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Hi guys, Are there any downsides (either narrative or mechanical) that you might imagine may result from having the Sunken Queen be located under Castle Korvosa rather than in the Mushfens? In my mind having the final showdown in Korvosa seems more dramatically appealing but was looking to see other opinions as well. Thanks!
Hey guys, Just finished up A History of Ashes, and am about to start Skeletons of Scarwall. Quick question that I'm not sure the source material really covered. My players are pretty savvy and I anticipate they will wanna know how exactly Laori Vaus and Shadowcount Sial managed to discern that Castle Scarwall is such an important destination and that presumably is where the key to recovering Kazavon's Fangs is located. I have a hard time reconciling that Laori and Sial knew about Scarwall all along and are just now interested in exploring the castle with the party at such a coincidentally convenient time (ie now the party knows about the Castle from the Shoanti). Any advice for making this segment of the story and their new proposition of cooperation more cohesive would be appreciated, thanks!
Hi guys, I'm looking for a premade dungeon that can be modified into a "mind dive" adventure. I'm using the trope of exploring a character's mind to cure a coma by putting together memories. Ie I'm looking for any maps or quests that are Escher, Dali, really trippy-esque. Anyone have any suggestions from adventures or maps that paizo's released? Thanks!
Hey guys, My party made it to the battle with Koriantu and Cinnabar and a whole host of assassins during the assault on Deathhead Vault before deciding to leave due to a player death and severe injuries. Koriantu perished, but Mogmora and Cinnabar both survived. What modifications should I make to the second visit? I was planning on having Cinnabar return to the castle to be reprimanded by Kayltanya and eventually fight alongside her later in the story, while perhaps keeping Mogmora there as he is entrusted to watch the area as part of Planar Ally. How can I "heighten security" besides adding some more mooks in the rooms that they've already cleared and maybe having the Grey Maidens be super prepared for the coming assault? Thanks, any advice is appreciated!
Hey guys, Was thinking of some ways to try and expand the rebellion against Queen Ileosa near the end of the adventure. I was looking through the rebellion rules for Hell's Rebels (found here perhaps illegally http://www.karzoug.info/srd/campaigns/HellsRebels/Rebellion.htm) and it looks pretty neat but was wondering if anyone has had experience with that AP and whether it would be something that could translate over to CotCT. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Hi guys, Currently running History of Ashes for my players. I was considering how Shoanti language would sound like and thought it would have a pretty neat effect if I RP'd some NPCs speaking the actual language. However I'm afraid of sounding either racist or culturally insensitive by speaking total gibberish. Any thoughts on possible parallels to real world dialects that I could perhaps take words and phrases from?
Hey everyone, Recently I've been running my players through a number of pre-written modules and adventures of various level ranges throughout the campaign. To accommodate the (often large) discrepancies in intended levels I've been tweaking stat block numbers to try and make the encounters somewhat interesting regardless of how far above the party is in power level. My question is would this ruin immersion for you as a player? For example, encountering a Grey Render wildly above the power level it should be, though technically now somewhat of a challenge. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts on the matter. Thanks!
Hey guys, Was wondering if anyone has converted the encounters and/or treasures for the module Seven Swords of Sin from 3.5 to PF. If so I would be eternally grateful if you'd be willing to share! Thanks
Full disclosure this is an effort to cut down a good amount of work. I've hit a point in my AP where the party can go to a number of different areas in a region and do certain quests. These locations often have a number of paizo material already released based around them, but typically that sort of material doesn't go past lvl 8-9 and my party is around 10. What are some ways to scale up pre-written material for a higher level party without having to look up different monsters or create totally new NPCs? I was thinking templates and adding more enemies to shore up the CR would be a way, but I'd like to here other opinions. Thanks!
Do the Arkonas have any sort of protection against detect alignment? I envision my party's Paladin is gonna be pretty keyed off to him being an outsider or undead when I say Glorio has an overwhelming evil aura...
Long and short of it, I think Laori's great, but I have a Paladin in my party. Don't wanna railroad anything obviously but I'm a lil biased in the sense that I wouldn't mind if she allied with the party with certain limitations. Any ideas for ways to spin this? Ie can a Paladin (of Iomedae) realistically NOT immediately smite the f out of her?
Hey all, I know the light and darkness spells can get a little wonky with interacting with each other. Per the Sun Blade entry: The Blade also has a special sunlight power. Once per day, the wielder can swing the Blade vigorously above his head while speaking a command word. The sun Blade then sheds a bright yellow radiance that acts like bright light and affects creatures susceptible to light as if it were natural sunlight. The radiance begins shining in a 10-foot radius around the sword wielder and extends outward at 5 feet per round for 10 rounds thereafter, to create a globe of light with a 60-foot radius. When the wielder stops swinging the sword, the radiance fades to a dim glow that persists for another minute before disappearing entirely. Consider the situation where a Deeper Darkness spell is affecting a room, creating supernatural darkness. What would happen should the sword wielder decide to use this secondary effect? Would it create a zone where neither the Darkness or Light are present and thus it returns to ambient light? (Also side note, the "swinging vigorously," would that count as a standard action? Or merely the user has to make swings while using it?) Thanks!
