Jarha Madu's page

Hi. This is super basic, but I don't understand how ritual DCs work? In particular, what is the DC (primary and secondary) for Resurrect? Is there a minimum level for the primary caster? Can anyone (with the appropriate skill) be a secondary caster even if they don't cast spells? Are the components lost if the ritual fails?

Hi all. A problem I've been having in my group is that I think the fun of PF2 is being affected by how deadly the system is, especially past the early levels. Basically, PF2 seems to be a high damage/high healing system. But an interrelated problem is that tougher enemies get TOO MANY critical hits (just had a battle in an adventure path where the monster's crit range was something like 13-20). and too quickly put PCs unconscious. And then the wounded/dying rules make it so that a PC is at death's door if they get revived from unconsciousness twice, because one of those critical hits would put them at dying 4 (going unconscious from a crit adds two to the dying value). That limitation on reviving PCs kind of undermines the whole high damage/high healing design. I don't know if I've adequately explained the problem, but here are some possible house rules to make it so that every tough battle isn't just PCs constantly getting knocked unconscious and then revived and then facing death:

(1) Critical hits only add one die to the damage and only do double damage on a 20. A main source of the bloodiness seems that more powerful monsters have high to hits and just get way too many critical hits. It detracts from the spirit of the critical hit when they are constantly happening. This house rule would restore the magic of the 20. Of course, PCs will be affected as well, but I think the monsters have been getting more crits.

(2) Death is not keyed to the wounded condition, but instead the wounded condition gives -2 to rolls for every 1 wounded (or -1, but that might seem too modest). I would also want to think of some condition where death would actually result -- although I don't think the negative of constitution score from PF1 is a better option...

(3) In theory, hero points should help with dying in PF2 RAW, but in my experience a PC would need to be able to do it more than once in a combat and RAW does not allow it (because they need to use all remaining HP to avoid dying). An alternative to #2 might be to say the PCs start every session with 3 HP and that a critical hit does NOT add two to the dying condition and that only one HP needs to be spent to avoid dying. But in that event, PCs would basically just save HPs for avoiding dying, and I'm not sure it would be very interesting. (Note that I find it is awkward and artificial to try to make sure I am awarding one HP per hour to each PC, so I don't love reliance on HPs.)

Your thoughts? Other suggestions? Does anyone else perceive a systemic problem here? I love PF2 (the 3 action mechanic, the character versatility) but I do think this aspect is affecting the fun at my table...

Hi all. A problem I've been having in my group is that I think the fun of PF2 is being affected by how deadly the system is, especially past the early levels. Basically, PF2 seems to be a high damage/high healing system. But an interrelated problem is that tougher enemies get TOO MANY critical hits (just had a battle in an adventure path where the monster's crit range was something like 13-20). and too quickly put PCs unconscious. And then the wounded/dying rules make it so that a PC is at death's door if they get revived from unconsciousness twice, because one of those critical hits would put them at dying 4 (going unconscious from a crit adds two to the dying value). That limitation on reviving PCs kind of undermines the whole high damage/high healing design. I don't know if I've adequately explained the problem, but here are some possible house rules to make it so that every tough battle isn't just PCs constantly getting knocked unconscious and then revived and then facing death:

(1) Critical hits only add one die to the damage and only do double damage on a 20.  A main source of the bloodiness seems that more powerful monsters have high to hits and just get way too many critical hits. It detracts from the spirit of the critical hit when they are constantly happening. This house rule would restore the magic of the 20. Of course, PCs will be affected as well, but I think the monsters have been getting more crits.

(2) Death is not keyed to the wounded condition, but instead the wounded condition gives -2 to rolls for every 1 wounded (or -1, but that might seem too modest). I would also want to think of some condition where death would actually result -- although I don't think the negative of constitution score from PF1 is a better option...

