Okay, so here's my dilemma. I saw this argument at MegaConvention2013, where someone wanted to use Emergency Force Shield as an immediate action to prevent this massive thing from basically one-shotting him.
Much like a swift action, an immediate action consumes a very small amount of time but represents a larger expenditure of effort and energy than a free action. However, unlike a swift action, an immediate action can be performed at any time—even if it's not your turn. Casting feather fall is an immediate action, since the spell can be cast at any time.
Using an immediate action on your turn is the same as using a swift action and counts as your swift action for that turn. You cannot use another immediate action or a swift action until after your next turn if you have used an immediate action when it is not currently your turn (effectively, using an immediate action before your turn is equivalent to using your swift action for the coming turn). You also cannot use an immediate action if you are flat-footed.
The restriction is that you can't use an immediate action flat-footed. However, there is a little bit of an enumeration problem here: when an immediate action is used, when CAN it be used? It says that it can be done out of order, so it can be used as a reaction, which is specifically listed on some spells:
Paladin's Sacrifice (Paladin 2):
You open up a brief but powerful divine conduit between you and another creature, taking on the damage and any other effects that creature suffers. When a creature in range is hit by an attack or fails a saving throw, you can cast this spell and the wounds and/or effects are magically transmitted to you instead of the target. You are affected as if you were hit by the attack or failed the saving throw, taking all the damage and suffering all of the adverse effects. Any resistances or immunities you have are applied normally, but you cannot otherwise reduce or negate the damage or effects in any way.
If you use this spell against an effect that also targets you or includes you in its area, you suffer the effects for both yourself and the target you spared, potentially taking damage or suffering other consequences twice.
Blaze of Glory (Paladin 4):
You fall unconscious but also unleash a spectacular wave of holy energy that heartens and heals your allies while leaving your opponents daunted and damaged. You can cast this spell as either a standard action on your turn, or as an immediate action when brought to below 0 hit points. If cast as a standard action, you are immediately reduced to -1 hit points, but stable, after casting the spell.
When you cast this spell, any good creature within range is healed for 1d6 points of damage per two caster levels. All evil creatures within range take the same amount as damage instead (a successful Will save halves this damage). In addition, all allies and enemies within range are affected as if by the prayer spell for 1 round per caster level.
Which are two good examples of spells that specifically list when the action can be taken (as a reaction to an action). However, Emergency Force Sphere is another story:
Emergency Force Sphere (Sorcerer/Wizard 4):
As wall of force, except you create a hemispherical dome of force with hardness 20 and a number of hit points equal to 10 per caster level. The bottom edge of the dome forms a relatively watertight space if you are standing on a reasonably flat surface. The dome shape means that falling debris (such as rocks from a collapsing ceiling) tend to tumble to the side and pile up around the base of the dome. If you make a DC 20 Craft (stonemasonry), Knowledge (engineering), or Profession (architect or engineer) check, the debris is stable enough that it retains its dome-like configuration when the spell ends, otherwise it collapses.
Normally this spell is used to buy time for dealing with avalanches, floods, and rock-slides, though it is also handy in dealing with ambushes.
This does not list a specific action when it can and cannot be done. As a GM, I've always listed Immediates as Reactions, which can be done prior to another action if they are not flat-footed against it. However, this GM ruled that it could not be done as a reaction to an attack, and must be done post-turn, which didn't sit right to me. So, I'm bringing it to the Rules Questions boards.
Well, I'm one of the GMs that went to SwampCon in Gainesville, FL.
Over the 5 slots/2 days of gaming, I got the exhaustion put into me and the energy drained for me, but it was for a great experience!
At SwampCon2013, we must have handed out at least 55 new Pathfinder Society Numbers. We haven't even done that many number handouts for MegaCon (30k+ Total Attendance, 9-15 Tables of PFS Gaming/slot, 10 slots), which is fricken awesome.
Its opened the eyes of all of the PFS GMs that took the trip from their home areas to Gainesville to see that, while there is an extreme amount of interest in a Pathfinder Society setup, no one has offered it for quite some time (hearing stories of what previously transpired, its definitely a "I graduated, now I'm leaving," thing). We planted the seeds of offering people to come to the FloridaPFS boards and chat with other Florida Pathfinders many times. Hopefully it stuck in their minds, but, as 90% of the new players were current college students, I have no idea if college would override it.
Its one of those things you can't believe we did...that is, until you see that we did 3+ tables of just pure walk-ins per slot.
I'm glad I went, and thanks to everyone who joined us. If you're just coming to the boards from Gainesville, shoot over to FloridaPFS, we should be starting a discussion to possibly establish a PFS Presence in or around the UoF campus.
Okay, I'm slightly confused on what we're looking at for the Adventure Path and Pathfinder Society:
Do you start at the beginning, but you can only use the resources from the designated part, or do you start at the beginning of the authorized section, and go from there, ending at the specified point?
There's really no...direction on any of the released documention on what (as GMs) we're supposed to do for this...
I've seen it plenty of times:
- The Gunslinger that touches at +Bajillion (don't roll a 1) with OmgLots HP of damage a round.
- The Mo-ight-eric-iza-uid that seems to have so many class levels, its difficult to tell what he/she is going to throw at me each round.
- The Class that just seems to have so much AC that you can only hit on a Natural 20
- The person who seems to have their primary stats at 20, and their dumps at 5.
- The person who sits there silently through the entire thing, either reading a PF Book for a new thing to exploit, or his/her phone, then immediately jumps up and is the most animate creature you've seen as soon as you hear "Roll for Initiative."
How do you deal with these people? These are the kind of people who would have the best time if, after every combat (and possibly healing), the next words out of your mouth were "Roll for Initiative," instead of "talk to the guy remaining."
I'm not talking about the animate people during combat, more specifically the people that care more about how much damage they did in a module, than if they even accomplished their goal during the module. The person who seem to want to be fully animate in how they are being awesome for the battlefield, and saving the party's collective arse by themselves. These people ruin other people's day, and its annoying to a lot of people.
Personally, I do a few things:
Spoiler:
- I make sure I'm fully aware of how much power someone can have, and make sure that Min-Maxers can justify their position of having each feat/ability.
- I don't announce my results, making boring "I missed you" or "I hit you" remarks, while to the players that are really bringing the table alive outside of battle, providing animate epic moves on what their character or such is doing.
- I limit the amount of time that Min/Maxers can take. If they are looking up their stuff, I give them 30 seconds. I'm unfair at this, giving newer players full explainations, and being very forgiving (are you sure you want to jump around and take all those AoOs) for players being somewhat balanced. I let anything that the Min/Maxer states he is doing as the action, not allowing any RetConning, regardless if they gleam any extra information or not.
- I purposefully withhold information from Min/Maxers (they seem to always be the top of initiative), and make sure the newer players have the ability to know extra information. After all, talking is a free action, not an immediate action.
- I cut off any Min/Maxer that tries to convince his allies as obvious meatshields, to boost his "awesomeness" in combat. Same thing here, talking is a free action, not an immediate action.
- I will moderately maneuver the setup of the encounter so players that look like they have been left out have the chance to be awesome.
