That's more my style, Lincoln. The skill check to give more info is a good idea, I may use that, if you don't mind.
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The other day I was playing a one-off under another DM and he did something that I found a bit off-putting; he would give players various options and then tell us exactly what we needed to succeed, and to what degree it would be effective. To me, this was utterly baffling. What I'm wondering is this: exactly how much of the mechanics do you 'let on' to your PCs? Also, for the players, does this seem like a weird practice and would you want your DM to adopt it?
There's the flame blade spell. Creates a fire-sword in your hand:
I got my start by running the Master of the Fallen Fortress. After my group finished with that, I went straight into a campaign of my own making. I also threw in a few hooks during the module to get them interested. They really seem to be enjoying it for now. The one thing that I somewhat regret is letting them use any books they had access to (with the game being in a gaming store, that means all of them). I too advise that you start with just the core races/classes.
I like the idea of the Heal check as well, but I think that either skill would make more sense than a Will save.
Man, this was going to be a quick one, but I got a bit caught up. Pretty dang long, beware. Hope you all like it! The Lord of Ash: "Shall you be needing anything else, Lord Northbrook?" Jasper asked, pausing at the door. "No, that will be all Jasper, thank you." answered the noble from his favorite chair. As the butler left the room, The middle-aged Lord Northbrook turned back to the tome that lay across his knees, intently studying the carefully scribed glyphs. His chair, sitting next to the room's only window, afforded him a view of his hold. As it was getting quite dark, Azyn Northbrook was treated to one of his favorite sights: candles appearing, one by one, in the windows of the village below, keeping the darkness at bay and giving the town a feeling of peace. He thought about how Jasper was like a father to him, raising him until he was old enough to rule. Azyn reined in his wandering thoughts and returned to his book. "Alright... One more try." he muttered, and picked up a piece of chalk that sat nearby. He moved to a portion of the room where the floor had been cleared and the furniture pushed back and started to copy the glyph from the book. When he was finished he stood back to check for errors and, finding none, began reading the glyph's accompanying chant. The spell had a strange effect on the room, seeming to cause the shadows to lengthen, but Azyn dismissed it as a trick of the mind. As Azyn fell silent, there was a moment of silence, and then ... nothing. Disappointed, the noble let out a sigh of frustration and flopped down into his chair, glaring moodily out the window. After weeks of trying to complete the summoning, purportedly a simple feat (according to the merchant who sold him the book), he was losing faith. Azyn mused to himself, "Curse it all, I should have the guard hunt down that fraudulent self-proclaimed 'tome-merchant', devil take his...". As Azyn fumed, his attention was snagged by what appeared to be one of the candles in the village, but it was moving, and quickly. He was unsure what he was seeing, but he soon realized when the point of fire flew into a barn and erupted into a raging blossoom of flame! For a moment, the lord was stunned, but he soon came to his senses and began to yell, "Guards, guards! Quickly, the town is under attack! It's those accursed hedge-wizards again! Mobilize the garrison immediately!". He stopped only to grab his family sword from its peg by the door and then ran from the room and down the flights of stairs to the entrance hall. As Azyn neared the foyer he heard a boom, and heard Jasper yell out in surprise. The lord dashed into the room to see utter chaos; the heavy oaken door was reduced to splinters and the bodies of Azyn's servants were strewn about the room. A wild looking woman was standing in the center of the room with her back to him, laughing maniacally as she fired bolts of electricity randomly. Jasper was against the wall, dead, half of his chest missing and the remaining part cooked through. Azyn saw red. He let loose a rage-filled scream and charged the woman, sword raised to smite the caster. He swung for her neck, aiming to decapitate her, but the blade screeched to a halt an inch away, the air near her skin flaring blue: a mage's shield! The woman whipped around, cackled madly, and taunted Azyn with an exaggerated pout, "Awww, is the kingy-wingy mad that I fried his butler? Why don't I show you how to find him!". The woman fired a bolt of lightning straight into Azyn's chest, blasting him back against the far wall. Azyn's vision swam, darkening more every second. He heard the horrid woman's cackle again, but she merely walked out the door, saying "I'll let you live for today, lord of ash!". And Azyn blacked out. He dreamed of Jasper.
