Holt's page

So we did our first session of Kingmaker Saturday. 5 players, 5 very amusing characters.

Emilio, Human Swashbuckler and the incipient Baron, a complete city kid who has never been out Restov in his life, who dragged his best friend:

Pippin, an arcanist swordsman who prepared for the mission by buying every stupid gadget he could afford and 2 copies of a really bad survival guide.

Not a single point of knowledge nature or survival between them.

Yeah, they were doomed.

"luckily" they encountered the 3rd PC

Adna the Hermit, a warpriest of Erastil that hides his identity behind a stag skull mask (player swears he had no idea about the stag lord and this is complete coincidence)

who leads them safely to Oleg's fort without them freezing to death in the cold. which is where they meet Oleg, Svetlanna and the other two PC's

Beorn Stormborn a dwarf druid

and

Durok, dwarven ranger

and hear of Oleg's plight, they agree to help, half ass a plan, and we fast forward to the next day. In typical PC fashion, it goes -completely- sideways in fairly short order and Emilio manages to get himself shot and knocked to exactly 0 hp in the first round, an auspicious start for our baron. But, in spite of there best efforts to mess themselves up, the pc's overcome, beat back the bandits and manage to capture all of them. They hang the lackeys and then wake Happ up to interrogate him, which involves threatening to drench him and release him into the woods in his small clothes.

He sings like a canary and is rewarded with a rope from Oleg. He then gives the pc's the potions as their reward, and the pc's hop onto horses and make off to find the base camp, after two days of riding and some hilarious character interaction they reach the bandit camp.

Somehow, with a low stealth check of a 7 the pc's sneak up on the lookout, and drop him with a series of well placed arrows ad a sling stone...

Which drops the bandit to the ground in a crashing heap, alerting the other bandits to the presence of the pc's and a fight breaks out in earnest.

Again they bumble there way through the combat (with yakety sax playing in the background, as google home is wonderful for a snarky gm) and we end the session wit hthem capturing Kressel.

Quote of the session:

Beorn, emerging from the woods after 'borrowing' Pippin and Emilio's survival handbook: "There were some rough pages in that survival manual, don't use vellum as tp kids."

Emilio: "What, did it make your brown eye blue?"

What are the sources of info for these guys?

Starting running kingmaker this weekend and one of the PC's is a Rostland Bravo swashbuckler, and both of us would like more info on the swordlords so we know more about them before the game begins. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Hopefully I'll be trying him out next Friday, the next time our Skull and Shackles group plays...

In the campaign we use 2d6+6 for ability scores, commonplace guns (flintlocks only), hero points, all 'pirate' feats open for all characters (Corsair of Taldor becomes 'Corsair' etc.)so this is pretty much to see how it stacks up against the characters in the party.

