Greyson's page

We're considering Wardens of Wildwood after our current Abomination Vaults campaign. One of our players prefers to begin at 1st-level, in his words, "To get to know his character."

Crown of the Kobold King immediately comes to mind, though it potentially goes to 6th-level. Darkmoon Vale is in Andor, which is very convenient. That might make the Strongly Recommended classes and character backgrounds in the Wardens of Wildwood player's guide more attractive.

Rusthenge is an option, too. It's so far away, though. It may make Wardens of Wildwood player's guide material a tough sell.

Any other adventures come to mind?

Hi, all.

Please let me know if there is another place to ask these questions. I cannot find a place to get help. Our local PFS Facebook pages are quiet and Discord bewildered me. No reply from the Venture person after a week. :(

I am the Salt Lake City, Utah area. We recently enjoyed our local gaming convention, SaltCon. Of course, D&D Adventurers League was the star of the TTRPG show. One guy was there running Pathfinder 2E games. However, it was not Pathfinder Society. It was just a passionate Pathfinder 2# adherent running a homebrew deal.

I'd like to introduce a sanctioned Pathfinder event to this convention's next iteration in September. I plan to introduce a table at West Jordan's Galaxy of Games (perhaps others) every week or so until September to get some exposure and drum up support.

Is it this simple:
Create an Event on Paizo's Organized Play web page (I'd be a GM and Event Coordinator).
"Advertise" the event.
Complete the scenario's Event Reporting Form.
Run the scenario (4-01, for example) and hand out its Chronicle sheet(s).
Report the event... somewhere?

What if a player does have an organized play ID?

What do you think? I imagine I am missing something.

Hi, all.

Can you think of any standalone adventures that serve as a good 'prelude' to the Age of Ashes campaign? Perhaps even a Pathfinder Society scenario. Either edition.

There may be nothing, and that is okay. I've been away from Pathfinder since the Curse of the Crimson Throne days. I wanted to 'warm up' with something short/one shot-ish before I GM Hellknight Hill et. al.

If this question belongs in another forum or you suggest asking elsewhere, please let me know.

Thanks :)

Hey, all.

I am heading to my first Pathfinder Society event on 11 Oct. Going to make a character or two for DemonFest 2013 and came across HeroForge for Pathfinder online. There are several versions of the software and something called Yet Another Pathfinder Character Generator. What do you guys use among those?

http://www.nzcomputers.net/heroforge/defaultpath.asp

What do you folks use to build PFS characters? There isn't a paizo utility, is there? I'll gladly do it by hand, of course. But I loved HeroForge for the (glory) days of Living Greyhawk.

Happy gaming,
Greyson

Hey, all.

It's been a while for me. Which adventure path starts using the Pathfinder RPG rules? If I recall correctly, the first two or three are D&D 3.5. I imagine that there is a point where the adventure paths depart that route and use the rules as presented in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook.

For example, aren't Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne written and designed for D&D 3.5?

Thanks and happy gaming.

-------- Greyson (Don) --------

Hi, all.

Haven't been a subscriber for a while now and I cannot remember how things work at Paizo.

If I buy two print edition products, do I get the .pdfs too? Or is that only if I subscribed?

I want to buy Entombed with the Pharaohs and The Pact Stone Pyramid and want print and .pdf. Does buying the print editions entitle me to the .pdfs, or do I need to make four purchases?

Let me know, and thanks.

Don (Greyson)
Stansbury Park, Utah

Were the Azlants the first (known) human race, and did they give rise to the rest of the human subraces and cultures? Or, were they contemporaries with the Thassilonians, who also gave rise to other human subraces? Is there a family tree of sorts for humans in the Pathfinder setting?

Or, has the setting left those details to DMs to detail?

I received my copy of Children of the Void today. Thanks, Paizo. Looks great, as always.

Is this the item that was held up in customs? Not a big issue, just curious. I get an e-mail regarding some hold up a while ago that mentioned a customs inspection. It seemed like it'd been a while since I got something from Paizo. Was Pathfinder 14/Children of the Void that item?

I finally decided where in Avistan to set Scales of War and Elsir Vale. It took me a couple of weeks to decide, as there are several great places. I chose the western borders of Nirmathas and Lastwall as the place for Elsir Vale.

