPG book this summer.

I'm just starting a play-through of my collection of Final Fantasy games, and recording the trip at a LiveJournal blog, 5 Years of Fantasy. Please stop on by if you're interested in sharing your experiences with the series or even joining me on the trip.

Good gaming!

Hello, all! I'm putting the finishing touches on a new character for the continuation of our Red Hand of Doom campaign that ended for awhile after our entire party was devoured by a certain "blue meanie." I'll be playing a very atypical cleric. Without going into much detail, I'm looking for a 3.5 cleric spell that creates difficult terrain--the lower level, the better. Almost any WotC book is fair game; I've got most of 'em save the Forgotten Realms books.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

SPOILERS for the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path ahead... you've been warned!

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Referencing the six adventures, my only-somewhat-reliable memories of reading them through a busy spring and summer, and Gamer Girrl's fantastic consolidated treasure lists for CotCT, I've matched the items depicted in the cards to the following in-game goodies. Note that 14 of the 54 item cards--noted in (parentheses) following the items--aren't yet matched. Input from fellow gamers and especially the designers in correcting mistakes and filling in the gaps is most welcome.

I've coded the items to the adventures in which they appear.

EoA=Edge of Anarchy
SDttG=Seven Days to the Grave
EfOK=Escape from Old Korvosa
HoA=History of Ashes
SoS=Skeletons of Scarwall
CoF=Crown of Fangs

Curse of the Crimson Throne deck

01 Chain Mail EfoK; Laori’s armor
02 Full Plate SdttG; Gray Maiden armor
03 Full Plate EoA; Hellknight armor
04 Leather Armor EfOK; Red Mantis armor
05 Shield EoA; Hellknight shield
06 Bastard Sword SoS; Serithtial
07 Bola (Shoanti?)
08 Bolt HoA; Cinderlander’s screaming bolts
09 Falchion CoF; Sabina’s +2 wounding falchion
10 Heavy Crossbow (Harsk’s crossbow?)
11 Kukri EfoK; Vimanda’s +1 ki focus shock kukri
12 Lance SoS; Sergeant Lashton’s +2 lance
13 Light Crossbow EfOK; +1 holy light crossbow
14 Rapier EfOK; Vencarlo Orisini’s +2 keen rapier
15 Sabre EfOK/HoA/CoF; Red Mantis sawtooth sabre
16 Scythe SDttG; Lady Andaisin’s +1 vicious scythe
17 Spiked Chain EfOK; Laori’s +2 spell storing spiked chain
18 Totem Spear HoA; Sklar-Quah Thundercallers’ +1 totem spears
19 Potion (?)
20 Potion HoA; Cinnabar’s elixir of shadewalking
21 Potion (?)
22 Ring CoF; Ileosa’s ring of splendid security
23 Ring SoS; Captain Castrophane’s ring of immolation
24 Scroll (?)
25 Scroll (?)
26 Scroll SDttG; Ileosa’s proclamation
27 Rod (Necromancy?)
28 Rod (Swastel’s rod of wonders? Rod of splendor in the Lord’s Tower?)
29 Staff (?)
30 Staff (?)
31 Wand HoA; Cinnabar’s wand of hold person
32 Wand HoA; Akram’s wand of lesser restoration
33 Wand (?)
34 Belt HoA; Krojun’s belt of giant strength +4
35 Box SDttG; death’s head coffer
36 Circlet SoS; Castrophane’s skeleton warrior circlet in Lord’s Tower
37 Crown CoF; Crown of Fangs
38 Dress EoA’ Ileosa’s dress
39 Fang CoF; Fang of Kazavon
40 Figurine HoA; Sial’s bone house
41 Figurine EfOK; elephant figurine of wondrous power
42 Gloves EoA; Ileosa’s gloves
43 Hood (Jabbyr’s executioner’s hood?)
44 Incense (Drugs from Arkona mansion?)
45 Mask EfOK/HoA/CoF; Red Mantis mask
46 Mushroom (?)
47 War Paint HoA; Shoanti war paint
48 Badge EoA; Korvosan Guard badge
49 Coin EoA; Korvosan gold sail
50 Doctor's Mask SDttG; plaguebringer’s mask
51 Harrow Deck EoA; Zellara’s Harrow deck
52 Holy Symbol of Abadar SDttG; Ishani’s holy symbol
53 Unholy Symbol of Zon-Kuthon EfOK; Laori’s holy symbol
54 Vial of Poison (?)