Kayden d'Targas
Male Human (Chelaxian) Swashbuckler 6
N Medium humanoid (human)
Hero Points 3
Init +8; Senses Perception +8
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+6 armor, +1 shield, +4 Dex, +1 natural, +1 dodge)
hp 60 (6d10+18)
Fort +6, Ref +10, Will +2 (+2 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +2
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 living steel rapier +13/+8 (1d6+6/15-20/×2+6 Precise Strike)
Ranged double-barreled pistol +11/+6 (1d8+1/×4) and
. . double-barreled pistol +11/+6 (1d8+1/×4)
Special Attacks deed: menacing swordplay, deed: opportune parry, deed: precise strike, deed: riposte, panache
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 20
Base Atk +6; CMB +7; CMD 22 (22 vs. disarm, 22 vs. steal, 22 vs. sunder)
Feats Combat Reflexes, Corsair of Taldor, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (rapier), Weapon Specialization (rapier)
Traits bastard, expert boarder
Skills Acrobatics +13, Bluff +14, Climb +9, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (local) +12, Perception +8, Profession (sailor) +8, Sense Motive +9, Sleight of Hand +13, Swim +5; Racial Modifiers deed: derring-do
Languages Aquan, Common, Cyclops, Polyglot
SQ deed: recovery, deed: swashbuckler initiative, hero points, living steel, swashbuckler finesse
Other Gear +2 Mithral Chain shirt, Masterwork Buckler, +1 Living Steel Rapier, Double-barreled pistol, Double-barreled pistol, Firearm bullet (50), Amulet of natural armor +1, Belt of incredible dexterity +2, Cloak of resistance +1, Holy symbol, silver (Besmara), Noble's outfit, Signet ring, Platinum Necklace, 100 GP, 75 GP of Valuables
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bravery +2 (Ex) +2 to Will save vs. Fear
Combat Reflexes (5 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Corsair of Taldor +2 bonus on initiative checks made while on a ship and deal an additional +1 damage when using light or one-handed weapons on a ship.
Deed: Derring-Do (Ex) Spend 1 panache to add 1d6 when making Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim check.
Deed: Menacing Swordplay (Ex) While have 1 panache, demoralize struck opponent as swift action.
Deed: Opportune Parry (Ex) Spend 1 panache and 1 AoO to attempt to parry a melee attack.
Deed: Precise Strike +6 (Ex) While have 1 panache, bonus to ak/dmg w/ light/one-hand piercing weaps.
Deed: Recovery (Ex) When attacked, spend 1 panache to step 5 ft. and gain +2 AC vs attack.
Deed: Riposte (Ex) When parrying, spend 1 panache and AoO to atttack your attacker.
Deed: Swashbuckler Initiative (Ex) While have Panache, can use a free hand to draw a light or one-handed piercing weapon as part of the initiative check.
Expert Boarder Besmara rewards those who board other vessels and take what they want. While fighting on the deck of a ship, you gain a +1 bonus on all attacks made with one-handed weapons.
Hero Points (3) Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Living Steel Some trees suck up potent minerals through their roots the same way others draw water from the ground. Though these trees blunt saws and axes used to hew them and shrug off fire, they eventually succumb to time or the elements. When properly harveste
Panache (Ex) Gain a pool of points that are spent to fuel deeds, regained on light/piercing crit/killing blow.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Swashbuckler Finesse At 2nd level, a swashbuckler gains the benefits of the Weapon Finesse feat with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, as well as gains a +4 bonus to her CMD on disarm, steal, and sunder attempts made against these weapons.

Hero Lab and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

Thoughts?

And they're pretty bad at their job too... So both the gm AND the party qm have lost track of our total cash and magic items, anyone have a lit of what MI's and total gp value of treasure goods (NOT plunder,I track that,and have kept up) you'd have by the end of the 2nd volume of the ap?

4 Adventurers, all first level, Spell-less Ranger, Cleric, Witch and Magus, went up the stairs, mutual startle-ment event between the party and Rohkar, party won initiative, and killed the skeletons in the first round, then Rohkar got to act. By the second round everyone but the ranger was down to 0 or less hp, while he was down to 14. The Ranger (who had the initiative action just before Rohkar) managed a Critical hit knocking him to negative 2, just before another channel negativ energy would have killed the group. This was great!

As she may be accompanying my pc's for a good long time, and her wisdom is far to ow for her to ever gain spells, I decided to convert Nadya to Open Gaming's Spell-less Ranger, here's her stat block as that Alternate Class, with the addition of Hallit as her missing starting language:

Nadya Petska
Female Human (Ulfen) Spell-Less Ranger 3
CG Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +5
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 24 (3d10+3)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 20 ft.
Melee Dagger +5 (1d4+1/19-20/x2) and
. . Handaxe +3 (1d6+1/x3) and
. . Light pick +3 (1d4/x4)
Ranged Longbow, Comp. (Str +1) +5 (1d8+1/x3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (animals +2), stealth attack +1d6
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Point Blank Shot, Skill Focus (Survival), Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +2 (-2 jump), Bluff +2 (+4 vs. animals), Climb +2, Escape Artist -1, Fly -1, Handle Animal +6, Heal +5, Knowledge (geography) +7 (+9 vs. animals, +9 while in cold terrain), Knowledge (local) +4 (+6 vs. animals), Knowledge (nature) +7 (+9 vs. animals), Perception +5 (+7 vs. animals, +7 while in cold terrain), Ride +3, Sense Motive -1 (+1 vs. animals), Stealth +5 (+7 while in cold terrain), Survival +8 (+10 vs. animals, +10 while in cold terrain, +9 to track), Swim -2 Modifiers nature's healing
Languages Common, Hallit, Skald
SQ combat styles (two-weapon combat), favored terrain (cold +2), track, wild empathy
Combat Gear Potion of cure light wounds, Alchemist's fire (2), Oil (2); Other Gear Masterwork Studded leather armor, Arrows (20), Dagger, Handaxe, Light pick, Longbow, Comp. (Str +1), Snowshoes of northern pursuit (10 rounds/day), Backpack (empty), Bedroll, Blanket, winter, Flint and steel, Hooded lantern, Tindertwig (3), Trail rations (10), 36 GP, 27 SP, 41 CP
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Favored Enemy (Animals +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs Favored Enemy (Animals).
Favored Terrain (Cold +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs Favored Terrain (Cold).
Nature's Healing (Ex) Advanced healing
Point Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Stealth Attack +1d6 +1d6 damage if you flank your target or your target is flat-footed. This works against favored enemies or when you are favored terrain.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Wild Empathy +5 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

It's a concept that exists in the forgotten realms and my party is going to be adopting it... anyone else done it in the past and what info did you guys use if you did?