(3) In theory, hero points should help with dying in PF2 RAW, but in my experience a PC would need to be able to do it more than once in a combat and RAW does not allow it (because they need to use all remaining HP to avoid dying). An alternative to #2 might be to say the PCs start every session with 3 HP and that a critical hit does NOT add two to the dying condition and that only one HP needs to be spent to avoid dying.  But in that event, PCs would basically just save HPs for avoiding dying, and I'm not sure it would be very interesting. (Note that I find it is awkward and artificial to try to make sure I am awarding one HP per hour to each PC, so I don't love reliance on HPs.)

Your thoughts? Other suggestions? Does anyone else perceive a systemic problem here? I love PF2 (the 3 action mechanic, the character versatility) but I do think this aspect is affecting the fun at my table...

Am I correct that with Wand Wielder + Close Range + Weaponwand + Spell Combat + Spellstrike a magus could have a wand of ray of enfeeblement embedded in their weapon and choose each round in a full attack to either: (1) take all melee attacks PLUS take a spellstrike attack using the wand, OR (2) take all melee attacks PLUS take a spellstrike attack using some other spell cast with the free hand. The idea is a magus wand wielder who can freely choose to do spellstrike attacks with the wand while leaving a hand free to cast other spells in rounds they opt not to use the wand. Being able to do so with a wand of ray of enfeeblement seems like a particular good option for going toe-to-toe with a beefy melee fighter, making the opponent weaker as the fight progresses. Any problems I'm not seeing? Thanks!

I’m making a high-dex, low-str investigator who needs to serve as the party’s rogue-type but also needs to be one of the primary melee combatants. I’d love suggestions on how to make him effective. I was thinking weapon finesse and then slashing grace (with Aldori dueling sword) or fencing grace (with rapier), taking a dip into fighter to help with the feat tax. Eventually planning on getting the weapon keen to get more critical hits. I’d appreciate any thoughts on that plan. I am also open to considering two weapon fighting, and I'd love to hear any other ideas. Thanks!

Hey all. The party in a game I am running are soon going to encounter a mirror of life trapping. If it captures any of the PCs, it will take a command word to make them appear in the mirror and another to release them. "Each pair of command words is specific to each prisoner."

My question is what would be involved for the other PCs to discover the command words. The rules state, "The spells detect magic, identify, and analyze dweomer all reveal command words if the properties of the item are successfully identified." But it seems ridiculous a ZERO level spell (detect magic) will allow the party to figure out the command words. Any thoughts?

Swallow Your Fear, which is a mass effect and lasts 10 minutes, provides "You make the affected subjects ready for battle despite their fear. If a target is suffering from a fear effect of any kind, he gains a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution, a +1 morale bonus on Will saves, and a -2 penalty to AC. If the subject is frightened, he remains in place and gains the confused condition for the remainder of the fear effect, except he treats all results of 'attack self ' as 'do nothing' and treats 'attack nearest creature' as 'act normally.' If the subject is panicked, he remains in place and gains the confused condition for the duration of the fear effect."

Does this offer ongoing protection from NEW fear effects. That is, if a PC has this spell on him/her ongoing and then is subject to a fear effect, does he/she benefit from the spell, or is the spell completely irrelevant in that instance (that is, it only effects fear effects in existence at the moment of casting)?

Odd for it to have such a long duration if it only is relevant to effects in existence at the time of casting.

I'm playing a telekinetic kineticist. I'm contemplating using throw foe against a potential foe that may not have many HP. Can I choose to do less than my full blast damage of 3d6+7, which might kill the target?

Elemental overflow provides that "a kineticist’s body surges with energy from her chosen element whenever she accepts burn, causing her to glow with a nimbus of fire, weep water from her pores, or experience some other thematic effect.... The kineticist can suppress the visual effects of elemental overflow by concentrating for 1 full round, but doing so suppresses all of this ability’s other benefits, as well. The next time the kineticist uses any wild talent, the visual effects and benefits return instantly."