Up-front, we've not had a Barbarian PC in our "Curse of the Crimson Throne" PFRPG playtest. However, while looking at the conversions that will be needed for an upcoming adventure

PFRPG fixed the 3.5 issue of trying to figure out skill points for higher-level characters based on Int scores a half-dozen or more levels ago, and which were and weren't cross-class when they took this or that class at various levels... so why the clunky rage point calculation mechanic (gaining a certain number of points at each level based on the character's Con at that level) is still around is a mystery.

Easy fix: calculate rage points according to a combination of the Barbarian's level and effective Constitution score at the beginning of an adventuring day. Higher Con Barbarians will still get more rage points and a greater ability to access rage powers.

Apologies if this has been asked and answered already (no hits with the Google search trick), but the question of the Leadership feat's prerequisites came up while discussing a certain tiny creature in our Curse of the Crimson Throne game.

Now that characters do not receive a feat a 6th level, should the prerequisite for the feat be 5th level or 7th level? I imagine the Beta will answer this question in a few weeks, but thought I'd fish for an answer anyways if turns out to not be the case.

Final Fantasy IV in a much-hyped update coming on July 22nd.

Dragon Quest IV, also polished but not so heavily modified, coming in September.

Both are, to me, the "retro" high points of the respective series.

Hot dang, of all the systems I've owned and loved over the years, the DS is the best investment.

The full details of our most recent session are given in the most recent post here. In a nutshell, my players subdued all four "Cow Hammer Boys" and Verik. After long and arduous investigation of All the World's Meat and separate interrogations of Karralo, Parns, and Verik, they:

1) learned that they Boys were killing some of their targets, and that Parns was preparing their remains for inclusion in the handouts to the needy;

2) deduced that Melyia Arkona was providing Verik with cattle; and

3) correctly concluded that Verik was unaware of the gruesome activities of his men, believed he had good intentions in helping hungry people, and set him free with all of his equipment. He has (truthfully) said that he plans to leave the city in shame.

Through the silver dagger/raktavarna, Vimanda/Melyia knows that the heroes are aware of Verik's connection with her, and that the operation is destroyed. She also knows that the characters are agents of the Field Marshal.

My current thought is this: as detailed in "Edge of Anarchy" and "Escape from Old Korvosa" House Arkona is steadily building resources with the intent of collapsing the current monarchy and assuming control of Korvosa. Vimanda can track him without fail. In the dead of night, before he makes good his escape, she approaches and deceives him one last time, kills him, and puts his maimed body on display in front of All the World's meat with "Traitor to the Throne" written on the window in his blood. The heroes did speak to guards on their way to the Citadel and suggest they secure the butcher shop, so they'd either have to be eliminated by Vimanda, too, or their absence from the scene explained another way. I think this'd go a long way to turning those who relied on food from the renegade guards against the already-sullied monarchy--just as the Arkonas desire.

My concern is that the players will feel punished for their characters' actions, and spend too much time investigating the circumstances of Verik's death after they last saw him.

I'd welcome ideas from fellow DMs and Paizo creators on the final fate of Verik in this instance. Our next session is on Thursday, July 17th. Thanks for all of the past feedback; it's been appreciated and put to good use.

A week or so short of a year ago, I was busily prepping for a planned year-long descent into the darkness of Castle Ravenloft. I had drawn scale maps of Barovia and its surrounding regions from "Expedition to Castle Ravenloft", spent days scouring my miniatures collection and that of my friend to select the perfect figures for each and every encounter, used factions rules from various sources to really flesh out the Lightbringers guild, created campaign binders for all six players... "the DM Works." Sadly, all was derailed just a handful of sessions in by non-game-related happenings among some of the players.