- The river dividing the two nations shall be the Elsir River, with Brindol, Drellin's Ferry, etc being on the Nirmathas side.
- The Mindspin Mountains shall replace the Wyrmsmokes. The Witchwood and Marth forests shall be extensions of the Fangwood.
- I'm gonna ignore The Thorwaste and the Wyvernwatch Mountains as depicted in Red Hand of Doom for now. We'll see if Scales of War even goes there. If we had a campaign outline, it'd help a lot...

As has been discussed, and is certainly true, "Rescue at Rivneroar" is paper-thin as far as storytelling goes. I imagine my players asking, "Why do we care?" and "Why is the place even important?" Good questions, with little answers from the adventure.

So, I am gonna have our characters be members of Korvosa's House Endrin (before the events in Curse of the Crimson Throne). They are cousins to the 'greater' house members in Korvosa. Our characters will probably live in Melfesh, their part of the house's 'area of responsibility.'

House Jeggare is sending members to Tamran to discuss trade and transportation thru Bloodsworn Vale's central passes, explaining that said passes are now safer than prior years (I did not run Conquest of Bloodsworn vale, but I'll say that the Order of the Nail cleared the important passes out). House Jeggare asks House Endrin to send some 'martial' types to Brindol to travel through Bloodsworn Vale from the east side of the Mindspins. This is to ensure their promises in Tamran are meritable. Also, the Endrin representatives are to make contact with merchants in Brindol, socialize with them, and advise them of the looming arrival of House Jeggare merchants to the region. The lords of House Endrin and Jeggare impress upon the characters the extreme importance of doing whatever it takes to win-over the people of Brindol and Elsir Vale in an effort to promote an economic relationship with Korvosa. Great rewards await those that accomplish this task...

Anyway, I hope this works. I am excited to run Scales of War in the Pathfinder setting. If anything, the coolness of Golarion shall make up for the drabness of "Rescue at Rivenroar" and its following adventures. if all else fails, I join a group converting Rise of the Runelords and run that.

Happy gaming,
Don (Greyson)

Hey, all.

Red Hand of Doom has been out for a couple of years now (perhaps the best adventure from Wizards of the Coast, ever), and it is probably played out. But, has anyone tried to reconcile Elsir Vale to somewhere in Golarion?

I'm gonna flip through the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer tonight, and hopefully some place shall present itself. In the meantime, I'd love to hear ideas from other people, who certainly know more than me about Golarion. There are a few items to contend with - Lake Rhestin, Thornwaste, Wyrmsmoke and Wyvernwatch Mountains, Kiri Kitor elves, etc.. Not everything has to match up, of course.

Of course, this effort is to fit Scales of War into the setting somewhere. I wish Wizards of the Coast would release a campaign outline (like Age of Worms Overload) so we can plan.

Don (Greyson)

Hey, all.

I'm not asking for a change, just asking about Dwarven racial feature stability as presented in Pathfinder RPG and the core Player's Handbook.

Why doesn't stability include overrun? I was gonna add it as a house rule. Bull rush, trip and overrun all seem similar to me. The Dwarf is hard to push around and physically bully. I understand why stability does not include disarm and grapple - they are certainly dissimilar enough. Is adding overrun to the stability racial feature too much?

Happy gaming,
Don (Greyson)
Nyrond Triad - PoC
Non-Smoker, White, U.S.-American

Hey, all.

Any thoughts about making diagonal movement count as one square, or two? not a combination of both? Either way does not matter to me. It just seems to be easier and faster in Star Wars Saga (where a diagonal is always two squares of movement) and 4th Edition (where a diagonal is always one square of movement. Just a small change to the game that seems to save some time each round.

No big deal, just thought I'd ask. I will be adapting the one square of diagonal movement still counts as one square of movement. I like that simple convention. But again, I prefer either way over the alternating convention of movement currently presented in 3.x.

Don Brown
Nyrond Triad - PoC
West Jordan, Utah

Hi, all.

Which issue of Dragon has the players map of the Isle of Dread as an insert? I am thinking 356, for some reason, but that issue seems late in the adventure path. I am gonna order it online. I could not find a copy near me.

Thanks,
Don (Greyson)

Hi, all.

Where in Greyhawk is Redshore? I have a couple of Greyhawk maps, but I can't find it on either of them. The characters I judge STAP for insist that they visit Redshore. I ordered Dungeon 92, but it's not here yet. But, perhaps I can at least point it out on a map. Maybe that shall satisfy their curiosity a bit.