How does this interact with telekinetic invisibility? Say that a kineticist has suppressed the manifestations of elemental overflow and goes invisible. If the character uses telekinetic healing while invisible and accepts burn, does the resulting elemental overflow effectively cancel the invisibility, or does it just decrease the effectiveness of the invisibility by creating some visual manifestations? Also, since the benefits return "instantly," does that mean those benefits (bonuses to attack, damage, and points of healing) apply to the healing performed while invisible, or an attack made while invisible that involves the acceptance of burn? Or do the benefits only apply to subsequent actions?

Telekinetic blast states: "You throw a nearby unattended object at a single foe as a ranged attack. The object must weigh no more than 5 pounds per kineticist level you possess. If the attack hits, the target and the thrown object each take the blast’s damage. Since the object is enfolded in strands of aether, even if you use this power on a magic weapon or other unusual object, the attack doesn’t use any of the magic weapon’s bonuses or effects; it simply deals your blast damage."

As I understand it, the blast does the same damage regardless of the size of the object. So how large must the object be? Can it be a sling bullet? I ask because the aether kineticist does not want to run out of ammunition.

This is a quick one. For the kineticist, Kinetic restoration states:

"You recover from 1d4 points of ability score damage to one of your physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution).

This also eliminates any fatigue that you suffer, and improves an exhaustion condition to fatigued.

If you have the kinetic healer utility wild talent, you can use both kinetic restoration and kinetic healer on the same target with one standard action."

As I read that, although normally the ability can only be used on yourself, if you have the kinetic healer talent, then you can use restoration on another, right? In that instance, would it be one or two burn to do both in one standard action? Could I choose to only provide restoration?

Hey all. Quick question. The Kineticist's Telekinetic Invisibility talent requires a standard action to use, but does it need to be maintained with new standard actions each round? That would make it a lot weaker.

As I read it, Self Telekinesis DOES need to be maintained with new standard actions round after round. So, while it is good for mobility, it is not like a fly spell that would allow the kineticist to blast from the air, right?

For the weird fun of it, I've inflicted a few daemons on the PCs in my campaign (a few Vulnadaemons and, more problematically, a Derghodaemon). How do I justify in my own mind having these daemons on the material plane (helping a powerful evil magus and an evil alchemist). The planar ally and binding spells seem a little limited to explain daemons acting as, essentially, guards. Is there another mechanism? What rules are there about portals between planes?

Also, are you aware of any magic items that produce a dismissal-type effect? Ideally single use. If not, any suggestions for the form of such an item?

Also, are there any magic items that are essentially portals between planes?

Finally, is there any association between Urgathoa and Abaddon? Apollyon (the Horseman of Pestilence) certainly seems to have thematic overlap. Urgathoa is an element in my campaign, so some connection could be useful...

Thanks!

One big difference between simulacrum and lesser simulacrum is "The creature is not under your control, though it recognizes you are its creator." Does this mean the lesser simulacrum acts with the motivations and goals of the original? If a villain made a lesser simulacrum of a hero, the simulacrum would recognize what it is (that it is a simulacrum and not the real thing) and try to act against the villain? Any thoughts?!

The Oracle's "Erase From Time" special ability provides:

Erase from Time (Su): As a melee touch attack, you can temporarily remove a creature from time altogether. The target creature must make a Fortitude save or vanish completely for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your oracle level (minimum 1 round). No magic or divinations can detect the creature during this time, as it exists outside of time and space—in effect, the creature ceases to exist for the duration of this ability. At the end of the duration, the creature reappears unharmed in the space it last occupied (or the nearest possible space, if the original space is now occupied). You can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day at 11th level.

Also relevant:

Supernatural Abilities (Su): Using a supernatural ability is usually a standard action (unless defined otherwise by the ability's description). Its use cannot be disrupted, does not require concentration, and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Two questions that came up at the gaming table:

(1) If the oracle attempts a melee touch attack but misses, can she try again? That is, can she hold the charge as if it is a touch spell? Or is the ability's one use per day (or 2 after 11th level) discharged when the oracle makes a touch attack, successful or not?

(2) Second, assuming the Erase From Time attack can be re-attempted, and because it is described as a "melee touch attack," does that mean that a high level (or hasted) oracle with multiple attacks and using the full attack action can attempt multiple times in a single round?