Hey all, Please see for reference: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/templates/shadow-traced-c reature-cr-2 In it is a trait that lists magic as being 50% as effective if foes make a Will save for this type of creature. How does this interact if the spell being cast is a shadow illusion spell like shadow conjuration or shadow evocation where there already exists a will save to disbelieve for reduced effect? Thanks!
Hey all, I'm currently running a game where a character's personal adversary is a family member that was trapped in the Shadow Plane and essentially is on the hunt for the PC. Flavorwise, my initial idea was to try to build him in the same vein as other "shadow users" in media where the main character's movements are repeated or copied by a much larger, superimposed ghostly/shadow creature which does the actual damage. For JoJo's Bizzare Adventure viewers, somewhat like a Stand. Closest thing I could think of to this idea would be a Summoner of some sorts. Any ideas for particular archetypes that would fit this theme? Or any other classes besides summoner that would make a good shadow mage themed adversary? Thanks!
In the multiclass rules it states: Note that there are a number of effects and prerequisites that rely on a character's level or Hit Dice. Such effects are always based on the total number of levels or Hit Dice a character possesses, not just those from one class. The exception to this is class abilities, most of which are based on the total number of class levels that a character possesses of that particular class. I'm a little unclear as to how this applies. Let's say you have 10 levels of fighter, then multiclass into slayer. At 1st level you gain studied target, which in the description states is upgraded at level 5,10,15, etc. Does this mean a fighter 10/slayer 1 starts off with an upgraded studied target (ie +3 attack and damage), because the total level is 11? Or does the final clause of that paragraph apply here where it's technically class levels of a particular class?
Hey guys, Wanted to run my players through a relatively stand-alone dungeon related to Zon-Kuthon and/or elements of the Shadow Plane. Ideally to save time I was hoping to try and "jury-rig" i.e. use another pre-made dungeon module that could be re-flavorized to be related to the above topics. Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on good ways to do this or specific examples that could be particularly easy to convert. Thanks!
*Rob's CotCT group be spoiled at your own risk if you're reading this :)"
My PCs were separated and are now trapped in the Shadow Plane. This is intended to of course be temporary and I'm using the overall ambiguity of the plane itself to be fairly "anything goes" with my ruling of the scenario. My idea was to have the PCs slowly regroup and find each other before finding a way out but I wanted to pick forum-goers brains for any neat and flavorful encounters that could occur on this plane. I'd like to keep CRs pretty low since the now-level-8 PCs may be encountering obstacles while alone or with one other person. Any suggestions welcome!
The former is basically within a big enough city you can buy most wondrous items without a ton of effort. The latter is a certain number of magic items are available in a city depending on rarity with occasional influx of new items. To me it seems like a question between convenience and immersion. Thoughts?
Hey guys, Just got the hardcover edition for Curse and was wondering whether the big city map with all the locations and key is appropriate to show players (like the one on page 400 in the appendix). On quick glance it doesn't look like there's anything overly bad about it but just wanted to know people's thoughts. Thanks!
For context this will be an endgame nemesis for a PC; not final boss but penultimate territory. Thus the build will be at level 18-19, with a human base. I have a few general build ideas floating around in my head from prior feedback - 1. Arcane Trickster -> Full casting will ensure a high power level as a villain. 2. TWF Slayer with a dip into Mantis Zealot Warpriest -> Solid STR-TWF with a few key Mantis traits 3. TWF Mantis Zealot Warpriest all the way through -> Probably the best with regards to a consistent flavor 4. Arsenal Chaplain Warpriest -> Probably a superior melee build to the Mantis Zealot Warpriest but mechanically lacking in the Assassin flavor. Any thoughts and feedback are appreciated!
See title. Is there an archetype or feat that changes the Witch main stat to CHA? I ask mainly for flavor reasons, as I was envisioning a seductress-type witch that doesn't use glamour to hide her true nature (or maybe even amps it up to 11 using magic)
Wasn't sure if this should go into the homebrew forum. In a scenario I'm running I'd like to have my PCs fight what amounts to their "shadow" selves; essentially mirror matches. Anyone have any interesting ideas on how to handle duels between two individuals of similar strength and capabilities? In the past I ran a duel as a version of rock paper scissors where each combatant attacks at the same time and where the winner gets bonuses to hit and damage. I saw on the pfsrd that there are rules for duels but I find them a little dry and unintuitive. Any advice is appreciated.