It was day when Azyn awoke. Nothing had changed: the room was still a picture of carnage. But now, Azyn could see past the doorway, and he despaired at the sight. There was thick black smoke in the air He flashed back to what the woman said, 'Lord of ash' and again saw red. Azyn staggered to his feet and climbed the stairs to his quarters in order to get a better view. His beloved town, and with it his subjects, had been burned to the ground. Azyn fell to his knees and wept for the innocent lives lost the night before. However, his sorrow was soon replaced with hatred, burning bright. His mind spun, planning to destroy the mages who had destroyed everything he cared about. His eyes darted around the room and settled upon the book of summoning spells. His world had been ended by magic, why not turn it against them? He rushed over and snatched it up, walking over to the glyph he had inscribed on the floor. Azyn once again intoned the spell, spitting out the words as if they were bitter poison, infusing them with his rage and pain. As he spoke, the circle began to glow red, and runes around its circumference started to squirm and dance. Eyes appeared in the circle, black with gold pupils, and floated there. A voice emanated from everywhere and nowhere, smooth and serpentine, "So you figured it out, hmmm? Good for you. So what form should I take? What to do, what to do? Ah, yes, of course! The good 'ole 'recently-deceased-loved-one' bit." A form appeared around the eyes, one that brought a pang of sickness to Azyn's heart: it was Jasper! But the eyes were still wrong, and this Jasper was perfectly healthy. Azyn gritted his teeth and commanded the creature, "I have summoned you to do my bidding, demon! Do as I say!". The Jasper-thing frowned and said, "Demon?! Most definitely not! I am an eidolon. Much more powerful.". Azyn scoffed," Whatever you say, creature, just do what I say! You're duty is this: help me to kill the people who destroyed my town!". The eidolon leaned back against the circle's boundary, meeting resistance from the border, "Alright. Just release me from the circle, and I'll give you ample power to avenge your backwater town.". Azyn spoke the words to release the boundary and the eidolon stepped past. It reached out and touched Azyn's forehead and where his finger met skin, a glowing rune appeared at the same moment as one appeared on the palm of the eidolon's hand. It said, "There. Now we're linked. You can summon me whenever you want.", and the eidolon faded away. Azyn could feel new-found power emanate from the rune on his forehead and coursing through his body. He smiled mirthlessly and walked to the window. "I will hunt them down and destroy them. Those accursed hedge-wizards will learn to fear the Lord of Ash!". A pair of gold and black eyes appeared above Azyn's shoulder, and the air below them split with a smile full of pointed teeth.
I think a compromise is probably the best bet. My first character was a sub-par DEX-Fighter that wasn't good at much and even though it was super simple to play, I didn't love to do so. However, I also couldn't quite wrap my head around the core rules plus the magic rules, wizard rules, etc. (I've got them down now, of course). The DM might want to offer to help create the character, but if the player declines, leave them to their own devices (not that anyone here would force their help on someone).
If you've read some DragonLance books, Raistlin Majere seems to come to mind. He's snarky, obnoxious to most people, and will tell people exactly what he thinks of them (Low CHA). Not to mention that he's described as being visually unsettling. However, he is a brilliant mage and often knows exactly what is happening before most of his party (High INT/WIS).
Well, it seemed longer when I wrote it. What bloodline would that be for Saturn?
Here's how my Aberrant Bloodline Sorcerer got his powers. Beware, very long. Backstory: As a young man, Kendrik liked to go adventuring with his friends in the caves near the city. The six of them would delve deep in the caverns, despite the warnings of horrible abominations lurking below. One day the group went farther than they had ever gone before, and the boys found a tunnel that seemed interesting to hang around in.
Then they found the room. Resa was the one who tripped the secret switch. As soon as he saw what was inside, he fell to his knees and retched. The room was full of alchemical equipment: test tubes, operating tables, experimentation benches, and the like. But the worst things were the bodies; they were obviously human at one point, but now it was debatable. Some had limbs randomly located on their bodies, and some had no faces but their torsos were covered with eyes. The group huddled in the doorway, staring wide-eyed at the macabre sight. "Wh-wh-what should we do?" stammered Halcen. "Ye shoulda minded yer own business. But now, I insist ye stay fer a while." The friends turned around, and they saw the duergar standing there, leaning against a staff. He pointed it at them, releasing a blast of shocking energy and knocking them into convulsing unconsciousness. Over the years, Kendrik watched his friends die. The duergar performed horrible, torturous experiments on all of them, with the friends alternating between a rancid holding pen and being strapped to the tables. The madman only referred to them as numbers and before long that was all they knew. They lost track of time and had no idea of how long they had been kept prisoner. The only measure they had was the dwindling number of subjects. Eventually only Kendrik, now known only as Experiment 6, was left, and he definitely wasn't human any longer. He lasted as long as he could, but one day when the duergar was attempting another of his nightmarish "improvements", Kendrik slipped into blackness. He awoke on a heap of bones, not remembering anything from before the lab, unsure whether he was truly alive. His horrible pain confirmed that he was indeed among the living. The duergar must have mistook his coma-like state for true death and discarded the supposed corpse. Number Six was familiar with this stretch of cave, and began to make his way to the surface. Black lightning crackled beneath his skin and between his many scars. Anything that came near was blasted away with the arcane bolts. Experiment #6 had been given these powers against his will, but he knew what he would use them for. He would hunt down the insane duergar who had done this to him and he would make. Him. Pay.