Thanks very much for your help! I need to make a final ruling on this before we return to the gaming table tonight!

The PCs in my game have a vampire in a monastery on the run. Can he go gaseous, seep through the presumably sufficiently porous stone walls of the monastery basement, and then hide out in the soil until nightfall? Or just move underground through the soil?

On that same note, it seems to me the vampire can move through the walls and floors/ceilings of the monastery virtually at will, as an ancient monastery will have cracks everywhere.

Basically, this gives the PCs pretty much no chance of catching the vampire (whose location they don't presently know) -- right? Is any of the above incorrect?

I'd love some input before my game tonight!!

Hi all. Can a spellcaster hidden inside a solid fog cast spells at targets outside the solid fog where the spells require line of sight? It seems like not, but if not I'm a bit confused why a Paizo AP would indicate in combat strategy that a spellcaster would put herself inside a solid fog...

Straightforward question that I can't find the answer to: if a vampire changes into a dire bat, is it still vulnerable to light?

Everyone check in here once you've created your profiles!

The party is engaged in a tense Battle Royale in Radvir's tailor shop, currently up in flames...

The Bestiary says that, after being reduced to zero HP and assuming gaseous form, vampires must return to "their home coffin" within 2 hours or be destroyed. This seems to clearly indicate that a vampire has a single coffin in which it must rest and recover. However, in a Paizo module I'm running for my PCs, a vampire has a couple of "guest" coffins to give refuge to vampires who are unable to return to their own coffins. Is this just an error by the author, or am I missing something? A rule that vampires must return to a single home coffin obviously makes it much easier to destroy vampires. I suspect that it what the Bestiary intended and the author just made a mistake.

The "bit of luck" clerical domain power provides: "Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier."

Can it be used on a knowledge check? Presumably not if I just tell the players, "make a knowledge check." They couldn't then say, well, let the cleric touch me first and then I'll make the check. But what if they say, "we want to make a knowledge check on this. I'll have the cleric touch me and then make the check"

This seems wrong to me. Knowledge checks aren't like other actions. First, "In most cases, a Knowledge check doesn't take an action." And, second, there are no try again's allowed: "The check represents what you know, and thinking about a topic a second time doesn't let you know something that you never learned in the first place."

While a clerical bit of luck could help someone climb a wall or hit a monster, how could it help them remember something they never learned? Also, giving bit of luck for knowledge checks seems overpowered, since such checks often have a big influence on how the plot unfolds.

Your thoughts?

Hey all. I'm GMing an AP that has a magical mace that I'm considering converting for use by the party's wizard, who doesn't have much to do when he needs to conserve spell resources. Any idea why wizards are proficient in clubs but not light maces? It doesn't seem like the light mace would be much harder to use, although it is one pound heavier. I suppose I could always home rule proficiency.

Anyhow, more generally, any ideas on what a wizard PC should do to get more versatility in attack options without having to devote too much gp (on wands) or feats (on becoming effective at ranged weapons into melee)? The wizard in the group I'm GMing for is burning through his spell resources, largely because he can't think of anything better to do than cast a spell every round.

Thanks all.

I'm playing a witch with a headband of vast intelligence with the linguistics skill. The item description states, "After being worn for 24 hours, the headband grants a number of skill ranks in those skills equal to the wearer's total Hit Dice." Someone else in the party has a circlet of persuasion. Can the witch briefly take off the headband and borrow the circlet for a minute or two (to perform a discrete charisma-related task) without losing the linguistics bonuses when he puts in back on?

If an enemy is at the level of a 10 foot ceiling, could a tall barbarian with a sword attack it normally, since the barbarian could easily poke the sword 10 feet into the air? What penalties would apply in this situation?