I was SO looking forward to revisiting my AD&D Ravenloft roots with a good ol' haunted house adventure.

Having spent the last hour or so digging into "Skeletons of Scarwall", the dream is alive again in a new form. And it's got a critter called a Corpse Orgy. Man, the primo miniature for THAT is going to be a tough find!

One of my players developed a backstory for his halfling rogue that, in the words of a fellow player, is essentially "the Luke Skywalker scenario." Here's the meat of it:

*Raised on a farm (I'm thinking Harse) by his mother and father, who spoke of Caspar's fraternal uncle when teaching him how not to conduct himself; the uncle is an "infamous criminal"

*While still young, shadowy figures tried to take Caspar away, and his mother was killed while fighting off the attackers; Caspar and his father move to Korvosa in an attempt to live anonymously

*Caspar's father, though, despairs over the years and dies prematurely aged, on his deathbed revealing that he is actually Caspar's uncle, and that his father is the criminal who sought to reclaim him

*Taking solace for a time in shiver, Caspar is now clean from drugs but still harboring these dark secrets from the others with whom he brought Gaedren Lamm to justice and now travels

I'm seeking ideas and assistance in placing his father into the campaign. My first instinct was to make him the right-hand man of Boule, but seeing as "Escape from Old Korvosa" introduced us to Pilts Swastel's diminutive and dangerous cohort, that now seems repetitive. It would also be problematic to have his father a well-established criminal in Korvosa; why, then, would the uncle take Caspar to that very city?

My current line of thinking is to replace Cinnabar with his father--same stats, save that the leader of the Red Mantis stalking the group through the Cinderlands would be a male halfling rather than a female human. (There's an abundance of HOT EVIL ladies in "CotCT" already, right? Heheh.)

Off-topic, is Boule and his Cerulean Society going to have a role in the campaign? I thought I'd read in more than one place that'd be the case, but I'm guessing now that they were snipped from "EfOK" for space.

Thanks for all input and thoughts!

Hello Cosmo and Company,

I sent the following email to CustServ on Thursday, but as I've not received a response there, I figured I'd give it a go here, too. I'll be leaving town for a week on Thursday, and am hoping to follow whatever steps are necessary before then. The order number was/is 966940, placed on 6/3. Thanks!

"I was thrilled today to receive a box containing "Classic Monsters Revisited" and "Curse of the Crimson Throne" item cards. Not so thrilling was my discovery, a moment ago, that there is a large vertical tear from bottom to near the top of p. 55/56.

I'd like to have the book replaced. I still have the original packaging. There is no damage to the item cards. Please advise me how to proceed."

I love city sourcebooks. I read 'em even for settings in which I haven't and probably will never play.

When I was deeply entrenched in Eberron, I found the Sharn Index released by Keith Baker to be a great tool. I would love something similar for the Guide to Korvosa. Since it's not out there, to my knowledge, I'm seeking a few things:

1) Permission from Mike and the movers-and-shakers at Paizo to produce a fan index;

2) Partners in this endeavor; and

3) Someone willing to host the document, should it take form.

My thought would be to divide up the pages in the book equally among participants in the project. We'd each create a Word document alphabetically listing the proper nouns in the book. I like Keith's categories of "NPCs" and "Locations, Services, and Organizations"--perhaps formatting NPCs in bold print. Takasi and others have already done some of the latter work in other threads in the "CotCT" subforums, I believe, sans page references.

I'd take on the job of doing my share of the work described above and also combining all of the info to one document.

Ported over from the Alpha 2 General Discussion thread....

We now have four committed players, with two more likely joining us in the near future. Our group is diverse in its experience with tabletop RPGs, from two who started playing with the advent of 3rd Edition D&D to veteran RPG creator and writer Steven Schend. They've created an eclectic group of characters that I'm sure they'll share here as our playtest proceeds.

Our plan is to play through "Curse of the Crimson Throne" with a combination of on-the-fly and full conversions of NPCs and other material. We'll be making good use of our extensive collection of 3rd Edition/3.5 source books to test for backwards compatibility, as well.