One thing I've always wanted to do is get a bunch of masterwork weapons, shrink them permanently, and store them in a Handy Haversack. Bam, a weapon for every occasion!
Maybe give it a Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft skill and let the PC consult it for various things, such as what spell to use.
How about some Flash Step Boots? Lets the wearer teleport a considerably limited distance once a day.
I'm sure that plenty of people will say the same, but the Rule of Fun is paramount. Unless following rules to the letter is what everyone loves, don't be afraid to manipulate the rules a smidgen. I'm also a pretty new GM, but that seems to be what my players like. Also, count on your plot getting subverted, it will happen eventually.
Ah, I hadn't accounted for the somatic and verbal components. Thank you, Jiggy.
I have a player in my group that claims that it's obvious to others (in game) when someone is using Detect Magic. Like glowing eyes obvious. He also says that Paladins can do their Detect Evil ability without detection. Is there anything, anywhere, that supports or refutes this? I guess that since Detect Magic needs at least six seconds of concentration to function and the Paladin ability only takes a move action, he could be using that to support his claim.
What about Circe? Granted, she's a minor goddess, but I'd say she's at least Chaotic. Also, magic. Here's the Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circe
We did a Skulls and Shackles campaign in which the druid's raptor familiar racked up a higher kill count than most of the PCs (It was our first game ever). That raptor was ridiculously lucky, and went out with a blaze of glory as it was killed after landing the final blow against an alchemical golem. RIP Steve the Raptor.
My group will forever remember the brutal Tarrlok the "Bater".
The guy is a long-time gamer, so it's possible that he's still adapting to the PF system. In any case, I don't think he's trying to be a dick, just saying how he interpreted the rules. I realize that I sounded like I was saying he was a belligerent player when he really wasn't. The conversation merely made me think that I was unprepared to deal with someone disagreeing with a rules interpretation.
I have a back story for the spear: It was used by a necromancer to help build an army of undead that he used to attack a city. He was stopped by a couple of powerful feuding summoners in some badlands when he encroached upon their territory war. Spear: Syron NE
-Shortspear driven to create undead -Smoked glass haft with jagged obsidian tip Ego: 11 Int: 12 Wis: 10 Cha: 13 Languages: Common, Goblin Communication: Empathy, Telepathy Cost: 36,900 GP Casts "Animate Dead" 1/Charge* (To use, must impale corpse through the heart. Standard action)
When Syron judges that it's wielder has a similar endgame, unlocks extra powers: Cause Fear, Waves of Fatigue
Hey all, quick question. One of my players is a veteran, and I believe that this is causing him to be overly argumentative about rules. For instance, I had mentioned in passing how you could suppress a weapon's Merciful enchantment. He insisted that you could not despite me claiming you could. Admittedly mild, but that's the essence of a few minor arguments. Anyone have any advice for a new GM on dealing with particularly forceful players?
What is a good base bonus value (+2, +3, etc.) for a powerful intelligent weapon? It's a short spear with an ability to animate corpses.
Thanks Craig, I'm definitely open to requests from my players. Thanks to you too Pan, good ideas all around!
I see what you mean, I don't want to end up simulating an entire economy. Thanks for the input.
By intimate, I meant that it would be believably carried by whatever dropped it or where it was found, if that makes sense. I don't want it to seem like I'm just pulling gold values out of the air but I also don't want to spend a huge amount of time on it. I think I may do mostly gold/gems, with a bit of specialty loot thrown in.
Hey all, I recently started a homebrew campaign with my group and I'm having problems with giving out loot, any advice on how to "realistically" give some out? Should I just give out more straight gold and gems, or should I make it more intimate (for lack of a better word)? They're level 3 at the moment. |