This is a total GM (my) judgment call, but I'm curious to get other views. We ended our last session with one of the PCs about to be charged and surprised/sneak attacked by three thugs. The PC wants to use a hero point to move before she is attacked. The player referred me to this use of hero points: "Act Out of Turn: You can spend a hero point to take your turn immediately. Treat this as a readied action, moving your initiative to just before the currently acting creature. You may only take a move or a standard action on this turn."

I'm not sure that technically applies, because this is a surprise round and the PC does not technically have a turn yet. I think the PC would actually get 2 things out of the use of the hero point: (1) getting to act in the surprise round; and (2) getting to act FIRST in the surprise round.

Would you let the PC use a hero point to act before her surprise assailants? If not, perhaps a compromise would be say that the use of the hero points means the PC isn't surprised, but the PC is still flat-footed if she doesn't beat the assailants in initiative? I'd probably roll the assailants' initiatives separately in that instance.

I'm running a game where the PCs are exploring a temple. One PC is presently in a room with doors to the North and the South. The PC is in the open North doorway, distracted and looking North. Four temple rogues are hiding in the room to the south. All four try to sneak across the room to sneak attack the PC. Three beat the PC's perception, and one fails. Which of the following is the right result?

(1) The 3 that succeeded sneak across the room and get a surprise attack (sneak attack) on the PC. The 1 that failed moves across the room but does not get to act in the surprise round.

(2) There is no surprise round because 1 of the 4 failed and thus alerted the PC. All 4 only get sneak attacks only if they beat the PC's initiative and catch her flat-footed.

Is one of those right, or is there yet another result?

A rogue with a humanoid shapeshifter bane dagger stabs a werewolf with DR 10/silver for 4 points of weapon damage and 10 points of bane bonus damage. How much damage does the werewolf take? Only 4 because neither the weapon damage or bane damage is silver? Or 10 because the bane damage ignores DR? Probably the former, but it does seem a little odd that the bane damage wouldn't bypass DR.

Is there some way to figure out if the misfortune and evil eye hexes take effect? Because cackling consumes the witch's move action, the rules seem to contemplate that the witch would be aware of whether the hexes worked (that is, whether the opponent made the will save). It seems a little odd that the player would have to decide to maintain a hex round after round without having any idea if it took effect. Maybe the witch senses whether or not there is a hex in effect to maintain? That would make sense to me.

Hexes have a 30 foot range and the description of hexes doesn't say the witch needs line of sight, but I'm assuming a witch needs to know the precise location of an opponent to use a hex on the opponent? What if the witch knows there is an opponent on the other side of a wall? Can she use a hex on the opponent?

Let's say that a rogue that is flanking a foe gets grappled by the foe. Can the rogue, while grappled, make sneak attacks on the foe, who is still flanked by a threatening ally of the rogue? If the rogue has three attacks, can it make three sneak attacks while grappled as a full round action? Thanks!

As my party goes through the Carrion Crown campaign, a question has arisen as to sale values of loot. Obviously gear and magic sells generally for 50% of value (potentially modified a bit based on local conditions or skill rolls). I think it is also clear that gems and jewelry sell for 100% of value, I think on the theory that those items are easily transportable and exchangeable, so they have as much value as money itself. But what about fine arts items? For example, "a Ebony Tribal Mask from Mwangi Expanse - 175 gp" or "Silver Torc from Land of the Linnorm Kings - 200 gp." One of my PCs who knows the rules well is quite confident that those should sell at 100% value, based on an elaborate chain of logic it isn't worth going into.

Logically, I think fine art items should only sell at 50% value unless the PCs take time to sell directly to a collector. If they are selling it quickly, they will need to sell to someone who is going to re-sell it, much as would be the case in selling magic or gear.

However, I don't know what is contemplated by Paizo when they put such items into an AP. I don't want to be shortchanging my PCs by giving them only half value when the author contemplated that the items could be sold for full value.

Thanks for your help!

I think this is probably an easy one, but I need to be sure. The Fly spell description says "The subject of a fly spell ... cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears." Does this mean that we ignore the weight of the subject himself/herself, as well as any equipment carried other than armor? So if Herschel the wizard has a max load of 150 lbs based on a STR of 13 (probably after the wizard casts bull's strength on himself), weighs 140 lbs, and carries 30 lbs of equipment, but wears no armor, can he still fly while carrying Kyra the rogue if she weighs 140 lbs?