I don't like shutting down players, but the annoying ones are the ones I truly don't like at the table. Needless to say, regardless of what I do, it really doesn't harm them (they continue to come game after game), its the other people I'm mainly concerned about. I love it when people get involved into all aspects of the game, not just a single part of it.
So, I've calculated that at the end of September I have played or GM'd 117 Modules.
At this point in time, at least 75% of the modules are recorded, which is good. However, its becoming quite a hassle. Something for the web team: PFS Module Tracker.
Basically, it would be a grid that would show if you have gotten Player/GM Credit for a module, so it can help you to avoid modules you have played and/or GM'd.
NOTE: This entire thing is me prepping for, and running a Skull and Shackles Campaign. Here, I give my rulings and preparations I have for my upcoming SnS game I have in store for my PCs. I'm very meticulous for my campaigns, and you will see how things are. As such, most, if not, all of this entire post will be spoilers.
If you are a player in my campaign, stop reading this now.
Well, just yesterday, my friends agreed to a SnS campaign. As people that know me know, I refuse to read anything about a campaign until a group asks me to run it. It allows me in the future to play the campaign without spoilers just in case.
Night 1
Read 20% of Book 1 before heading to bed. Created mental list for things to do tomorrow.
Day 1
Read up to "The Storm". Started making a further mental list of things I needed, and started recording it:
- Need to buy 50 1" Flat Washers. Home Depot has a lot of these usually.
- Need to buy 25 2" Flat Washers. This might be harder to find, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue.
- Copy all of the images into individual image files for printing out individually
- Copy and Stretch all of the Map Images for Printing
- Purchase 4 styrofoam boards
- Purchase Wooden Dowels for "Masts"
- Purchase screws.
- Purchase Rubber Cement wipe-on glue
- Token out all of the characters and monsters into image files for printing
- Compile printing instructions for printing company
- Get quote for printing
The plan:
1. All of the images will be 4 to a page, so I can cut them out and show them to the PCs when they see/encounter/they are talking to it.
2. Using TokenTool (rptools.net), I'm going to make two "Tokens". One with a red border, one with a green border. I'm going to cut out and paste these onto 1" and 2" washers (depending on the size) on opposite sides. If they are considered enemies (for purposes of flanking and such), they are red. If they are considered allies, they are green. So, if someone flips (which will happen quite often!) it will just be an easy flip to see who has flank and such. Also, it means that NPCs can be seen easily (PCs will be figs, NPCs will be washers).
3. I'm printing out the maps of the two ships to scale (1" squares). I then am going to paste it onto styrofoam posterboard, then use an exacto knife to cut out the ship. Then, I'm going to take wooden dowels, insert them into the "mast" part of each layer. I'm going to put a screw underneath each level. Because of this, the ships will be easily viewable. Whether or not I do other ships will be dependent on how much work will be involved, how expensive printing will be (I already know the costs of the dowels and poster board), and how much they will encounter the ships.
4. I'm still debating if I'm going to have the maps printed out full scale. There's five of them, and that's a lot of squares. I have a feeling that I won't run into these maps more than once, so I think drawing these will be best.
5. I'm making a list of items the PCs can find. This means, I'm pre-rolling the "lockers", which will speed things up considerably if they decide to "pop-a-lock." It also will allow me to say that if they have identified an item, if its been given to a specific PC, or it has already been sold. Also, if they have to reference back to an individual item, I can find it pretty easily on the list.
6. I'm making a "NPC Matrix". It allows me to pencil in the dipositions towards each of the part members and allows me to figure out how to play out each encounter. It also gives me an easy reference to the list so I can decide on "helpers" and such.
7. I'm also going to make a job matrix. This isn't specifically for when jobs must be assigned by the PCs, but more that I can easily switch the day/night cycle, making the "interaction/initial stage" of the ship as painless as possible. The problem I've seen in this entire thing is that preparation is key. This module cannot be run cold! The entire first book must be read before anything can start with this campaign.
8. I'm also going to make a "reference" sheet for me.
PC Preparation
I told the PCs last night the following:
We are doing Skulls and Shackles. They have the homework of going to paizo.com, downloading and fully reading the Skulls and Shackles Player's Guide.
All Paizo Pathfinder resources are allowed, regardless of which book they are in. I have *some* exceptions. Nothing may be "upconverted" from 3.5, because there is now an abundance of material for Pathfinder. Any non-paizo Pathfinder Peripheral must be brought to me for authorization prior to use.
The Advanced Race Guide will be used, using the following rules:
- Players can come up with their own race, but they must provide a 100 word "background" for their chosen race. It must fit into the Goloron realm somehow. 20 Point "Advanced" Ruleset used.
- Players may also use any legal race (see above), taking the deficit in points (e.g. Humans are 11, giving 9 points available), to add additional abilities to the race. This does not require background, but I do need a short reason why each of the abilities are added.
- Lastly, players may use a legal race (see above), taking the deficit in point buy * 1.5 (e.g. Humans are 11, giving 9*1.5=13 points in the point buy). This does not require background or reason why this has been added. This is in addition to the rolled stats provided below.
The Stats are a "special" 4d6 drop 1 system that I have come up with.
- 4d6 is rolled, dropping the lowest dice. If the total is <8, it is automatically rerolled.
- Once a 8 or 9 is rolled, anything (from that point) <10 is automatically rerolled.
- The stat is assigned to a single stat and "locked in" (it cannot be reassigned if a different number appears).
- Players can do a complete re-roll once, taking the final result even if it is worse.
Players will get Average starting gold for their class, but, they may roll for gold, but they must take the final result even if it is lower than average.
Maximum HP per HD every level.
2 Traits, but after the character building session (see below), I will assign 1 Campaign Trait that fits the character in addition to the 2 picked traits.
Between each module, I will be putting an additional "something", that will give an extra level. As such, players will start Book 2 a level higher, Book 3 two levels higher, etc. This will cause players to end at Level 20 instead of Level 16 that I keep seeing in these modules.
---------------------
Why so much power?
I like powerful PCs because I like powerful NPCs. It means that I can put monsters out there that have higher CR. I customize my NPCs based on ideas that I have, using the monster stat blocks as a guideline. By book 3 of Kingmaker, 95% of the monsters that I threw at the PCs were different in some major ways. Book 6 had monsters with as much as +6 Levels to cope with the fact that PCs were so powerful (L20, as well they were min-maxed a little).
SnS emphesizes that character building is not necessary. Why are you doing a character building session?
Its not so much of making it so that the group gels together, rather that all of the bases are covered, everyone understands the rules, and I can "fill in the gaps" that are provided in the campaign (the author suggests one PC is 'picked on' by Plugg and Scourge more often, so this would help. It also allows me to make notes that I can do little "personalized touches" to the campaign as the campaign goes on.
How many of the ships do you plan on building?
I plan on at least building the Wormwood and the Man's Promise. Other ships will only be made if I feel that the PCs will be spending lots of time on the ships.
Why do you make every NPC a customized 1" or 2" washer?
While I won't make every NPC a washer, every major NPC that they interact with (every pirate, captains, and officers, bosses and subbosses) will be made. One-off monsters, such as rats will just be washers without pictures. This has two things: One, I can track where every NPC is. Second, PCs can respond better to situations (without asking me) by seeing which washer is which.