What are some ways a powerful NPC could replicate himself in battle, even briefly? For example, is there a battle equivalent of the Simulacrum spell that only works for a very short duration?
This of course would be for non-PFS games but what's your opinion of bosses having more than one consecutive turn? For those who have played the Shin Megami Tensei video game series, singular bosses are pretty difficult in part because of their multiple turns where they can lay waste to the party pretty easily. I was wondering how this would translate to Pathfinder rules; on the plus side, it could be a nice alternative to adding minions in order to recover the action economy disadvantage that 1 big boss encounters have. On the negative side, I really doubt most enemy abilities/mechanics would play well with such a big alteration, and the players could potentially feel pretty cheated if they weren't told ahead of time. Thoughts?
Although the probability chance to succeed in summoning works to balance the ability, having a 50% chance in some cases to summon another foe of equal CR seems like it could get really out of hand for the party. Just wondering if this is is something that should be used liberally since evil outsiders are well really evil, or if it's an acceptable break from maximum use of all threatening abilities from encounter enemies.
Basically title. This is both an in character thing and to an extent a mechanical thing If a Paladin Smites Evil, does he know if the Smite works? If a spell effect is not immediately obvious, for example an Evil Eye hex debuff, should the player know if an enemy is immune to it and it fails? Do I roll the Will save anyway if an enemy is of a type that isn't affected by mind-affecting spells/abilities to keep up the "illusion" of the player/character not necessarily knowing an enemy's resistances/immunities unless they roll a Knowledge check?
Hey all, Consider the case where a character has: Stoneskin, DR10/Ada, maximum 10/CL negated & Spell Effect that grants DR10/whatever, let's say evil for example. If struck by a non-evil, non adamantium source, could the character choose to count his non-stoneskin DR for that attack in order to conserve the maximum damage negated from stoneskin?
Retribution (Su)
If the attacked creature has DR, does the attacker take half damage before or after taking into account the damage reduced?
Hey all, As per the title one of the PCs in my game has an archnemesis that is a high ranking member/leader of assassins. Mechanically I was wondering how to make such a character an intimidating force in battle. Maybe I'm thinking too narrow minded but a character like that would probably rely on sneak attack damage as his MO, and aside from having Greater Invisibility to be able to full attack sneak attack, I'm not sure how else this character could challenge the party in a meaningful way. Perhaps a lot of minions to present ample flanking? Any advice?
Hey guys, So for RL reasons I'm having to put my Curse game on hold for about a month or so soon and wanted to end on a particular moment in the plot that'll be shortly after the Crown of Fangs reveal. That point in the plot is fast approaching however and I'd like to see if I can insert some additional content to prolong it somewhat. I just ran through The Green Market PFS scenario as a post book 2 sidequest dealing with finding a cure for the plague. At this point I will have my players partake in the number of congratulatory celebrations outlined in the book for saving x amount of citizens and helping to develop the cure. I was wondering if there are any prewritten adventures or modules that could be inserted into the interim between the end of book 2 and beginning of book 3. I'm a relatively newer GM so I'm not sure I feel totally comfortable with developing completely homebrew content to use as a filler before I have to put the game on hiatus. For reference, I've used Veteran's Vault and the Green Market as sidequests so far in my campaign. Thanks in advance!
Hello all, Below is the description for the Dimensional Dervish feat: Benefit: You can take a full-attack action, activating abundant step or casting dimension door as a swift action. If you do, you can teleport up to twice your speed (up to the maximum distance allowed by the spell or ability), dividing this teleportation into increments you use before your first attack, between each attack, and after your last attack. You must teleport at least 5 feet each time you teleport. As a Magus is it legal to be able to, 1.Use swift action to cast DD
If I'm interpreting it correctly it seems like it should work but I'm not entirely sure. Any feedback would be appreciated~
Hey all, I'm playing in an AP where we've reached the final book (about level 13 progression wise) and are well on our way to the finale. However, I have some concerns with our party make up and the possibility of certain things showing up to ruin our day that were previously unexpected. The party consists of:
I was wondering if there are any work arounds to not having typical Divine spells like Death Ward/Restoration/Raising capabilities other than UMDing scrolls or wands. Last thing I want is an unlucky death effect or series of energy drains ruining the day this late in the campaign.
Hey guys, One of the melee characters in a game I GM lost his save against a blindness/deafness spell cast by the penultimate boss of a dungeon crawl. He was obviously not too pleased, as he felt this prevented him from doing anything. My initial attitude was, them's the breaks, but wanted to know if there was any suggestions I could give him as a GM to prevent him from giving up hope and hating his play time. In particular, I was thinking if there was some sort of rules that govern giving instructions to a blind ally. (ie, move forward, strike to your left, with concealment still applying) If not, would he be able to pinpoint the boss in melee with another ally simply by sound, given the huge DC modifier to hearing the sounds of combat? Thanks!