Our first game is planned for June 5th, and we'll gather on a mostly-weekly basis for between 3 and 4 hours of play with rules-related discussions (and the usual gamer jokes sneaked in, too) in the hours or so before each session.

I've been a customer of Apparitions Comics & Books for about 12 years now. In the more than 20 years that I've collected comics and been a patron of numerous shops, its owner Dave is the only one who dutifully fulfilled my pull list without trying to pad it with tie-ins he "thought I would like" and then pressuring me to buy them, or giving me a sour opinion on one of the books I collected. He has a clean, well-organized store with a healthy stock of back issues, out of print books, interesting collectibles, and rare RPG products.

It's been several months since I stopped in, as my teaching job took me to closer to home and I couldn't justify the cost of time and gas to make the pilgrimage to he opposite side of town. So, when my father-in-law shared with me the news that Dave had been robbed, shot, and critically injured, it was a heavy blow.

With apologies if I'm breaking forum etiquette, and hopes that you'll excuse me if I am, here's a way that fans can give a little to make a big difference for Dave:

http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles/Fund_Raising_to_Help_David_Pirkola_ _Comics_Retailer

Thanks for your time.

I've been gaming for the majority of my 31 years. After exploring innumerable ancient ruins, braving haunted wilds, clashing with powerfully evil villains, and all of the other familiar-but-fantastic stuff that comes with being a role-player, participating in the PRPG Playtest is as exciting as anything I have done before.

The game room in my basement will be HQ for what we hope will be many enjoyable months of putting the PRPG ruleset through the paces. We plan to meet three or four times each month for 4-5 hours at a time, allowing for socializing, munchies, and breaks.

*Starting with 1st level Alpha 2 characters and "Hollow's Last Hope" likely leading into "Crown of the Kobold King"

*32 point buy, with only 3 players at the moment

*Flat hit points, as described on p.10 of Alpha 2

*Maximum starting gold by class

We will be primarily playtesting three things in these and later mid- and high-level sessions:

1) The ease of adapting existing 3.5 adventures "on the fly"--which is what I and, I think, many others will do regularly in the future;

2) Backwards compatibility with existing 3.5 products, since we have a huge library of books and materials between us;

3) Most of all, which of the new rules are fun and we'd like to see carried over to the final PRPG and which are for one reason or another troublesome.

As has been done already in the sidebars of the Alpha documents, please let us know if there are other specific things you'd like us to try. Thanks for the chance to be part of shaping the game we'll be playing for years to come!

The past several months have been hectic, with my wife and I gearing up for the arrival of our daughter. Somehow in the midst of her birth in mid-March and the several days I had off of work to be at home with her and mom, adjusting to our new (and wonderful) status quo, I managed to visit the Paizo website for the first time in a good, long while.

It was then that I discovered the announcement about the Pathfinder RPG. After downloading and reviewing it between diapering and feedings, I decided that this was the way I wanted to continue my gaming hobby.

I also decided to resubscribe to Pathfinder. This past summer, I'd converted my Dungeon and Dragon subscriptions and purchased #5 and #6 for the sake of completeness. I loved 'em--but along with regular CD and DVD purchases, 3/4ths of my comics pull, our digital cable and top-speed Internet service, and extra services on our cell phones, my ongoing subscription was trimmed from our budget to make way for baby. I missed that "Pathfinder Charter Subscriber" forums status... still do... silly, I know.

Happily, now a month into the parenthood adventure, I've found that we have just enough "fun money" for me to reactivate my subscriptions, and I also purchased the "Guide to Korvosa." It was the Pathfinder RPG announcement and accompanying Alpha document that really brought me back.

Others with various reasons for having ended and then renewed a Pathfinder subscription, post away! The fine Paizo crew that creates this and other products we love will be interested in our stories, I think.

I've had a Pathfinder Player's Guide sitting in my shopping cart for some time now, and got hooked by the recent talk of Hollow's Last Hope (sadly, can't make it to a Free RPG event) and Crown of the Kobold King.