How much prep time do you think you will spend?
Approximately 20 hours for Book 1. I haven't read Book 2 and beyond yet.
How much do you think everything will cost to build?
Surprisingly, its very small. Probably this module will set me back between $45 and $100 depending on what kind of deal I get with printing, and how much printing I really need to do.
Will you take pictures?
I try to do this every time I build, but I forget all of the time. Maybe this will be the time that I remember.
Can you actually make modifications (e.g. Making tokens) of the products?
Yes, technically, you can. You can print out/copy anything in the books, as long as it is for personal use only, and you do not sell anything.
What programs do you use to help out?
HeroLab is the winner when it comes to helping me retool monsters for higher levels. TokenTool from RPTools.Net allows me to make the tokens easy. Paint.NET is a free program that allows me to edit the pictures. Of course Adobe Reader PRO allows me to copy the images directly out of the PDFs and edit them for printing (without the names over them). I use Excel for all of my reference tables, and I use Word for making notes during the planning stages.
How complex do you think this campaign is?
I don't know, but the SnS campaign path looks to be extremely complex. The most complex since Kingmaker Book 2. The worst part is that it is Complex shooting right out of the gate. Pages 7-26 (19 Pages!) are just introduction. You don't even get into any kind of combat until that page, and even then, its an introductory fight to set the mood. Non-"mood setting" fights don't occur until at least page 31. This raises the complexity quite a bit. I'm not saying its a bad thing, I'm just warning any GMs that are potentially wanting to run this campaign to be prepared for LOTS of reading before you even roll a single dice! A little warning for new GMs: Do not run this campaign as your first campaign to GM.
I promised that after the convention I would post this to the rules question to see what you all think a ruling on this.
WARNING: Spoilers to Eyes of the Ten Module 3...Do not read if you don't want to ruin it for you!
Spoiler:
Situation: In the previous encounter, the 6 Rogue/7 Assassin used a Hat of Disguise to appear as a really prominent Pathfinder ally (which he killed 3 days earlier). He fooled them, and approached the Cleric, and tried his Death Attack, but failed. The turn after the surprise round, he teleported to his master's side.
In this encounter, he is at his master's side, pleading to be released from his bonds. For 3 rounds, he "pleads" his master, studying the L12 Rogue using Bluff (which none of them thought to Sense Motive/Perception). Meanwhile, a fight ensues between the master and his minions. Then, the Rogue gets within 5 feet, and the slave takes a swing (Feint) at the master. On the next round, he uses his Death Attack against the rogue and the rogue rolls a 9 (killing him).
The Wording Problem: In the Tactics section of the fight, this is specifically listed on how the Assassin operates, which is odd. Most Assassins stay in the shadows, but this is the first time I've seen an assassin Feint Death Attack, but it was specifically listed on the tactics section, so I did exactly as it said.
(I bolded the phrase that both me and him had an issue with)
Death Attack:If an assassin studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack has the additional effect of possibly either paralyzing or killing the target (assassin's choice). Studying the victim is a standard action. The death attack fails if the target detects the assassin or recognizes the assassin as an enemy (although the attack might still be a sneak attack if the target is denied his Dexterity bonus to his Armor Class or is flanked). If the victim of such a death attack fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the assassin's class level + the assassin's Int modifier) against the kill effect, she dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis effect, the victim is rendered helpless and unable to act for 1d6 rounds plus 1 round per level of the assassin. If the victim's saving throw succeeds, the attack is just a normal sneak attack. Once the assassin has completed the 3 rounds of study, he must make the death attack within the next 3 rounds.
If a death attack is attempted and fails (the victim makes her save) or if the assassin does not launch the attack within 3 rounds of completing the study, 3 new rounds of study are required before he can attempt another death attack.
Well, what would your ruling have been if it wasn't specifically listed like this?
Alright, here's a discussion I've had a few times at conventions. I'm pretty much always running a table with 6+ players. The problem is that the amount of creatures on the table generally doesn't give enough "issue" to the PCs, so, sometimes, I increase the number of enemies (without changing the stats or rewards) on the field.
I've had mainly positive results from doing something like this, and it isn't always done (if it calls for only a single enemy, I don't double it), and I only increase the amount of enemies by maximum 170% (generally 150% of normal). It allows everyone to have a turn (especially if there is 7 players at the table, which is common).
People have said that I should just GM fudge more for bigger tables, but I have a policy that I only fudge if I have one of the following situations: I'm winning too much, I'm losing too much or there's a really annoying Min/Maxer that I want to cut down to size so that others can shine.
Hello everyone, as we near February 16th, our list continues to grow on players signing up.
(Are you a GM? We need you at MegaCon2012! See how to get a free pass/hotel room to MegaCon2012 after the player section!)
FOR PLAYERS:
So far, we have almost 55 people signing up, and we expect over 160 players to sign up by time we close Pre-registration on February 10, 2012. Purchase a MegaCon2012 pass online and get RPG gaming for free!
To signup:
- Order a ticket online through http://www.megaconvention.com . You will get an email in your inbox that gives your confirmation number and receipt number.
- Sign up for an account on http://www.warhorn.net/megacon-2012 . Use the same email you used to purchase your ticket.
- Forward your receipt email to MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com , and we will clear you online so you can sign up for tables.
- After you are cleared, go to the schedule and sign up your characters!
This year, we will have PFS, LFR, GENESYS, 3.5 SASG, and LSJ gaming. Check out the schedule.
FOR GMS:
Want to go, just can't afford the ticket pricing? Then don't! The RPG room needs GMs to run tables, and we offer incentives for GMs that sign up.
Sign up for 2 slots (or 8 hours of GM) and get a free day pass of your choosing.
Sign up for 4 slots (or 16 hours of GM) and get a free full weekend pass.
Sign up for 8 slots (or 32 hours of GM), and get a free full weekend pass AND a free hotel room*.
* At the Convention Hotel. You may be paired with other GMs. You must be at least 18 years of age or older and provide a valid government photo id to get the free hotel room.
If you wish to GM:
- Sign up for an account on http://www.warhorn.net/megacon-2012.
- Email MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com with which modules you wish to GM.
Thanks, and I hope to see many of you at MegaConvention2012 RPG Room!
(This message was sent to those that signed up for MegaCon last year (2011), and converted to Text for this forum. If you would like to see this message in full HTML format Click here)
(February 16-19, 2012)
February RPG Gaming
Initial Announcement!
In this issue:
Venue Chosen!
RPG Room Chosen!
Call for initial signups
Indie RPG Information.
Volunteer Information
MegaCon 2012 RPG Gaming Newsletter - October 21, 2011
MegaCon2012 Venue Chosen
MegaCon 2012 will be held at the Orange County Convention Center, about 5 minutes from Universal Studios, across the street from Pointe Orlando, located on International Drive (Map). Note that, this year, the main hall will still be in Hall D (See Floorplan), however, the entrance will be located inside Hall D-1 (West). If you were at MegaCon2011, looking at the old entrance, you will head to the left, and go through the multiple doors (that were exits nearest the west side last year). This will be where ticketing and the entrance is. Tickets this year will be $24.49 per day and $58.04 for a full weekend pass (at door price: $25.00/$60.00)a.