I think this is probably an easy one, but I need to be sure. The Fly spell description says "The subject of a fly spell ... cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears." Does this mean that we ignore the weight of the subject himself/herself, as well as any equipment carried other than armor? So if Herschel the wizard has a max load of 150 lbs based on a STR of 13 (probably after the wizard casts bull's strength on himself), weighs 140 lbs, and carries 30 lbs of equipment, but wears no armor, can he still fly while carrying Kyra the rogue if she weighs 140 lbs?

When my PCs encountered the alchemikal zombies in Vorkstag & Grine's factory, they noticed that they did not move like regular zombies and that they seemed to have some intelligence behind their eyes. So, they tried to engage the zombies in dialogue. At first, the zombies just attacked, but when the cleric's channeling killed one (who was already injured) and almost killed the other, the surviving zombie stopped attacking and talked.

It occurred to me that, even though the module says the zombies are evil, they actually have a sympathetic story -- monks presumably captured by Vorkstag and killed then reanimated by an alchemical process. They are trying to hold onto the remaining scraps of their humanity by regular access Vorkstag's serum.

So, I decided the zombie was not really evil. He told the party everything he knew about V&G's operation (which wasn't much) and the party agreed to deliver the remaining serum to him. In fact, the party is quite sympathetic and wants to find someway to reverse the process. I'm not sure whether that is really possible, but I'm thinking that the party could get information that Caromac is a skilled alchemist who might be able to help. That would add another angle to Caromac's role in the story. In the meantime, the zombie monk could stay with the Crooked Kin (the PCs and the Kin have formed a strong alliance and mutual sympathy for outcasts such as The Beast, and this could be extended to the monk).

This may be too much of a stretch, but I'm wondering if maybe Adrissant or the Way stole a book from a monastery and monks were sent out to investigate the theft. Maybe these two got too close and the Way got Vorkstag to take them out (I've left indications that Vorkstag and Vrood have done a lot of business -- for example, all those corpses floating in the basement were supposed to be for the Way).

Anyhow, I'd be curious to hear any reactions or ideas you have on where I could take this.

One of my PCs just took a rank and linguistics and asked me ideas for good languages for this AP, which is fair enough as I'm concerned. But I've only read through the 3rd module, and I'm not sure what to suggest. Any ideas? He already speaks Varisian.

I've encountered an interesting issue in a Paizo adventure which requires the PCs to present evidence in court (I'll not mention the module just to be super cautious about spoilers, although I'm not revealing anything really), but the issue is really more of a rules issue than an AP specific issue. Anyhow, at trial there is a cleric associated with the court who constantly scans the room with detect magic to make sure no magic is used during trial. One of the testifying PCs is a barbarian/oracle with the "haunted" curse, which means "Malevolent spirits follow you wherever you go, causing minor mishaps and strange occurrences (such as unexpected breezes, small objects moving on their own, and faint noises)."

Thus, when he testified I had some strange things happen -- a glass of water flew out of the prosecutor's hand, the Chief Judge's gavel banged by itself, a door in the audience gallery opened and closed. I may have overdone it, but, in any event, it caused some nice chaos in the trial and the events could not really be pinned on him.

My question is whether there is any way the cleric could spot that the PC is haunted, or that spirits are causing the strange occurrences. Detect magic wouldn't spot the spirits. But would a potion of see invisibility allow her to spot the spirits? Anything else?

What is the nature of the spirits that haunt the PC, in game terms? The closest I can come is that they are a species of poltergeists that are associated with the PC rather than associated with a place. Like a poltergeist, they have natural invisibility and telekinesis, but they are less malicious than a poltergeist.

Could an NPC with see invisibility see the spirits that haunt an oracle with the haunted curse? Would they just appear as translucent spirits of people? Can the spirits hide INSIDE the PC so they cannot be seen even with see invisibility?

