JackLuminous's page

MOST solo monsters have multiple attacks that they can't use if they move more than 5', so using mobility with these "bosses" reduces their own combat effectiveness way too much to be practical.

Sadly, for all these solo creatures with multiple attacks, their best tactic is to stand in place and lay down serious hurt on the PCs. Even though that's ineffective, it's often their best tactic because everything else is more ineffective.

For a GM not afraid to get his hands dirty, replace those solo monsters with something a little weaker then add one or two more so they're not solo anymore. Or keep the same monster and add another one (raising the CR, or apply a "young" template to reduce their CR to balance it out). Try not to give extra XP because of the increased CR or the PCs may level too fast for the AP.

You're exactly right.

I'm a little disappointed, since the purpose for me to use adventure paths is not having to create my own encounters because of my own lack of time and the fact that my players will never make it easy for me by knowing the rules of the game, which I have to explain every session. I know they won't change, but meh... friends are friends and they're good fun.

There doesn't seem to be an easy way around it, beside redesigning most encounters.

JackLuminous wrote:

Thank you all for your suggestions. It had occured to me that minions would help, though I have to say I'm amazed at how little this seems to be an issue in the adventure paths. The one I'm running often have single targets.

Yeah this is the #1 issue people have with Paizo's encounter design. We've known how easy it is for a party of four to spank one villain since day one but Paizo is still obsessed with giving their big bads zero minions, especially if said Big Bad is martial.

What changed from DnD 3.5 to pathfinder, in terms of this issue? I don't remember it being such a big deal then but I haven't played a lot with the 3rd edition.

Thank you all for your suggestions. It had occured to me that minions would help, though I have to say I'm amazed at how little this seems to be an issue in the adventure paths. The one I'm running often have single targets.

Hi,

I'm having this issue whenever my party faces off against a single target. They'll gang up on him, as they should, and then the combat loses a lot of interesting movement possibilities, since the creature they're up against faces too many disadvantages if he disengages because of the multiple attacks of opportunities (I have a 5-6 players party).

How do you keep combat interesting in that situation? It seems to me that to be more interesting, a fight should imply a lot of movement. Or else it quickly becomes a series of roll for attacks and that's it.

Hi,

I'm running the carrion crown campaign with several friends (group of 6) and I'm having all sorts of problems trying to handle how they spend their money.

First thing you need to know is that my group is made out of casual gamers. Maybe 2 of them are more familiar with role playing games, but otherwise, I can't expect that they will do their homework and frankly I don't mind it. Pathfinder is being overly complicated on several issues as far as I'm concerned.

Playing almsot exclusively with casual gamers, I also can't rely on them to help me out remembering the rules. That ends up with me managing a lot of things that they should otherwise be familiar with, limiting the time I have to deal with other issues such as this one.

Don't misunderstand me, I enjoy DMing and and I also enjoy pathfinder... I also want to abide by the rules as often as possible.

So my question is this... how do you usually handle the way your players are going to shop for magical items? Do you have a list of items per city? Do you have them look it up by themselves between games and then verify that they got it right? What is accessible and what isn't? The corerule book has lots of tables and formulas but I need it to be simple.

My players don't have a lot of knowledge about what magic items actually exist and what common magical enchantments are. They usually stick with what I give them. They are starting to hoard gold and think it is useless, as they have no idea how to spend it. When I ask them if they're going shopping before continuing with the quest, they have no idea what to look for and I can't do it all for them.

I've been having some problems while DMing with my friends. It's been a minor hindrance so I have no yet addressed it but here it goes...

How do you proceed at the beginning of an encounter whenever your players have to place their miniatures on the grid? Mine always seem to place them pretty much wherever they want, usually implying that they're in an advantageous battle stance with the casters well behind the fighters and such.

I'm actually dungeonmastering the Trial of the Beast module where the PCs (mean level 5) are facing a huge air elemental on a bridge that has been summoned when a magic trap was activated.

The bridge is already arcing over a 100-150 ft drop in the waters.

The air elemental has a speed of 100 ft. So if it turns into a whirlwind, picks up every character, then goes upward for a while and drop the PCs, wouldn't that be ridiculously easy to kill all of them?