RPG Room Chosen
The RPG room will be located in three rooms of W230 (A,B,C) (Floor Plan). This increases our Square Footage from 4,671 to 5,518 square feet. That's a 18% increase over last year! Thanks to the MegaCon Organizers for providing this space. We will more than likely have up to 40 RPG tables. As with last year, provided by default will be Pathfinder Society RPG (by Paizo) and Living Forgotten Realms (4th Edition) (by Wizards of the Coast)b
Call for Initial Signups!
This year, we are going to get a head start on how many tables we are going to take up, and how many participants we have to plan for. Although MegaCon2012 is still 4 months away, we are already planning out what tables we are going to place in the room, and what we are going to offer at the Con. Want a specific module? E-mail MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com with the modules you have played and we'll try to put the modules out that you have not played! This year, we are going to try to repeat the great opportunities we provided last year; namely, 1-hour "short attention span" games and Interactive Modules*. We had some great reviews for these types of modules from last year, and we're hoping we can repeat this for 2012. Help us out by signing up for MegaCon2012 Warhorn and signing up for the tiers you want to play. This year, due to demand, we will be offering one Level 12 PFS Module, and the Season 3 Pathfinder Society Interactive.
NOTE: Pre-registration is required at MegaConvention.com. Order tickets here. You will need to forward your verification to MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com to be cleared for registration on the warhorn site.
* Subject to availability.
Indie RPG Information
Want to run your own independent RPG game in the RPG Gaming room? E-mail your game information to MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com before January 1st, 2012 (12:01 AM EST) to get your game added to the Warhorn. Want to run it in the RPG Game room, but don't want to worry about restrictions? A limited number of Premium Paid tables are available for purchase. Your purchased tables will not be given away if you do not have enough players/GMs to fill themc. Contact MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com to get more information!
Volunteer Information
NOTE: This year, we will be enforcing the MegaCon Global Volunteer Ban list. If you are on this list, you cannot qualify for any Volunteer bonuses. If you Volunteer and do not show up, your name will be added to this list.
Want to go to MegaCon2012, but cannot afford a ticket? Volunteer at MegaCon2012 RPG! There are two opportunities for you to Volunteer: At-con Advertisement and GameMastering!d
If you want to Volunteer for At-Con Advertisement, you will be required to advertise for half of the day (6 hours) around the major hallways (ticketing/entrance/main hall) about RPG Gaming, and provide information on how to get to the RPG room and what RPGs are offered to anyone who asks. Cosplay is Encouraged. You will then have the other half of the day to explore MegaCon2012 for free! (Email MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com to signup).
If you want to Volunteer to GM, you will be required to GM at least 16 hours (or four 4-hour slots), and you will be given a FREE full weekend pass! GM enough hours (at least 32 hours) and you can be given a free room at the con hotel! (Email MegaCon2012@Imper1umDesigns.com to signup).
Hello, this is a plea to module developers to please consider the length of the module in real terms. As Pathfinder has gone on, it has shown that modules have gotten longer and more complex. This is mainly because the central people you are probably testing with know exactly what the classes are and what they are doing each time.
See, the thing is, as the owners of the product, and as the people making these products, you commit modules to memory, you know rules and spells by heart, and people understand how the game plays. This is a big problem in a convention atmosphere where 4 hours (+1 for a break) is only provided. And, in that time, I have to cater to people that do not have the entirety of Pathfinder committed to memory. Unfortunately, in later modules, I have to rush through modules due to time limits. Remember, not all Pathfinder Gamers are indeed gamer gods.
Start off with 5 hours on the clock.
Preparation
Print out the entire module.
Do not pre-map any maps.
You will need each Pathfinder book that is represented in your module (such as Bestiary, etc.)
You will need 5 PCs of the highest level of each subtier. (So, if you have a 1-2 module, 5 level 2 PCs).
Enough dice.
Introduction
Subtract 5 minutes.
This represents the time it takes for people to get setup and introduce themselves, and hand out tracking sheets and faction missions.
Take the longest (word-count) faction mission and read it clearly.
A good yardstick for "clearly" is that you ask a friend that you want to tell them something. Tell them to stop you anytime they do not understand you. This represents the time it takes for people to read faction missions, and possibly devise a strategy.
Read the introduction clearly twice. Read out each question and answer entry once. Read out the entire knowledge entry once.
See above on how to yardstick "clearly". This represents the time it takes for people to hear the introduction, for a GM to repeat any information someone might have missed during the first reading, people to roll the knowledge checks and the fact that you could get all of the knowledge checks.
Subtract 2 minutes
This represents the time it takes for people to ask questions, and deal with anything they need to purchase.
Roleplay
For each blurb, read it clearly once.
This is obvious.
If a player needs to access a faction mission, look up the entry in the paper, do not recall it from memory! Read the entire entry once over as fast as you want, and make sure it makes sense.
This represents the time the GM needs to find the Faction Mission information, and verify the completion process.
For each roll required, subtract 15 seconds
This represents the time a person needs to roll the dice, look up the information and provide it to the GM, and for them to look it up.
For each response required, subtract 30 seconds.
This represents the time for people to think up of an action and provide a response.
Combat
Do not draw the map until combat is required.
This makes sure that you don't just skip over one of the biggest time sinks in the game: Drawing. Some people pre-draw, but most people don't take the time to pre-draw maps due to the fact that they have to run 8 of them, and have jobs and families that sink the rest of the time.
Look up each spell/ability you use in the book. If a spell is used more than once per module, you do not need to look it up.
This represents the time of spellcasters needing to think of the spell they want to do. Players will remember spells from each module, however.
If you use a combat maneuver, look its entry up in the book, once per module.
See above. This represents the time required to look up the entry and put it up.
If a monster uses an ability that is not listed in the stat block, look its entry up in the Bestiary
This includes any special abilities, such as 'swallow whole'. You don't need to look up that a Fey's good saves.
After all this, total all of the time up. If your time exceeds 5 hours wasted, your module is too long. Most people will rush through your module and it will be degraded in quality due to the length of the module.
Just a suggestion. It will help a GM that has to rush through modules when I encounter a group that is a group of new players.
Hey everyone. Next weekend, we are planning to do Slot 0 for Pathfinder Interactive, "Year of the Shadow Lodge". We're looking for at least two more judges to run this at Megacon 2011 (March 26, 2011, 7p-11p).
If you could judge this for us, let me know. I really want to make this a great module for players this year!
This year, we will be hosting Pathfinder Society (PF), Legends of the Shining Jewel (PF), Shadowrun (SR) and Lost Forgotten Realms (4e) in the gaming room. A variety of modules have been posted on the Warhorn site.
WARNING: Gaming is included in your admission price to the Convention. There are NO extra fees involved in gaming at MegaCon, but you must have a MegaCon 2011 Ticket, Wristband or Pass in order to participate in Gaming. You will also not be able to utilize the Warhorn site unless you pre-order your tickets on the Mega Convention site.
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GMs:
Gamemasters, want a free pass to MegaCon 2011? Sign up for 4 Slots (or 16 hours) and get a free full weekend pass! Contact me for more details.