Thanks,
Don Kenneth Brown
West Jordan, Utah

Hey, all.

-------- A Spoiler Follows --------

My question stems from Campbell Pentney's "Caverns of the Ooze Lord" from Dungeon 132. The stat block for the Sickstone Earth Elemental on page 52 is missing the earth glide special ability, which an earth elemental usually has per Monster Manual. It is a huge size creature. And, earth glide can be very handy for it in those small caverns.

Does this earth elemental not have earth glide becasue of its sickstone affliction? Or, is it simply missing from the stat block?

Don Kenneth Brown
West Jordan, Utah

With Bozal dead, what range of Knowledge checks, incuding Bardic and Spellcraft, do you recommend to determine properties and functions of the Apostolic Scrolls? Specifically, how to dismiss the active containment field.

The party I judge for slew Bozal - while keeping him in an area effected by silence, of course. So, the field is still active and the giant maggot rests within.

Is it too much to start the Knowledge checks at DC 20, and maybe Spellcraft 30? I guess Eligos can be relied on to aid, too.

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

With Bozal dead, what range of Knowledge checks, incuding Bardic and Spellcraft, do you recommend to determine properties and functions of the Apostolic Scrolls? Specifically, how to dismiss the active containment field.

The party I judge for slew Bozal - while keeping him in an area effected by silence, of course. So, the field is still active and the giant maggot rests within.

Is it too much to start the Knowledge checks at DC 20, and maybe Spellcraft 30? I guess reliance can be placed on Eligos, too. Or perhaps he can aid.

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

There have been great posts from players and GMs discussing efforts to reconcile Kyuss with Eberron. While my post pales compared to most, and may not work well with the Eberron campaign setting, here it is. This is attributed to Mr. Erik Mona, as I took his premise and ran with it. You will certainly notice verbiage from Age of Worms Overload. I went through my Eberron material and added names, places, etc., from that campaign setting. One un-Eberron bit is the use of dromoj, from Arcana Unearthed (by Monte Cook, Malhavoc Press, 2003). I don't like rakshasas, so I replaced them in my campaign. I shall make another post detailing how we implemented The Ebon Triad, if I don't get villified for this post.

The Legend of Kyuss

"Thousands of years ago, in or about the year -2995 YK, an elven mystic named Kyuss, gifted with an unusually strong Mark of Death, rises to prominence in Aerenal. But, he is exhiled from Aerenal for practicing obscene acts of necromancy and using his puissant dragonmark to pervert the dead in ways deemed blasphemous by the Undying Court. His assembly of like-minded social outcasts follow him and they make a pilgrimage to the eastern jungles of Xen’drik. In the tropical jungles of the former giant empire, the Kyussians found a humble city among the monoliths and vine-snared tombs of the continent’s former masters. They call their new home Long Shadows. Kyuss preaches his mysterious visions of metal plates foretelling the collapse of civilization. Eager to exact revenge on their brethren in Aeranal, his beguiled followers scour the dark jungles in search of the plates. They also continue their grim experiments under Kyuss’ direction, giving rise to many new species of undead and other abominations. Eventually, in the bowels of an ancient demon lord’s tomb, Kyussians discover a set of brass plates engraved with a long-forgotten script that confirm Kyuss’ apocalyptic premonitions.

The metal plates contain a fragment of the apocalypse myth of the long-vanquished culture of the Age of Demons – a dark time when Khyber’s fiendish children ruled the world; a time when dromoj and other winged horrors swarmed in the skies, before their civilization crumbled under the might of the dragons. The plates speak of an era of doom and decay, a return of the former time of chaos and melancholy, a new time of terror known as the Age of Worms. It was but a sliver of a much broader extinct liturgy, but to Kyuss, it still held promise. In his sweltering jungle enclave, the charismatic madman vowed to bring about this frightening new epoch. As hundreds of his followers sacrifice themselves for the glory of his vision, the twisted prophet declares himself the Harbinger of the Age of Worms.

To amass greater and greater power, Kyuss binds himself to a dragonshard monolith dragged many miles from just outside The Ring of Storms. The monolith is housed in a looming edifice known as the Spire of Long Shadows. The massive dragonshard thrums with energy, and poisoned whispers from its inner void beckon Kyuss to join them in oblivion, revealing hidden pathways and temptations within the placid surface of the monolith. With many of his followers consumed with madness, slain by drow, or otherwise dead at his feet, Kyuss enters the immense shard of otherworldly stone. In so doing, he becomes more than mortal, but his essence is trapped in a horrific demiplane slaved to the shard. In the centuries that follow, the jungle swallows Kyuss’ abominable home, leaving only the forlorn Spire of Long Shadows to peek above the lush tropical canopy.