The rules are as follow:

"Some creatures can transform themselves into whirlwinds and remain in that form for up to 1 round for every 2 HD they have. If the creature has a fly speed, it can continue to fly at that same speed while in whirlwind form; otherwise it gains a fly speed equal to its base land speed (average maneuverability) while in whirlwind form.

The whirlwind is always 5 feet wide at its base, but its height and width at the top vary from creature to creature (minimum 10 feet high). A whirlwind’s width at its peak is always equal to half of its height. The creature controls the exact height, but it must be at least 10 feet high.

The whirlwind form does not provoke attacks of opportunity, even if the creature enters the space another creature occupies. Another creature might be caught in the whirlwind if it touches or enters the whirlwind, or if the whirlwind moves into or through the creature’s space. A creature in whirlwind form cannot make its normal attacks and does not threaten the area around it.

Creatures one or more size categories smaller than the whirlwind might take damage when caught in the whirlwind (generally damage equal to the monster's slam attack for a creature of its size) and may be lifted into the air. An affected creature must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + half monster’s HD + the monster’s Strength modifier) when it comes into contact with the whirlwind or take damage as if it were hit by the whirlwind creature's slam attack. It must also succeed on a second Reflex save or be picked up bodily and held suspended in the powerful winds, automatically taking the indicated damage each round. A creature that can fly is allowed a Reflex save each round to escape the whirlwind. The creature still takes damage but can leave if the save is successful.

Creatures trapped in the whirlwind cannot move except to go where the whirlwind carries them or to escape the whirlwind. Trapped creatures can otherwise act normally, but must succeed on a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell. Creatures caught in the whirlwind take a –4 penalty to Dexterity and a –2 penalty on attack rolls. The whirlwind can have only as many creatures trapped inside at one time as will fit inside the whirlwind’s volume. The whirlwind can eject any carried creatures whenever it wishes as a free action, depositing them in its space.

If the whirlwind’s base touches the ground, it creates a swirling cloud of debris. This cloud is centered on the creature and has a diameter equal to half the whirlwind’s height. The cloud obscures all vision, including darkvision, beyond 5 feet. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment, while those farther away have total concealment. Those caught in the cloud of debris must succeed on a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell.

Format: whirlwind (3/day, 10–30 ft. high, 1d6+6 damage, DC 15); Location: Special Attacks."

My question, mainly, is this...

The whirlwind picks up a character... goes up 100 feet into the air (or more, since you can go up to 4 times your basic speed, so 400 ft) and you drop a character off as a free action...

Doesn't that seem way too easy to kill off all characters in such manner?

That Crazy Alchemist wrote:

Oh, then I wouldn't worry about it. Those players were never in any danger of drowning anyway. Just make the fight as fun as possible.

I will. I was just trying to make sense of the rules in that context. I do think that if the zombies are somehow able to bring a stunned character to an unconscious state (0 hp) by holding him underwater for a round, it would make for a fun fight, as I very much doubt that the character would have further time to drown, since the other players will be all over these 2 zombies in a second anyway.

All in all I'm just wondering why the zombies would even try this tactic at all instead of simply dealing as much damage as possible, since stunning takes 1 round, getting hold of the character for grappling takes a round, dragging the character underwater for drowning takes a round (no more stunned)... and THEN holding him successfully for like 10 rounds? How's that suppose to work?

I also see a difference between getting a good lung-full of air before going underwater and being dragged under water abruptly when you're stunned. Wouldn't you?

Oh, then I wouldn't worry about it. Those players were never in any danger of drowning anyway. Just make the fight as fun as possible.

I will. I was just trying to make sense of the rules in that context. I do think that if the zombies are somehow able to bring a stunned character to an unconscious state (0 hp) by holding him underwater for a round, it would make for a fun fight, as I very much doubt that the character would have further time to drown, since the other players will be all over these 2 zombies in a second anyway.

All in all I'm just wondering why the zombies would even try this tactic at all instead of simply dealing as much damage as possible.

I also see a difference between getting a good lung-full of air before going underwater and being dragged under water abruptly when you're stunned. Wouldn't you?