Free MegaCon 2011 Weekend pass per person when that person signs up to GM at least 16 hours of gaming, or 4 slots (whichever comes first). You will be responsible for making sure you have four slots to GM. If they do not make before the Warhorn lockdown (approximately 1 week before the con), you must sign up for more slots to meet the above requirement. You are not responsible for making these up if your table does not make at the door, but does make in Warhorn.
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Last Year vs This Year:
NOTE: MegaCon 2011 will be held in the same hall that we had last year. So, if you were with us last year, you will know where we are this year.
If you visited us last year, here's some things we changed:
1. We have a LOT more space. This should diffuse a lot of the sound with the size of the room. With the more space, we're going to put up some of the divider walls to absorb the sound of having so many people in the room.
2. We're moving the RPG Room to the other side of the main hallway. It will mean that you won't have to cut through the "at the door tickets" line, which will be really nice.
3. We're going to be hosting the Interactive Module "Year of The Shadow Lodge" Saturday night. Come help us defend the Pathfinder Grand Lodge!
4. We're adding in one hour "short attention span" games, so people that just want to try out the various systems do not need to worry about sticking around for a full four hours. Note that these SAS games will not appear on the Warhorn site. Walk in and play.
This year, we will be hosting Pathfinder Society (PF), Legends of the Shining Jewel (PF), Shadowrun (SR) and Lost Forgotten Realms (4e) in the gaming room. A variety of modules have been posted on the Warhorn site.
WARNING: Gaming is included in your admission price to the Convention. There are NO extra fees involved in gaming at MegaCon, but you must have a MegaCon 2011 Ticket, Wristband or Pass in order to participate in Gaming. You will also not be able to utilize the Warhorn site unless you pre-order your tickets on the Mega Convention site.
---------
GMs:
Gamemasters, want a free pass to MegaCon 2011? Sign up for 4 Slots (or 16 hours) and get a free full weekend pass! Contact me for more details.
Free MegaCon 2011 Weekend pass per person when that person signs up to GM at least 16 hours of gaming, or 4 slots (whichever comes first). You will be responsible for making sure you have four slots to GM. If they do not make before the Warhorn lockdown (approximately 1 week before the con), you must sign up for more slots to meet the above requirement. You are not responsible for making these up if your table does not make at the door, but does make in Warhorn.
---------
Last Year vs This Year:
NOTE: MegaCon 2011 will be held in the same hall that we had last year. So, if you were with us last year, you will know where we are this year.
If you visited us last year, here's some things we changed:
1. We have a LOT more space. This should diffuse a lot of the sound with the size of the room. With the more space, we're going to put up some of the divider walls to absorb the sound of having so many people in the room.
2. We're moving the RPG Room to the other side of the main hallway. It will mean that you won't have to cut through the "at the door tickets" line, which will be really nice.
3. We're going to be hosting the Interactive Module "Year of The Shadow Lodge" Saturday night. Come help us defend the Pathfinder Grand Lodge!
4. We're adding in one hour "short attention span" games, so people that just want to try out the various systems do not need to worry about sticking around for a full four hours. Note that these SAS games will not appear on the Warhorn site. Walk in and play.
MegaCon 2011 is now two months away! Come join us for four* whole days of gaming.
Pathfinder Society - 10 slots of gaming
Tier 12 Scenario, Requiem of the Red Raven, offered on Saturday Morning-Afternoon.
Interactive Module: Year of the Shadow Lodge on Saturday night.
Legends of the Shining Jewel (Pathfinder Variant)
4e Gaming (Lost Forgotten Realms Organized Play)
"Short-Attention Span" (One Hour Modules)***
Gaming at the con is included in the ticket cost of MegaCon. No additional entry fees required.
Pricing:
Purchase your Tickets Online ($23.96/1day, $56.45/entire weekend), and get Thursday gaming, and one hour "head start" into the hall free!
Purchase your tickets at the door ($25.00/1day, $60.00/entire weekend) [Thursday not included]
Want a free pass? GM four slots (or 16 hours)****, and get a FREE weekend pass [Thursday and 1 hour head start into hall included]
Purchase your tickets online through www.megaconvention.com
Sign up for your slots at http://warhorn.net/megacon-2011
* Four days of gaming with the purchase of a full weekend (3 day) pass advance online. Thursday offered as a bonus for anyone who purchases tickets advance through megaconvention.com. Ten total (4 hour) slots offered over four days.
** Scenarios only offered if table makes. Some scenarios have a hard limit (4-6 players for a Tier 12 PFS Scenario), and all require a GM to make. If table does not make, MegaCon Gaming Staff will attempt to accommodate your ability to play, but no guarantees offered.
*** "Short-Attention Span" Modules are approximately an hour to 2 hours long. All SAS games will be mustered at the door and will not be pre-mustered on the Warhorn website. SAS modules run on varied rulesets.
**** One free full weekend pass when you GM at least four slots or 16 hours of gaming at MegaConvention. You will be responsible for showing up and GMing all four slots.
Hello. I am currently planning the Pathfinder Society slots for Mega Convention in Orlando, Florida. It is being held on March 24-27th.
I am trying to come up with a way to promote more players coming to the convention, and besides the idea that the Gaming Head coordinator (Dominick Trascritti) that we would run the Interactive Module, on Saturday, I wanted to get a module not yet released (set to be released on March 30th, which is where you see my dilemma) into play.
I'm wondering who I could possibly talk to about getting this module (PFS 2-17, Shades of Ice- Part II: Exiles of Winter) 5 days early (Friday the 25th) so I can run it at MegaConvention. I've seen an exodus of people heading from 4e to PFS around the Central Florida area and I want to help out as much as I can.
I've been to a few cons now, and I've taken a look at the Pre-Gen characters, and I've seen this situation a few times:
1. Player A joins a Multi-gaming con, which his/her primary game is LSJ/LFR, but the modules he/she wants to play are Slot 1 and 3, and it's slot 2, but he doesn't want to sit around for 4-5 hours, so he picks up on a PFS Game and chooses to play the Level 4/7 Pre-Gen to "test" it out. Player A plays and once in combat, he/she plays the character and other players are dealing 30-50% more damage than he/she is able to, just because the Pre-gens don't have a "focus," while the other players do. Player A never plays PFS ever again.
2. Player B's table doesn't make (he's a GM), but there's another table which needs a fourth to make, but he/she doesn't have a character "of the level" (needs 7 and highest character is a 5), so GM picks up a Pre-Gen and really gets annoyed as the Pre-Gen has no real ability to contribute (RP or combat), so GM just sighs and sits back, getting frustrated.
3. Player C is a GM, which is looked to GM about 108% of the time, and he has three characters of varying levels, but has never played them, or seen them in combat.
See, the thing is, I, as a GM, have a character, that I would invite any player to use when I'm GMing if they don't have a character of the level, so I could see how I could fix and improve upon it (second opinion), and secondly, the character isn't just a side thing that I get to use once in a blue moon.
So, here's what I invite as a possible option; Player-run GM Characters:
- A Player may play a GM character any time they are required to use a pre-generated character in order to play the module.
- The GM has no say in how the player plays the character. The Player's decisions are his own.