Hundreds of years later, in or around the year –2700 YK, a powerful red dragon named Dragotha roosts on the Spire’s lofty pinnacle, surveying the crumbling ruins of Kyuss’ realm. Dragotha learned of the potent necromantic monolith from his studies in the annals of The Chamber. Dragotha had left Argonnessen a couple of centuries earlier, frustrated at the silly talk of prophecy, moderation and restraint. The red dragon sought a means to rise to power to bring the dragons and all other races to their knees before him. To this end, Dragotha pries the dragonshard monolith from its moorings and carries it far to the north, across the Thunder Sea, to his lair in the Demon Wastes. Kyuss, trapped within some planar nether-realm connected to the monolith, whispers words of confidence to Dragotha. “Release me,” he asks, “and you shall live forever and have power over your detractors.” Dragotha conducts the required rituals, and Kyuss returns to Eberron.

Shortly thereafter, in the twenty-seventh century before the Year of the Kingdom, Kyuss’ native House of Vol is exterminated in Aerenal, as are any bearers of the Mark of Death. Only Erandis d’Vol and Kyuss survive. The former goes into hiding and Kyuss has been long forgotten, but Dragotha is not. A flight of dragons from The Chamber finds the lone red and destroys him in the canyons of The Labyrinth. Yet, true to his word, Kyuss restores Dragotha to life as a powerful dracolich, fusing a part of his own essence into the bones of his rescuer. Kyuss follows the letter of their agreement, if not the spirit, and the process virtually enslaves Dragotha to the elf’s will. Together the two build an army of undead monstrosities using the practices from Kyuss’ mortal life and the twisted powers he gained while trapped in the monolith.

Several hundred years later the great undead dragon stands at the vanguard of an army of Kyuss’ spawn, which savage the native cliffdwelling folk of The Labyrinth and takes the first steps toward a new empire of evil. But, at the same time the dragonmarked houses begin their crusade against aberrant and mixed dragonmarks. Whispering about the ancient myth regarding an “Age of Worms,” is drowned out by calls to eradicate the aberrants. The few that know of Kyuss’ history in the southern jungles do not recognize that this menace has resurfaced. The dragonmarked houses marshal their forces and, misunderstanding their enemy, consider Kyuss and his thralls another aberrant threat in the War of the Mark, not even contemplating the true nature of this power from the northwest.

While the armies of the dragonmarked houses fall upon Kyuss’ spawn, a party of heroes seeks the source of the undead threat. The group, consisting of druidic Gatekeepers, rangers from Eldeen Reaches, and the Maruk Gaash'kala, inheritors of their own ancient legacies, conceive a daring plan to weaken the undead army. They manage to steal Dragotha’s phylactery, spiriting it far from the Wormcrawl Fissure and hiding it in an unknown location. Dragotha’s sense of self-preservation at last overwhelms his compulsion to serve Kyuss, and the dracolich quits the field of battle. Bolstered by their victory, the party pushes Kyuss back to the Wormcrawl Fissure and bind him once more into the monolith – this time, they hope, forever.

Within a few hundred years, Kyuss and Dragotha fade again from history. New threats and challenges push memories of elven-master and dragon-slave to the peripheries of history. Dragotha never finds his phylactery and retreats to a life of seclusion in the frozen north. But the dragon does not remain idle. With his life essence forever bound to that of the trapped Kyuss, Dragotha cannot abide his master’s imprisonment. Over the course of centuries the dracolich stitches together a secret network of agents poised to release Kyuss once again into the world. As a group of unlikely heroes gathers in the mining town of Diamond Lake, Dragotha’s plan is reaching its final stages.

The Age of Worms is nigh."

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi, all.

I saw this question posed before in the long Overload thread, but it went unanswered. Please abideme while I bring it up again.

Velias Childramun is noted as a LG cleric with no patron deity listed in Dungeon 124 on page 58 in the Backdrop: Diamond Lake article.

Yet, the same non-player character is noted as both a "Fatherly Cleric of Heironeous" and as a NG cleric of Pelor in Age of Worms Overload on page 19.