Then again, 2 zombies would never succeed at that... it's a CR 2 encounter for a party of 5 level 4-5 players

I'm trying to make sense of the scene and the fight though...

How would they have ANY chance to drown a character if there are only 2 zombies and it takes them like 10 rounds to drown IF they stay underwater

Hi,

I'm running the Carrion Crown campaign and currently in the Trial of the Beast module.

My question is, since when you,re stunned, you cannot take any actions, does that mean you cannot hold your breath? Which would mean that the drowning starts as soon as they miss their CON save?

The book only mentions "unconscious" in their drowning rule.

Hi!

I've recently picked up DnD again in the form of Pathfinder and we've completed the first carrion crown adventure and now we're about to begin the second installment in this campaign.

One of the player in my group decided to start a new character. I allowed him to start at level 4 (the level every other character is) minus the extra xp.

Now I'm wondering what should his wealth and starting gear be?

I've always had a very hard time to manage wealth in DnD before...

So I guess my question touches wealth, but also magical items, availability of magical items and such...

Do I give him a set amount of gold and let him decide?

GM-Player communication is key in any RPG. As you get more experienced you can fudge it here & there with players you know well to assist in dramatic tension and meta-game curve balls, but just starting out its much better to have as much system transparency as you can with your players so that everyone is on the same page. Things that are perceived “nerfs” or rules changes are especially important – it keeps OOP confusion from bleeding into the game (as the above mentioned rolling for perceptions and the players assuming that their characters keep getting low-roll results rather than there not being anything of note to find).

I agree! My main fear with this is that they'll start thinking I am incompetent and modifying the rules to limit their freedom of action.

Wow. Now we’re talking old school. :) I can’t remember the last time I had a PC draw out a dungeon as they went through it. Late 90’s, I think

Well, here's my story with DnD. My father used to play it in the 70s and carried over all his first edition books during his adulthood. They were my favorite reading when I was a child. I'd always have the bestiary as a bedside reading. So he had my brother, some friends and I play a bunch of times when we were 8-9 years old and that's how we'd proceed. We'd print grid sheets and tape them together as we were exploring the dungeon. It seemed to work well at the time!

I'm 28 now and since then I've played a few times with the second and the third edition as both GM and player. I never was one to look up every rules and I mostly GMed the way I had seen others do it, with rules coming in handy from time to time, but since I was playing with new players, it was easy to just say something without people being able to tell if I was making it up or being faithful to the game. Since I'm not very good at conceptualizing dungeons, I never really got around to ask myself how it was done. Like you said, I'd usually draw small encounter maps in advance or on the spot on a 8 1/2 11 blank sheet (not even a grid) and that was it.

So this is, as I said, a case where I seemed to be doing the right thing but having a dungeon map to follow and picking up PF and focusing on the rules had me trying to play this like a board game. Like I wanted to take this opportunity (switching to PF) to do it right, addressing my faults as a GM from when I played DnD without focusing on the rules.

As for the detect magic/evil spell, since most of the time is spent outside the combat phase which is the only time standard and movement actions must be taken into account, it doesn't imply much to concentrate "3 turns". That's how I perceive it. Whenever my paladin makes a detect evil spell, whether she's meeting up with a new NPC or entering a room, I can't just say "well this takes a standard action... so you need 3 turn to really figure out something" since turns aren't that big a deal outside combat.

I guess this brings to question how do you handle turns outside combat? I usually ask what they're doing after describing a situation and if it gets out of hand I set up an order of action from the player to my left to the player to my right. Thing is I got 6 players, some of which are pretty shy, and no definite leader to just give the final word. It makes things especially hard when there's an interaction with an NPC, which they seem to address like it's a video game, with them expecting me to give them the info they need and that's it.

Thank you all for your help. Many suggestions I see here ressembles what I always did before, but the fact that it's the first time I'm using a premade quest and the first time I'm playing Pathfinder (which seems to me has more rules) had me trying to play this like a board game instead of the RPG that it is. I have 3 more questions.

1) Should I make these changes without telling them or should I take some time prior to the game to speak of the perception check, the splitting of the group and the simulator aspects of a roleplaying game?

2) How do you guys deal with the drawing of the dungeon? Do you have the players draw it? Do you draw it for them? Do you only draw when there's a special encounter or a combat? Do you draw it in advance?