Any ideas or thoughts are most welcome!

Last night the party in my campaign was fighting a group of ghasts, two of which were engaged in melee combat with the party's cleric, who was up against a wall. The party's wizard cast web and I ruled that the web caught the cleric as well as the two ghasts, imagining that the web was anchored on the floor and on the wall. Of course, this allowed the ghasts to keep attacking the cleric from within the web.

I think I may have erred. Does the web spell allow the wizard to locate the web with great precision, and could the wizard have used two points of the floor to create a web over the ghasts while excluding the cleric, who technically was in a different square? I'm thinking maybe so, and my ruling was unduly harsh.

I’m curious what PCs in other campaigns have come up with as additional clues/deductions/evidence, in addition to those listed in TOTB, or additional approaches or glosses to the listed evidence. Here are a couple places where the PCs in my campaign viewed the Morast and Hergstag evidence a little differently than contemplated in the book (they haven’t gone to the other sites yet).

Morast: (1) The PCs had the brilliant insight that, although the elder said the Beast’s blood tainted their burial ground, which implies he saw the Beast bleed, the Beast does NOT in fact bleed. On the PC’s urging, Barrister Kaple (with a very lucky diplomacy roll) even convinced the judges to permit a demonstration, and the Herald (with the Beast’s advanced permission) cut the Beast to show he does not bleed. This seems even a better piece of evidence than the absence of a scar, because, for all the judges know, maybe flesh golems don’t scar, or maybe he got healed. (2) The PCs also pointed out that it is unlikely the Beast would have had knowledge of and used the colorful local expletives yelled by the victim of the blood caiman attack. (3) The darkvision extract clue doesn’t seem so great, because the PCs can’t really authoritatively testify that flesh golems have dark vision, and they don’t have time to find expert testimony. But, as my PCs pointed out, there is a ton of other stuff on the island that it also doesn’t make sense for the Beast to have -- fine surgical tools (have you seen the Beast’s hands?), a boat too small for him, food which he doesn’t eat, etc. All that does add up to good evidence.

Hergstag: (1) A pretty basic piece of evidence that the PCs don’t even need to confront Brother Swarm to get is that the children are wraith spawn, and the Beast doesn’t make wraith spawn. The cleric in the party is competent to present that evidence. (2) It is a bit silly to count the evidence related to Karin’s bedroom as two separate deductions -- that it is hard to climb the outside wall and that the window wasn’t tampered with. That seems more like one piece of evidence to me, and I’ll treat it as such, using the above as a replacement.

Have your PCs come up with any other interesting insights, or approaches to presenting evidence at trial, for those or other investigations?

I'm playing Pathfinder with my 7.5 year old second grader. We started playing before the Pathfinder Box was released, so we have just been playing with the regular Pathfinder rules. I've also introduced the game to two of his friends, also 7-8 years old (and lots of his other friends are interested). Trying to get them hooked before they start playing too many video games.

We've been working through the old module Crown of the Kobold King. They will be about 3rd-4th level when we're done and I'm trying to think of what module to run next. I don't want it to be anything overly gruesome, dark, or investigation oriented. I've been playing them encounters a bit below their level so that they don't get taken out too easily (they are still working on tactics), so the module shouldn't be an overly challenging or tactics-oriented one. Any suggestions?

The cleric in my game has become haunted by Father Charlatan. The party finished their prison explorations for the day and headed back into town without the cleric taking any damage and thus even risking triggering manifestation of the haunt. Now they are back in Ravengro and they are going to be doing research, visiting Father Grimburrow, etc. before heading back to the prison.

It seems weird that she should have this haunt following her around without there being some effects. Any ideas on stuff that I can have happen without giving it away that she has a haunt on her?

I'm thinking animals may show hostility to the party (hostility directed at her specifically may give it away) and that she will have a spell failure chance. It definitely seems like there should be some consequence to her walking into the Temple of Pharasma with a haunt hanging on her back.