My player's rules How treasure is split: cash down the middle 7 ways, one for each character participating and an extra share to buy healing items or raising services if necessary, all magic items going to the character that can best use them. How decisions are made, and of course the name of the group itself.

Party wizard is a newer player (My father in law) and tends to keep wandering off by himself, and running into melee range fr touch attack spells and we're wondering what we can do to enhance his survivability. My girlfriend and I are thinking either Magus or a level of fighter and then Eldritch knight, but he has a low str score so we're not sure about either.... His stats are below what do you folks think?

Marburo the Magnificent
Male Human; Medium Humanoid ( Human )
Evoker5
Hit Dice:
(5d6)+13
Hit Points:
35
Initiative:
+0
Speed:
Walk 30 ft.
AC:
12 (touch 10, flatfooted 12)
Attacks:
*Crossbow, Light +2; Quarterstaff (two handed) +2;
Damage:
*Crossbow, Light 1d8; Quarterstaff (two handed) 1d6;
Vision:

Face / Reach:
5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks:
Force Missile, Intense Spells
Special Qualities:
Arcane Bond, Bonded Object, Bonus Feat, Cantrips, Evocation School, Illusion Opposition School, Necromancy Opposition School, Skilled
Saves:
Fortitude: +4, Reflex: +2, Will: +6
Abilities:
STR 10 (+0), DEX 11 (+0), CON 14 (+2), INT 17 (+3), WIS 12 (+1), CHA 10 (+0)
Skills:
Acrobatics: 0; Appraise: 3; Bluff: 5; Climb: 0; Craft (Alchemy): 8; Craft (Untrained): 3; Diplomacy: 0; Disguise: 2; Escape Artist: 0; Fly: 0; Heal: 1; Intimidate: 0; Knowledge (Arcana): 11; Knowledge (Dungeoneering): 9; Knowledge (History): 8; Knowledge (Nature): 7; Knowledge (Nobility): 7; Knowledge (Planes): 8; Linguistics(Aquan): 8; Perception: 1; Perform (Untrained): 0; Ride: 0; Sense Motive: 3; Spellcraft: 11; Stealth: 0; Survival: 1; Swim: 0;
Feats:
Elemental Focus (Fire), Enlarge Spell, Greater Spell Focus (Evocation), Scribe Scroll, Silent Spell, Spell Focus (Evocation)
Challenge Rating:
4
Alignment:
Chaotic Good
Possessions: Cloak of Resistance +1; Crossbow, Light; Crown of the Kobold King; Masterwork Ring (Bonded); Scholar's Outfit; Quarterstaff;

Wizard - Spells per Day: (4+1/4+1/3+1/2+1/0/0/0/0/0/ DC:13 + spell level); Known: Level 0: Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Bleed, Dancing Lights, Daze, Detect Magic, Detect Poison, Disrupt Undead, Flare, Ghost Sound, Light, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Read Magic, Resistance, Spark, Touch of Fatigue Level 1: Animate Rope, Burning Hands, Comprehend Languages, Disguise Self, Enlarge Person, Magic Missile, Shocking Grasp, Sleep Level 2: Arrow Eruption, Create Pit, Flaming Sphere, Gust of Wind, Scorching Ray Level 3: Fireball, Lightning Bolt

Okay, quick explanation: Have a 6 player party, all 5th level

Gnome Barbarian
Human Evoker Wizard
Human Diviner Wizard2/Cleric3
Half Elf Bard
Half Orc Ranger
Human Paladin undead slayer focused

And I'm pressed for time for an adventure this week, so I need a commercially available module (or one someone else wrote and is willing to share) that focuses on Undead and is set for level 6 or 7 (Figured out in fairly short order that the ecl needs to be one or two levels ahead of them or its a cake walk for them due to get through.

It's just quicker for me to modify an existing adventure then to make one from scratch in 2 days time when I'm arguing with writers block.

We're running XP PFS style and this will be the last adventure before 6th level as well, so somethign epic would be good.