3) I'm also curious about you guys manage the detect magic/evil/undead. My players make use of it so much that sometimes it's hard to just keep things secret from them without them contesting it.

Hi

Alright so I'm new to Pathfinder, though I've played DnD a bunch of times both as player and GM in the past and I've decided to pick it up again using a premade game (Haunting of Harrowstone) for the first time. So far it's been going alright, but my party of 6 players is composed almost exclusively of curious and unlikely players that are new to the whole RPG thing... they've never played dnd, but they're pretty willing to learn (though reluctant to do any "nerd" stuff like speaking in character or over analyzing)and have been pretty thankful of the work I've done for them. In short, they're enjoying themselves... up til now.

My problem seems to rest on many issues, so bear with me, because I want to give you a good idea of what's going on. They started exploring the haunted prison last session and I had a pretty hard time to manage the whole thing.

I'm used to make my own adventures and I usually spend little time doing "dungeon explorations" on lengthy periods of times (like whole sessions). Since they're new and I kept telling them they can proceed pretty much however they want, they decided to go pretty much separate ways. I tried numerous times (in vain) to make them understand how this game works, meaning how they need to act as their character logically would... that means being cautious and making the distinction between what they know as a player and as a character (they can't instinctively know their friends are in danger and such).

Anyway,so they went separate ways on separate floors and, as I had to try to be detailed and immersive when I told them what they stumbled upon, each turn quickly turned out to be going way to slowly, especially for the characters that stumbled upon less interesting stuff. So to speed things up I spent less time being descriptive and also I skipped a bunch of haunts (that I find terribly boring) and modified some encounters like animated objects that I found too corny. But as I was doing that, I didn't have time to replace the haunts I was getting rid of, so the first floor turned into a huge empty husk. As the whole thing seemed to turn out like a huge boring prison, the players quickly took to misuse (in my interpretation) the perception skill, basically just saying they make a perception roll in ANY room they entered for "anything unusual" in general after I describe the room with what I consider to be obvious details. The point being I don't want them making perception rolls at every turn, sometimes twice a turn, leaving me with blank stares whenever I tell them they don't see anything out of the ordinary in general. They either think their roll wasn't high enough when it was, or that I'm not being fair if they get a high roll and there's nothing to be found. I also tell them to be more specific when they want to make a perception roll, to little avail as they always find their way back to just saying "I dunno, something unusual" whenever I ask them what they're looking for exactly or where are they investigating in the room.

So with them going around in every direction, asking to find unspecific "unusal" detail,I quickly got overwhelmed. I started flipping through the adventure book's pages to detail the rooms, draw the thing on their map and help them through their actions (they don't know most of the rules the first time they try using it, at my request usually). This had me skipping and forgetting a lot of things, which in turn had them scatter around more as nothing too bad was happening. The wizard did stumble upon 2 encounters, but as he's new, he used his most powerful spells right away on small encounters that would have required the rest of the players to vanquish, forcing them to group up.

As things got out of control for me, two players ventured too far ahead and were nearly killed (they were incapacitated for at least 1 hour in the result) by an encounter that they persisted in trying to handle on their own, telling the rest of the players that they were going to be fine.

The whole thing turned out to be quite boring for 4 of the 6 players who only got to do usually inconclusive perception rolls and frustrating for 2 players that were "cheaply" removed from the action. And from the perspective of a GM, the whole thing was a disaster, with players sighing, rolling eyes, playing games on their phone, etc.

So obviously, I will make notes for the next game (I'm used to wing things through with very good effect or so I've been told and proved, I guess, as I converted several people to the game through the years)so I don't have to search for the information I need AND for the details of every action they attempt.

But this being said I'm having a hard time with dungeon exploration. So my questions are the following:

1) How to you handle turns during this phase of the game? I tried to stick to the combat round format with 1 standard action and 1 move.

2) How do you manage the perception skill during dungeon exploration?

3) Do you usually try to force this kind of group to stick together or do you allow them to roam around and if you do, how do you manage simultaneous combats and such?

3) How do you keep things going smoothly and interesting without having to speed things up too much?