- Only one player can play the GM character.
- The Player can only play the GM character of the GM at the table.
- The GM Character must be "of the level", in other words, it must be legal to play at the current table.
- If a player plays the GM character, the player may not take the character afterwards, unlike Level 1 Pre-Gen Rules.
Now, one thing I am not too sure about is a few rulings. Please discuss the below and list what you think about the four areas below.
1. PA - Now, since a player is playing the GM character, it's possible for the player to fail their PAs. Counting it as a GM Credit may be the "best" option.
2. Day Job - Again, due to GM bias, DJ Rolls may probably be better to be the same as "GM Credit" rulings.
3. Expendables - I wasn't too sure on this, but I was thinking the following: "If a player uses an expendable on a GM character, it returns at the end of a module." Just so a player's decisions don't screw over a GM too much.
4. ARs/Chronicles - I was thinking of the following text: "Both the GM and a Player get a Chronicle for the module. When the player gains a character that is able to apply the player credit, it may be applied immediately to the character."
New Year's Con 2011 is brought to you by the Trascrittis of MegaCon and the McNabbs of GatorCon. It is a three day gaming event including D&D Living Forgotten Realms, Pathfinder, and LSJ.
Gaming will begin at 9 AM on Friday, December 31, 2010 and include an New Year's Celebration from 6PM to 12 Midnight.
Thanks to Cool Stuff Games for being our prize support sponsor for New Years CON!
Venue/Lodging
LaQuinta Inn, Winter Park
626 Lee Road
Orlando, FL 32810
Hotel arrangements will be through rooming list, so please select your hotel nights when you register and pay. Hotel price of $75 per night is inclusive of all taxes and fees. However, you must present a credit card at check in for incidentals, such as telephone calls and in-room movies.
Okay, I don't know if a few things were figured into the stats of Nordis.
Scrying costs 1 hour (!) to cast. In this case, how does Nordis know about the PCs for 1 hour, and prepare for a 8 minute window to scry on them? I think he could watch them...but scry...he needs Greater to make it 1 Standard action. How do I handle this?
For the following spells: freedom of movement, 2 greater magic weapons, magic vestment, nondetection, protection from energy, aid, undetectable alignment... these all look like beneficial spells, but what does he cast if he has time to buff besides those listed on his statblock?
After last session, I just wanted to report back on what happened. It was the most fun I had in a while. Our group is well into Book two. Everyone is generally 5-6, and we're currently sitting on:
Human Paladin of Erastil
Saurian Cleric of Abadar
Halfling Rogue
Half-Orc Barbarian
A few quirks you might want to know about the setup:
- The Paladin is somewhat of a new player to the LG Alignment, but he's doing incredibly well!
- The Cleric is fully into the Lawful side.
- The Rogue is quite silent, but he's now liking his rogue, and he's getting into the TN/CN alignment, and being "rogueish"
- The Barbarian is quite funny, actually, he's a literate Barbarian that actually is the most calm person half the time. He roleplays it very well!
We have a fifth member, but he was not present at the last session. As I tell my players, I generally do not start misleading them in anything they ask. I either say, "You don't know" or "Here's the information". It makes it easier for people to get used to their characters. However, I also give them the warning that, eventually, I will start misleading you when you fail checks, as per the book.
>>> WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW <<<
So, rules and group aside, the game started out with the players adventuring in the hex with the Mad Hermit. He is a rogue with a pet Puma. The Paladin figured it out easily (Sense Motive) that there wasn't something right and it led to a fight. The end result is that everyone charged the Hermit and outright killed him, which left the Puma.
The fight ended with the Rogue being left with a turn right after a killing blow. The Puma actually hit him once or twice. The rogue saw that it was his turn next, so he asked if he could take a claw. I was going to end initiative, but I decided to go with it. I allowed him to take a claw, forcing the Puma to take some damage from the cut. The Paladin and Cleric (of course) started arguing (well, I should say intelligently loudly discussing, wasn't much arguing) on how it was an evil act. However, I deemed it was a chaotic act, and as a rogue, and as someone that also just had been hit by it, that he was in his rights to do it. The Paladin deemed it as an evil act in his character and warned the rogue about how he wouldn't stand for it; basically the whole, if you do it again, I'm going to kill you.
[Now, getting everyone up to speed on their kingdom. Currently, they have completed Major Event 1, and they have connected Oleg's Trading Post to The Stag Lord's Fort and used the special on SLF to create a Castle.]
By this time, the group was on the way back to their hexes (it was decided last session they would do so). The Cleric, however, wanted to head back to the Dead Unicorn and ask some questions (speak with dead). They split ways, and I had Jhod (their Cleric High Priest) meet the three on the edge of their territory at their castle. He noted that Grigori had pranced into town and was gaining a following and giving the PC's Kingdom Unrest. Obviously, this sprouted them instantly into action. They set out for Oleg's Trading Post (where the event began), and the Cleric got to the Unicorn, asked the questions he needed and started heading back. Pretty much, I had the Cleric stop 2 hexes away from the town (due to his speed), so it was just the Barbarian, Cleric and Paladin at this point in time dealing with the bard.
Now, originally, I was going to run this as it was, they would talk to him, and they would RP how they would drive him out, or arrest him for speaking out against the kingdom, etc, however, I saw an interesting opportunity, due to circumstances, for the players for an RP session.
First, they wanted to follow Grigori. They found out he was using a spell to enthrall a group of people to incite issues, but the Rogue wanted to go one step further. He handed me a note that said he wanted to cut out his tongue at night. Of course, this is truly an evil act, so I handed it back to him, without a word or a nod. That night, when Grigori slept, someone cut out his tongue and jumped off the inn roof with medium sized wooden shoes, got onto a horse and trodded off.
Immediately, the Paladin asked me for a Sense Motive check on everyone he saw (including the party members). I rolled in secret. The Cleric and Barbarian got even, detecting nothing, but the Paladin, I implied a -8 check on his Sense Motive due to the previous issue, and I also rolled a 2. Due to this extreme nature of the roll, and the previous issue, I wrote on a piece of paper and passed it to the Paladin: "He's f'ing lying (the rogue)."
This prompted the Paladin to try to figure out how to pin it on the party's rogue. He didn't openly accuse it, but he went into Ultimate CSI mode, asking about the shoes, following the horse prints, etc. The rogue stayed silent.
{Event Background} What I ruled happened is, in a coincidence, "The Tongue Killer" rode into town last week. He kills his victims by cutting out their tongues and letting them bleed to death. Being as most people do not: 1. Have access to immediate healing and 2. Have access to regeneration magic, he has claimed the life of 9 different people already. He was a decent level rogue and detected the enthrall check he missed after it wore off, so he was pissed off at the Bard for doing that. He plotted to cut out his tongue. It was mere coincidence that the Tongue Killer chose the same night that the rogue wanted to cut out the tongue of the bard. The Tongue Killer uses large padded wooden shoes to appear as a medium humanoid until he gets to the horse. He got on the horse, but was unable to get out of town without being spotted, so he smacked the horse and let it ride out of town on it's own, and he jumped onto a rooftop. The unfortunate thing is that he forgot his wooden shoes on the horse.