I'd love to hear your ideas and your experiences with this haunt if it hung around for awhile.

Hello. My players may soon be finding the five prisoner's special items and I know the wizard in my party will want to know which are magical and if so, what schools of magic. How have you handled this? It seems like in a sense only the Lopper's axe is ,magical, but, on the other hand, all the items have magical effects. Would you say that all are magical and if so what school of magic?

Also, it seems like the vault is not hidden behind sufficient stone to block a detect magic spell, so detect magic cast in the room would reveal the objects behind the wall, right?

Among the party in my campaign is a half-orc. We've only had one session so far, and she was in disguise at the funeral and walking to the Lorrimor home, so I haven't yet had to play out the locals' reactions.

I know there is a previous thread generally about hostility to monstrous races in Ustalav, but I'm wondering if any of you have half orcs (or other problematic races) in your parties, and how specifically you've handled it.

Currently, I'm planning to handle it on a case-by-case basis. I figure Jominda, Sarianna, and Zokar are likely to be open-minded. Jorfa and Benjan may be more hostile. I don't know about Grimburrow. The others are likely to be in between. And the vast majority of villagers are likely to be very wary? I've said that Lorrimor spoke to Hearthmount about this character, so it ultimately shouldn't make things impossible around town.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I put this at the bottom of a dead thread a couple weeks ago (taking inspiration from something someone else posted), so I thought I'd re-post it to see if anyone has any comments or suggestions. I start running this AP tomorrow night.

The Five Recurring Nightmares

Each of the PCs will have a recurring nightly nightmare associated with one of the 5 ghosts, starting the first night in Ravengro. I have 5 PCs in my group, so it works out perfectly. During each nightmare the PCs will have a feeling of helplessness and/or paralysis.

These are the nightmares I’m considering:
• The half orc rogue will be haunted by The Piper of Illmarsh. She will hear the Piper’s mournful flute dirge while numerous stirges suck the blood from her body.
• The half elf cleric will be haunted by Father Charlatan. She is repeatedly beaten with a heavy chain with her religious symbol attached to the end.
• The human ranger/alchemist will be haunted by The Mosswater Marauder. He will have the sensation of his skull being crushed by a hammer and he will observe (floating above the bed, out of his body) as a dwarf picks through the remains of his skull.
• The human barbarian/oracle will be haunted by The Lopper. He will lie helpless as a deranged man with long arms and twisted legs hacks off each of his limbs with a bloodstained hand axe.
• The human wizard will be haunted by The Splatter Man. Glowing hands hold the wizard’s spell book and rip out the pages one by one. As each page is ripped out the wizard feels a sensation like a sharp spike is piercing his heart.

TSM’s imprisonment nightmare would of course be on top of the above, so that unlucky PC might wake up from his/her recurring nightmare to find himself/herself imprisoned. If I deliver these nightmares as lain out above I will obviously be giving significant hints about the identity of the five ghosts, but I think that will help increase the sense of dread and better tie the adventure together. The wizard’s nightmare obviously gives a pretty big hint as to how to use the book against TSM but, considering the extent of the book’s curse and the challenge posed by TSM, I think it is ok.

I’m considering having the PCs make rolls each morning to gauge their level of fatigue. If they fail a DC 12 roll, then they are lightly fatigued (-1 to STR and DEX), if they fail the roll again the next day they are fatigued (-2 to STR and DEX), and if they fail the next or subsequent days they take 1 pt of CON damage for each failure. I’m also considering that the DC increases by 1 each day after failures (so it is DC 13 the second day in a row, DC 14 the third day, etc.). Of course, it all resets each time the PCs get a good night sleep or can be relieved by magical means.

I’m also considering that each PC will have to save against a fear effect when they encounter the ghost associated with their respective nightmares. Maybe a DC 15 to avoid being shaken and a DC 12 to avoid being frightened. Perhaps the character can repeat the will saving throws each round to shake off the effect.

My campaign starts tomorrow night (Thursday). I’d love to hear any reactions or suggestions.