Does anyone have an opinion on which patron Velias supplicates? I assume Heironeous, given his presence in the garrison and the bolded text reading "Fatherly Cleric of Heironeous."

Happy gaming.

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

How much do you propose a character make per month if he or she is working in one of the mines in Diamond Lake? I suppose each manager pays and treats his miners differently. But, how much are you paying characters that have elected to start off as a humble mine worker? Even if wages earned go to pay off a personal or family debt, how much is appropriate?

What if he or she works at the Emporium, or Lazare's?

Isn't this Adventure Path great? I like it a lot, and the players I judge for are very excited to get started.

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi, all.

Has anyone developed stats for the Emporium's half-ogre bouncer, Kurlag (Dungeon 124 page 53)? He is a 4th-level fighter, and is probably one tough customer. While he should not be an issue, I imagine there are some PCs (mine) that might start trouble with him, among others.

Just curious to see if any has a treatment on him. If not, I will post some thing on this brute later.

Happy Gaming.

Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

Here are couple of links to threads discussing Fallen Angel.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=346859

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=347701

Happy gaming
Don Kenneth Brown
Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi, all.

Regarding Dungeon #115, what is the scale for tha map of the Archbarony of Blackmoor on page 18? The text reads, " ... 300 miles northeast along the Old Blackmoor Road." Does that mean the straight line distance from Dantredun to Tonnsburg? Is that an exact distance, or an approximation?

Even a simple issue like this can have important ramifications, if I know the group I GM for at all.

-------- Don (Greyson) --------
Salt Lake City, Utah

Hi, all.

Regarding Dungeon #115, what is the scale for the Archbarony of Blackmoor map on page 18 in Raiders of the Black Ice? The adventure text reads that Tonnsburg is, "300 miles northeast along Old Blackmoor Road."

Does that mean a straight line from Dantredun to Tonnsburg? Is 300 miles exact, or approximate?

If I know the group I GM for, even a detail as small as this will have important ramifications.

-------- Don (Greyson) --------
Salt Lake City, Utah

Hey, all.

I ran an initial group through Mad God's Key (Dungeon 114) last week, I have another table of six this Saturday, then one more table sheduled for October 9, 2004. Props to Jason Bulmahn. His first Dungeon submission is great, and this adventure is wildly popular in my Living Greyhawk region. Here are a few notes on MGK:

1. It took my first group about nine hours to get through the entire adventure. That time includes an hour in the "middle" to allow players to advance their characters to second level. If you are an LG campaigner, allow yourself enough time to play this adventure properly. It's a lot of fun.

2. The half-orc Irontusk (page 24) should only have one feat. I allowed him to keep the Athletic feat so he can still auto-jump across watercraft in the Barge End chase. So, adjust his Initiative if you ditch the Improved Initiative feat, too.

3. My first group of PCs burned the curtains down one layer at a time with torches in the Chamber of Veils (G19). Consider this tactic and make a contingency plan for the room's occupants. I am actually looking for suggestion on this - I screwed it up, I was so caught off guard by the PCs' actions.

4. Remember that Veltargo is a cleirc of Vecna in the Vecna Shrine (T12) area. Allow his desecrate spell to have the full effects of being used in such an unholy place.

5. If you are playing this adventure for LG/RPGA credit, you may tweak the TUs, XP and Gold on the Adventure Record. Keep that in mind, as the AR is filled out in these respective boxes.

That's it for now. Thanks again for making this awesome adventure available. I really like it. I lament that I had to "burn" it. Maybe I'll play the next one.

-------- Don (Greyson) --------
Salt Lake City, Utah

Our group finished "Queen with Burniung Eyes" (Dungeon #113) and they all raved about it. Players were particulalry excited to see Mini Tiles put to good use, since we don't play Minis. The players in our group really enjoyed the visual addition the tiles engendered. Plus, I did not have to draw very much on the mat.

And, I thought it was helpful for the miniature suggestions provided at the adventure's beginning. Sure, we can pick our own subjects to represent each NPC, but it was cool to have a convenient list. I was able to order each recommended mini from eBay - very useful, I thought.

It was a nice change in style. I don't mind switching gears in our gameplay, and James Wyatt did a great job in providing that type of change with QwBE.

So, thanks. The players really liked the adventure. I am excited to see five to six Eberron adventures in Dungeon a year. Props to Dungeon. The magazine keeps getting better and better.

-------- Don (Greyson) --------
Salt Lake City, Utah