What ended up happening is, the next morning, Grigori drank his potion of cure light (to stop the bleeding), then used his money to get a casting of Regeneration for his tongue, which Grigori immediately started blaming the PCs for this treachery, which led to the CSI. The PCs found the horse, found the shoes, and then the Paladin questioned me why I handed him the note, and I just smiled.
Now, at this point, they did not have a suspect at all, and were lost, so the Paladin started praying in the temple for a way forward. Now, generally when players Pray, I roll a d20. On a 1, it means someone is listening. I rolled a 1. The good thing is that I also rolled a 98 on the mood (high == good). The one time I roll a one, it helps me as a GM. I deemed that Erastil would grant him one free use of a powerful, deity-centric cast by Erastil and fulfilled by Erastil that the Paladin could use to ask one question to Erastil about only this situation. This, obviously, prompted them to discuss amongst themselves about what they wanted to do next. Of course, I start listening in and prepare for what they were going to ask: "What do we do next to solve this crime?"
{A little FYI, I am aware of the limitations of Divination, however, as a story element, I modified the rules.} After the paladin asked the question (they were discussing what they would ask outside), I revealed what floated down from above: a piece of parchment. On it, was a crudely drawn map of the surrounding town. It had their current location pointed out with two lines leading through the streets to two different points. At the end of both of these points were two different words. The first word was the name of a drunken man that saw the Tongue Killer, in his drunken stupor, hide something underneath a dumpster: the murder weapon, a hooked dagger with initials. The initials were the creator of the weapon, which was the clue to the second word. They went there and discovered the purchaser's name, a gnome rogue. From there, they just asked around about his whereabouts and ownerships, and found the abandoned shack where he was hiding out (he was waiting for nightfall to escape).
Inside, the rogue hid, until the Barbarian and Cleric barged in and started attacking, and ended up knocking him out. There was a side secret exit under a floorboard that had to be lifted up in order to exit. From the outside, it was supposed to be a DC 14 Strength check, but from the inside, it just required someone to move the thing over the hole to pull out the loose floorboard. The rogue tried entering from that hole, but was rolling 2, 3, 5 on his turns to try to open it, and the paladin just watched and snickered. Fortunately, the Barbarian and Cleric were easily able to knock out the Tongue Killer.
From here, they arrested the Tongue Killer, found him to be insane and just killed him. As for the bard, the bard took the evidence, but was more pressured to continue (due to payment), but the Paladin and Barbarian was more than convincing enough to strike a deal and take a portion of the payment and exile him in exchange for not hanging him.
It was certainly a fun night. I love it. It was a great opportunity to make a small, not very interesting event into a character building, RP night.
So, I bought the second module to see how the Kingdom Building rules go. It's cool and all, but it's a LOT of paperwork and figuring out.
So, what did I do?
I made a spreadsheet to help!
Instructions:
1. Fill out everything in the Yellow Boxes in the "Kingdom Stats".
2. Go to "Phases" and enter in any Yellow boxes for Phase 1.
3. Take anything in the green boxes back to "Kingdom Stats"
4. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the phases (Event Phase you're on your own.)
5. Use your new-found time to kill the PCs in more gruesome ways.
Disclaimer: This sheet is my understanding of the system up to Book 2. I haven't read 3-6 yet, so if there's any modifications between now and then, you're on your own.
Forgot to add in Leadership Vacancy Unrest under the Unrest Phase.
Added a BP Discount field for when a Building provides a 50% Discount to another building. I won't figure it out. You will need to (since I don't keep track of cities).
So, I'm just starting up Kingmaker, and my players (found online) are talking about establishing roles in the group as different leader groups. Of course, I smashed this by telling them they *aren't* leader-types yet, and got them back to Character Generation instead.
This didn't really occur to me as an issue, but I added two more players separately and they asked if they could start a discussion about who wanted to be the leader types. I blinked at the e-mail and PM and told them the same stuff, but then I wondered why this was the first thing on the Player's mind, that is, until I read the Player's Guide.
Standing at the intro paragraph is enough spoiler information that makes me want to slap some writers in the face.
1. You explain about the issue between the Stolen Lands and stuff, but you give the full synopsis on why they are there AND what the repercussions will be AND the homeland's motivations for doing it.
2. You give the players the first thing saying "You move in and instantly been given kingship." This is entirely untrue since all the players are given is the Missive for to "explore, rout the bandits and establish trading routes."
Writers, I know you want to talk about your campaign and how great it is, but please, please, please, next time, just include what they need to know about the region and general information on why they are moving in.
Things PCs don't need to know right off the bat:
1. Players are going to be building a nation upon the point they are exploring.
2. The northern kingdoms want to use this 'ancillary task force' to build a nation without changing the supplies on the northern kingdoms.
3. Players are going to expand and build. I know that by session three players are going to want the rulings for establishing rule and building upon Oleg's Trading Post.
Please take this into consideration when writing future Adventure Path Player's Guides.
On the Paizo Site (at the bottom of Season 1), it says that Season 1 runs through July. (looks at the Clock) So, we're in July, any announcements on Season 2?
Command Undead seems like a very powerful spell for a Level 2 Sorc. A Level 2 Command Undead gives zero saving throw against unintelligent undead, and gives a saving throw against Intelligent undead, but even then, they can just throw another one at the enemy.
I thought that Command Undead had a HD Limit. You could only Control Undead up to your HD. Unfortunately, the spell appears as if it doesn't have that limitation.
I have other things to talk about later, but since the game is starting soon, I have a problem with one statblock.
Spoiler:
In Act 4, it lists a +1 Composite Longbow on the Tier 8-9 Harpies. When you look at the damage it's a 1d8+4. Given the +1 quality, that would make it a +1 to hit and damage (1d8+1). However, the Strength seems to be listed in it, giving it +3 to damage. Is this intentional?
If so, wouldn't it be a +1 Composite longbow (+3 Str Max)?
Also...
Spoiler:
The third harpy has a Javelin of Lightning, but in the statblock, it's a standard javelin...which is it?
When you overrun an opponent and your maneuver check exceeds your opponent’s CMD by 5 or more, instead of moving through your opponent’s space and knocking her prone, you may stop in the space directly in front of the opponent (or the nearest adjacent space) and make one attack with an unarmed strike or a natural weapon against that opponent as an immediate action.
So, since it's an immediate action, do you take an attack in front of the creature, then continue on your Overrun spree, or do you stop? It's kind of unclear if you can or can't.
Looks like Josh built another campaign. Let's read it up.
Spoiler:
Crypt:
What is the point in including Zyphus Rot when it requires the zombie to kill the enemy, and the tactics state he moves on after smashing his enemy into unconsciousness?
Also, if the zombie won't cross the pit trap, why does he move up to it and just stand there with his finger up his nose? Probably should have had him a little more surprising...like around one of the many corners in the crypt. Also, the Crypt is a little small for Mr.Large Mc-Dumb Fart.
Lastly, it's nice and cool that you add difficulty to some of these faction missions, but for goodness sake, stop making it rely on a Dice Roll. Two tries to extract the brain with a DC20 Heal Check? Most parties don't spec heal, and even then, they don't usually stack it high. Limited try faction missions should be 70% success availability for a 2-try, 60% success for a 3-try and 35-50% success for a 4+ try. Generally think about what skills a party *usually* brings then use it, otherwise, you just frustrate a lot of PCs.