Hey guys, I'm playing a Magus in a campaign currently and am interested in picking the Devoted Blade arcana. As written, Benefit: Whenever the magus enhances his weapon using his arcane pool, he may spend 1 additional point from his arcane pool to add either the anarchic, axiomatic, holy, or unholy special ability to the list of available options. A magus may only add one of these abilities if it matches his own alignment. Does this count as an additional bonus on top of the bonus you add normally with the arcane pool? Or does the +2 bonus from holy, axiomatic, etc. count as part of the bonus limit from your arcane pool? Ie at level 13; Choice A:
Spend 1 additional point
or Choice B:
Spend 1 Additional Point
Thanks!
Hey guys, I have a wizard NPC that was a turn away from teleporting to safety before he was Slumber'd by the party witch upon which they tied him and gagged him. Should they decide to question him, I wanted to know what the DC would be to concentrate while being tied up in ropes. I know its normally DC= 10 + grappler's CMB + spell level, but in this case what would the grappler's CMB be? The person who tied him up? Or does the rope give it's own CMB bonus? Thanks!
Hey all, My players experienced a pretty resounding defeat upon attempting to raid an alerted evil cultist temple. Since the cultists were defending their territory in a last stand of sorts, I ruled that only some of the bad guys pursued them as they ran. With some quick thinking the PCs killed their pursuers and managed to flee despite 2 of them falling unconscious. With no more healing spells or items they will probably need to spend at least a full day regrouping to try and go back in. I'm wondering what I should do with the bad guys in the temple. Would they have had time to replenish their ranks? Having been discovered by the PCs would the leaders have escaped? There was no back door out of the temple but now the players have left the entrance unguarded. Would you recommend keeping the encounters mostly the same but with added reinforcements? Or would you recommend designing it so the main bad guys got away, leaving behind only small fry? (ie the PCs failed to catch them?) I'm sure this issue might pop up again so I wanted to get feedback. Thanks!
Hey all, I'm currently running CoTC, nearing the end of book 2. My players made some questionable decisions and charged into the hospice without any sort of preparation and thus ended up facing a pretty tough fight against the Queen's Physicians and Grey Maidens in the building. Furthermore, an invisible Dr. Davaulus was able to escape using the lift. As such, I planned the temple as being on high alert, with the written instructions that most adversaries would conglomerate in G8 and await their arrival resulting in a huge (and really tough) encounter. They were absolutely trounced. I converted the Physicians and Davaulus to alchemists, which in hindsight might've been a mistake. The combination of lack of ranged support in my party, to the failure to prepare for additional alchemists and the priests acting as meat shields resulted in them being unable to reach the catwalk where Davaulus and his alchemists were raining down touch AC bombs. Combined with Rolth's powerful magic, the encounter very quickly went south. They smartly decided to retreat into the previous room where they holed up and tried to fight off as many pursuers that came through the door. With one party member unconscious, one dying of a Suffocation spell (boy I got super berated by that "why'd you target my Fort save with a save or die spell"), and the party fighter on low HP they managed to fight off the rest of the pursuers and retreat back to the lift to the Hospice. TPK narrowly averted. However, as you can expect this is something I had not originally planned for. What would be an appropriate response to the inhabitants of the Temple if the party members rest for a day, lick their wounds, and then come back? Would their ranks be fully replenished? Would they have disappeared? There isn't any other exit besides the lift so I was under the impression they were written to be making a last stand in defense of their temple. I also figured that the Guard is too sapped by the plague to send members into the Temple and clear it out. Therefore, it's still up to the party to go and clear it out. All in all, what alterations should I make to the temple/story for a second pass through?
Hey all, First time posting here. I'm currently GMing a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign with some friends, and wasn't sure whether to post this in Advice or the AP thread in particular. The party is all at level 6:
They're nearing the end of the second book where upon raiding a temple, the alarm is raised and all or most of their adversaries conglomerate in one room for a final stand. Now they typically do pretty well in most combat scenarios, but this time they were pretty soundly demolished by several lesser NPC alchemists and one boss level alchemist. The ranged touch attacks were just too much damage for them to handle; even though the alchemists had piss poor defenses, they couldn't close to melee due to the presence of lesser mooks crowding the way to a catwalk where the ranged attackers were raining down bombs. This is less of a particular campaign question and more of a "how do I balance this" question. Being just short of a TPK, they retreated back to the surface and managed to kill most of their pursuers. Looking back though I'm really not sure how else it could've gone down. What are some good ways to defend against a barrage of bombs that typically blow through AC (and DR bc fire damage) by targeting touch? I was sort of at a loss since I've never really overstepped my brutality boundaries :/ any advice? |