The subtotal was just a penny shy of $20.00. Cool! Proceed to checkout...

WHA?! $30+?!

Over $15.00 in Shipping & Handling, almost equalling the price of the merchandise. These are magazine-sized (in cover dimensions, not page count) items. I mean, I've ordered plenty of things through online retailers, including a few backstock magazines at a time from Paizo and "don't drop it on your foot" Ptolus, but never have I choked at the sight of S&H charges like I did just now.

Is there a good reason for the sky-high shipping costs in this case?

Many outstanding ideas and quality supplemental materials for use by DMs of an "Age of Worms" campaign are scattered among this message board. The editors and moderators (especially James Jacobs) have also offered answers to pressing questions.

I've just wised up and started saving the URLs of this sort of stuff to a Word document for later reference, and thought that an ongoing thread for posters to compile other content--your own content or things you found especially helpful--might go here. The "Night on the Town" supplemental adventure and the "Expanded Eberron Conversions" are the sorts of things I'm thinking of here.

To get us started:

“Cellar Door”—Adventure for use in the areas below the abandoned mining office, by Big Jake

http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/campaignSeedTheC ellarDoor

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Gestalt Filge-variant Filge with Dread Necromancer levels (from Heroes of Horror) using gestalt rules from Unearthed Arcana, by Golbez57

http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/gestaltFilgeSPOI LERS&page=1#49680

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Seeker symbol-graphic of Uluvant's ring, including the Seeker insignia found elsewhere in "The Whispering Cairn", by SageSTL

http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/ageOfWorms/archives/theSeekersSymbol

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Telakin-Mechanics of Telakin's consume identity ability, by Peruhain of Brithondy

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/dungeon/ageOfWorms/hoHRQuestionOnTelak in

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Please, post others!

I just got the previous issue in the mail two weeks ago to the day, and here arrives another issue this evening.

A pleasant surprise, but I'm wondering if this is another distributing snafu. I'm in Grand Rapids, Michigan and others in nearby areas have been receiving theirs quite a bit later than me lately.

Cool beans; look forward to reading the latest "Age of Worms" adventure!

Please do share links to artwork, in-character journals, or other creative endeavors inspired by the Adventure Path.

I'll start things off with this piece by my friend, showing the heroes (her character, Del the Changeling Wizard-Bard; Thokk, the Half-Orc Druid-Barbarian; and Took, the Changeling Rogue-Fighter in a Halfling guise) exploring the lantern gallery of the Whispering Cairn. They'd already recovered and lit the indigo lamp, and are pictured removing the everburning torch--which I described as a glowing cylinder--from the green lamp.

http://www.jessdoor.com/galleries/art/ageofworms1.jpg

Here's an individual shot of Del in her usual Half-Elf guise:

http://www.jessdoor.com/galleries/art/del_singing.jpg

And another, showing "the many faces of Del" as she serves Allustan as his eyes and ears about Diamond Lake in addition to being his apprentice:

http://www.jessdoor.com/galleries/art/del.jpg

You can access a ton of other fantastic D & D pieces in her Gallery, many of them from our other ongoing campaign in Eberron called "The Company of Riders".

http://www.jessdoor.com/galleries/

She's shared many of her pieces under the name "Yami" at the WotC Art Gallery messageboards:

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=268516&page=1&pp=30

I look forward to seeing and reading others' work!

I know I've read this somewhere before, but want to be clear on how this clue was supposed to function.

In a past thread, Mr. Mona stated that, when replaced in its proper home on the lid to Zosiel's false sarcophagus, the finger that the PCs find in the rubble of the wolf den points to the location of the true tomb.

In doing some manual gymnastics, I've tried to contort my finger in a way that'd direct PCs in that direction, but am not coming up with anything workable.

We ended our last session after one of the heroes fell from the chain leading up to the true tomb's entrance (the "big face" corridor) after his careful Search located the opening, so it's not so much a concern. The bigger issue is that they have found the finger, detected faint evocation on the lid, and it's only a matter of time until they put they "reattach" the broken finger. I want to describe its appearance to 'em properly when they do so, as a way of confirming to them, "Yeah, that high opening in the alcove is important."