Spoiler:
Poltergeists:
Nicely designed, though a little ineffective. I would have made a 35 foot long bridge.
Spoiler:
Gallery:
Clever fire trap. Very intelligently designed, however, the annoying thing is that Taldor can fail their mission just because someone is hasty. You're too heavily relying on that a party isn't reckless at all and is very watchful. I understand you conveyed a sense of "trapfulness" in the previous encounters, but a rogue-less party will do the "fighter" method of dealing with traps, which will kill the Taldor's mission immediately. PvP is against the rules, but, damn, here's a loophole. Instead, I would say that 6 of 10 need to be brought.
Spoiler:
Coffin Barracks
Poison, poison, poison. That's a lot of poison. Josh, do you want someone to be poisoned?
Player Handout 1
The text is outside the image. Might want to fix that.
Spoiler:
Fortune-Spurned Cultists
I like the idea of the cultists. Debuffers and fortune unfavored enemies. You should have given an example in the tactics block on how they would use misfortune. To me, I would use it to have the rocks roll down the hill at them hitting the PCs and the Cultists.
Spoiler:
Acid Lake
Nice idea, and quite difficult to deal with. I like this room. It makes me smile (as an chaotic evil gm)
Spoiler:
Final Thoughts
Nice traps, but the monsters seem to be lacking, or just simply just don't do anything effective against any party.
Items
Can we give anything more useless in an entire sheet? I'm kind of tired of seeing these sheets filled with stuff that is useless. By time you hit Level 2, even if you did all Season 0, you should be able to get a Scroll of Lesser Restoration without this. Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds is also available by time you get to that level. By time you hit level 6, you have a PA of at least 18, which gives you 5,250gp maximum purchase limit. While the +2 Short sword is moderately okay, you could have 36 PA at level 6 which would give you 23,000gp purchase limit. The +2 Cloak of Resistance is accessible easily and who uses Large Half-Plate?
I know you want items to fit the campaign, but can we please get some better, more useful items to our players? When I was at OASIS 23, I heard a lot of moaning about how items are useless on the Chronicle sheets. Chronicle sheets should be nice little "oomphs" for you to find on the sheet. Stuff you cannot access yet.
Thanks for making this, Josh. I think it will be a fun mission. I'm running it in a few weeks.
You are running an undead campaign. Vampires, Zombies, Undead Witches, etc. The party that sits at your table: Two Level 11 Paladins, Two Level 11 Clerics, a rogue with high AC, and a Wizard specializing in Holy stuff. You run the highest tier, but it's not enough. They don't have enough hit points. There's six AC 15 undead and they rape the undeadness out of them. It gets to the final fight and they've already prepared for undead. Consecrate goes off, the main boss is cornered, and all he has are minions which do absolutely nothing.
You're running a campaign in which the enemies damage hard, but they can't hit worth their weight in copper pieces. Or, the party is full of rogues and all the enemies get their best damage...with Sneak attacks.
You're running a campaign which the big bad guy is a spellcaster, but a Cleric with the Travel domain, a Wizard with Dimension Door or whatever gets the four fighters right around the Wizard with 48 HP and 18 AC.
These are just a few examples. As a GM playing Home-brew, I've always taken campaigns that just undercut the power of the players and add extras. Enemies take class levels. They pick up magical weaponry. They took the 25 point buy instead of 20. Unfortunately, in Pathfinder Society, it's not possible. You must run it [u]exactly[/u] as written.
So, here's an addition for future modules I suggest:
+APL Option (Name needs work):
Give the GMs the option, at the highest tier of the campaign, to add something extra per encounter. Let's say your party must be 7 players (PPP rules). I would want to give the monsters a little more 'oomph' to make the party think before they rush inside. This option is completely optional for the GM to run, and should only be ran if the ACL of the party is within the Level Range of the highest tier of the campaign.
For example, if you are in a Tier 7-8, 10-11 campaign, and the APL puts the party at 10.9, this option would be available, however, if your party's APL is 9.2, this option cannot be allowed. Furthermore, if your party is 3 or 4 players, this option cannot be allowed.
What I would request out of this is that the monsters are advanced. Under [u]no[/u] circumstances should this module addition [u]add[/u] extra monsters, especially if you're just throwing 36 AC15 monsters with +5 to hit against the PCs (those that have run this campaign know exactly what I am talking about.) Monsters should be harder to hit, bigger, and DCs should be bigger.
Lastly, this shouldn't change the overall gold output of the module. Just because you ran with this rule doesn't mean the PCs get any more loot, it just means that the monsters are more attuned to your party (which is how DnD/Pathfinder should be ran), and gives you the correct amount of gold anyways (since if you ran with the +APL, it's generally assuming that your party is bigger, so the total loot is bigger, but since your party is larger, the split goes more ways, so you get the exact same amount of loot.
Overall, I love PFS. It's open, it's nice, and everyone who plays is courteous and generally helpful, trying to have a good time. I try to 'spice it up' by 'filling in the gaps' when the module has no description for whatever, or for when a module doesn't list how a character reacts, and I'm glad that the PFS games that I've gone to have appreciated this. However, I don't feel like an appropriate GM if I don't challenge the PCs in RP and in Combat.
I would like to get feedback on this option, and see if it could get added to future campaigns.
Before I click Submit Post, One thing of note is that this shouldn't be a ruling to allow GMs to go 'oh, you can adjust the module if you need to'. This should be published with the campaign, as an official ruling on what levels should (or shouldn't be) applied to it with this ruling. Extra monsters, extra advancement, etc. Otherwise, some GMs could get 'overzealous' and we could get complaints.
I'm looking for a regular Pathfinder group. The module matters not (although I will tell you that I have completed CoT 1, 2 and part of 3 already). I am willing to GM, and I can host a number of campaigns.
I'm looking to see how much interest there is in a regular PFS gaming session in Orlando, Florida. If there is enough interest, I will probably ask a few of the gaming stores around here if they want to host, and it will probably be on a Saturday/Sunday.
I see all over the campaign I'm GMing stuff for Factions.
From someone who hasn't seen these before (always ran non-Organized Play campaigns), am I supposed to remind players about the mission, or should they already know what they are supposed to do?
In the Spectral Hand Description, it says it creates a Hand, however, it has a few things missing. One, namely, is speed. Does it travel maximum range in one round?
One thing we have having an issue with is Cover AC and Firing into Melee. As it stands, this gives +4 AC to the monster because my friendly steps directly into my path. The monster moves up to my friendly and now I have -4 to hit.
For a Spellcaster, this is very...annoying. With a +3 DEX and no bonuses, a normal monster for a Level 2 is sitting about a 12-14 Touch. This gives me 40-60% chance to hit. However, as soon as they step up to one of my friendlies, it jumps up another 8, making it about 5-10% chance to hit with spells. Although I use Force Missile as much as possible in this situation, I'm wondering if Magic Ranged Touch applies to the +4 AC Cover and -4 to Hit in Melee rule.
Imper1um