Thanks!

Which do you guys prefer? I'm currently running my game with the GMgen portion of PCgen (makes initiative a cakewalk), the character generator is very good IMHO as well, and I'm currently trying out herolab, and I was wondering what you folks think of each program...

Holt

What do we have in pathfinder for Cold/Ice based arcane magic without resorting to feats or researching new spells? I think there's a total of 8 or so spells (about 1 per level) in the Core Book and frigid touch in Ultimate Magic... oh and the really awesome witch greater hex... can anyone point me in the direction of sources for other spells in pathfinder? Or a good guide for converting the spells from Frostburn?

Looking at starting to run bi-weekly PFS games at a local game shop in Oneida NY. Large gaming room in a clean well managed gaming shop right off of main street, its between 30 and 40 minutes away from most of lager urban centers (Rome, Syracuse, Utica) I just need to know approximately how much interest I have from people. Hope to see some replies.

Holt

Anyone know of a good, free, legal program or making maps/dungeons? I'm trying to find a decent one that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, so cheap would be allowable as well... Any info would be helpful.

Holt

Ok, I've been lurking in the message boards for about 2 weeks now, and I'm starting to wonder a lot about certain things that seem to be common among members of this board. I've been both playing and running rpg's of various stripe of several years (Basic D&D, AD&D 2e, various WoD and Deadlands Classic) and my groups have always been more about the story and the exploration then the combat.

I started running Pathfinder when two of my players wanted to get back into high fantasy as a break from all the grittier stuff we had been playing, and I after sampling some other more point based systems couldn't go back into AD&D without major tweaks, and we all passed on 4e as too combat focused for us (our opinion, not trying to start a flame war here.)

So another gamer friend loaned me his copy of the bound beta to look over, and I talked the owner of my local game store into ordering me a copy of Core (indecently he ordered all the hard-covers and signed the store up for PFS). And after recruiting a few more players (total party roster: 6 players 1 gm) And we started playing. We are loving it.

I start hanging around the Paizo forums and check out the playtest stuff (Magus base class is awesome by the way, two of my old elf fighter/wizards from 2e may enjoy NPC rebirths now). But then I get involved in reading a lot of the actual forum posts, and start seeing things like MAD and DPR thrown around. Multiple Ability Dependency and Damage Per Round, I had to explain to my girlfriend, her response: "This a WoW forum too?"

On MAD to a guys who's last D&D experience was 2e, I have to go "this is new? unless you were a fighter, cleric, or magic user you need 2 or 3 above average scores" so lets just stick with I don't get it, as only spellcasters in Pathfinder NEED to have high casting scores and the rest of the classes can go very well with lower starting scores and build them up as they advance, and hell with the 15 point starting array you can make a hell of a paladin, with scores that would have made it impossible to BE a paladin in 2e. Skill bonus's and penalties from ability scores tend to fall by the wayside towards middle levels, and there are feats to shore up any chink in a characters offensive capabilities (has anyone seen a average or low Str rogue without weapon finesse? Hell a crossbow of any type completely negates Str penalties as it's completely mechanical) I guess I just look for solutions rather then complaining about perceived drawbacks.

As far as DPR goes, I see it as comparing oranges to grapefruits to apples to coconuts. Each class has a role to fill and shouldn't expect to match perfectly with the other classes in damage potential. Fighters (and Paladins and Rangers) are supposed to be engines of destruction, clerics healers, buffers and second line fighters, rouge are scouts and skirmishers, and wizard type classes mystical artillery and crowd control. Damage per round doesn't figure in the wizard holding a creature so the rogue can deliver a coup-de-grace, the sorcerer using walls of force to force the opponents to take on the fighter one at a time, or the cleric using buffs to keep the fighter standing he stands against the rush of opponents. It's a team game and focusing solely on your character's DPR potential makes it seem like less of a team sport to me.

These are my opinions, I've tried not to be insulting, and to express myself without getting heated or bitter and would like to hear other opinions and discuss this civilly. What do more experienced Pathfinders think on the subject.

Thanks for reading

Holt

Not having my book in hand that's the best name I got for it right now, and I apologize if this has already been beaten like a dead horse but I couldn't find a reference to it in my quick search but:

An Antipaladin gets a permanent summoned monster as an evil minion, Nightmare isn't on the random tables as a summon-able creature, do you guys allow nightmare mounts, and at what summon monster level?

Is Paizo going to be involved at all in PAX East? Just wondering as no one seems to have any idea who or what is presenting anything there.