Thanks in advance for setting me straight!

Apologies in advance if posting stats that are derived from an issue of Dungeon goes against copyright; admins are welcome to delete the thread in that case.

Our "Age of Worms" campaign includes three gestalt PCs, and I'm planning to convert some key NPCs to gestalt characters, as well. The first of these is Filge, to whom I've added Dread Necromancer from "Heroes of Horror" as a second, gestalt class. I gave him a slight bump in Charisma to allow him to rebuke undead and, in the unlikely event that he'll live that long, cast Dread Necromancer spells at 4th level. Also, since his Dread Necromancer levels gave him some more hit points and he's got some nice damage reduction, I ditched Toughness in favor of Spell Focus (necromancy).

Sorry, but words formatted to be bolded and italicized don't transfer with cut-and-paste here, so it looks a bit cluttered. If you'd like to use them yourself, it'd be best to cut-and-paste the stats back into a word processing document and then reformat.

Enjoy!

Filge, Deranged Necromancer CR 3+
Male human wizard (necromancer)-dread necromancer* gestalt 3
NE medium humanoid
Init +2, Senses Listen +1, Spot +1 (+2 to each when Merrowahn is within 5 ft.); +3 on Spot checks made in shadows
Languages Common, Elven, Infernal
_________________________________
AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 11; DR 2/bludgeoning and magic
hp 18 (3 HD)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +4
_________________________________
Spd 30 ft. (6 squares)
Atk dagger +0 melee (1d4)
Base Atk +1, Grp +0
Special Atk charnel touch (1d8 negative energy or restore 1 hp to undead), negative energy burst 1/day (3d4 negative energy, 5 ft. radius, Will DC 12 half), rebuke undead 1/day (+1, 2d6+4)
Combat Gear syringe of potion of false life, syringe of potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of cure light wounds
Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; +3 ranged touch):
2nd—ghoul touch (DC 15), scare (DC 15), spectral hand
1st—cause fear (DC 14), mage armor, ray of enfeeblement
0—disrupt undead, touch of fatigue (DC 13) (2), ray of frost
Barred schools Abjuration and transmutation
_________________________________
Abilities Str 8, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 12
SQ summon familiar (Merrowahn)
Feats Alertness, Brew Potion, Combat Casting, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (necromancy)
Skills Concentration +7, Decipher Script +4, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Profession (mortician) +5, Spellcraft +10
Possessions combat gear, dagger, amulet of natural armor +1 (bird skull on a leather thong), master key that opens all the locks in the observatory

Charnel touch (Su): Negative energy flows through Filge’s body, concentrating in his hands. At will, but no more than once per round, he can make a melee touch attack against a living foe that deals 1d8 points of damage. This touch heals undead creatures, restoring 1 hit point per touch.

Lich Body: Filge’s sallow skin is leathery and his flesh unusually dense, making his body resilient to physical harm. He has DR 2/magic and bludgeoning. This does not affect his ability to inject necroturgons using his syringe.

Negative Energy Burst (Su): Once per day, Filge can emit negative energy from his body in a harmful burst, causing 3d4 points of negative energy damage to living creatures within 5 feet of him and healing undead creatures by a like amount. A successful DC 12 Will save halves the damage.

Syringe: As a standard action, Filge can inject himself with a soupy magical solution similar to a potion. Each of his two syringes holds a single charge of this special liquid in a removable glass tube. Once emptied, the glass tubes (and the remaining four tubes on the desk in area 9) can be filled with any potion. While Filge uses the syringes to inject himself, they also make excellent delivery vehicles for poisons or potions administered to an unwilling recipient.

*New class described in Heroes of Horror, p. 85

Tactics:
As described in Dungeon 124, save that Filge has memorized scare instead of chill touch and uses his charnel touch against foes whenever possible after casting spectral hand. Whenever he is flanked by two or more attackers, he calls whatever undead have been wounded back to his side and unleashes his negative energy burst.