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Ah, my apologies; I thought you misunderstood. We'll see. I might be able to come up with a single enemy that will put them to the test...I'll probably be posting an actual encounter description for advice once I get closer to the actual time I run the encounter, but that's a ways away. Thanks again for the advice!
@tonyz: Haha, you're right of course. However, I meant "huge" elemental in the sense that JakobDK meant it in his suggestion: By "huge elemental" I did not mean the D&D size classification. I meant a big mofo ice, snow, rock, tree, kick-ass elemental :) It would almost certainly be a custom-built thing.
@JakobDK: Good points about Mhar and the mountain. I don't have a problem with Karzoug animating the mountain for a short speech and the avalanche though. I think of Mhar as more within the mountain in essence rather than physically in the mountain itself; with that said, I don't think he'd interfere too much with the animation of the stone since it's not really threatening him. This is supported by the fact that ancient Thassilon sculpted the face without interference, but just had a eerie feeling that something was watching them. Regardless, I'm not sure about using Mhar anyway, so this might all be moot :P I do like the idea of just his voice echoing through the mountains as well. The one, huge elemental thing is interesting as well. Lots of stuff to consider. Good thing I have plenty of time! :) Thanks for the input. @Brett Sebastian: Ooooh. Shadow of the Colossus is one of my favorite games. Good images to evoke. Thanks! I'm glad you like the idea. A paper mini is an awesome idea, but probably out of my league. However, if you make one, be sure to take a picture and let me see! :D @Stazamos: No worries. Glad you like the image of the mountain talking. I didn't get a feeling that you were telling me how to run my game at all, and I think you make some good points. I think you're definitely right about the dimensional lock effect. It does seem fairly railroady. Also, if I know my PC's, they won't be very stealthy, ha! I definitely won't make it something I force them into though; I'll just have something ready in case they make decisions that lead to it naturally. @Generally speaking: Thanks everyone! Any more thoughts would be appreciated!
Thanks for the reply, tonyz, and I'm glad you like the idea :) Those are some really good suggestions; I'd feel a little cheap having to take away flying but we'll see about teleportation, so I think I'll take two of your other suggestions and combine them. What do you think of this: Maybe they hear about a place to get Sihedron rings to bypass the occluding field, and they go there. After fighting their way through some encounters, they get to the area with the rings from which they can see Mhar Massif. The mountain animates, speaks, and Big K causes the avalanche. They have to make a decision between fleeing immediately and grabbing the rings. In addition, parts of the avalanche break off and reveal themselves to be ice and air elementals. A dynamic ground and air battle ensues while they try to avoid the avalanche. If I don't have some type of teleportation block effect on, then they can just grab the rings and teleport out, so I think I'll have to include something like that to make it work. Anyone have any thoughts on refining this?
So, I'm looking way ahead in the book (I'm only at Thistletop right now), and I was thinking it'd be cool to add something to Mhar Massif. When the PC's approach it, I plan to have Karzoug animate and speak through the mountain face. I think that'd be incredibly scary and foreboding. Also, I want him to trigger an avalanche with a roar or something. However, how do I make an avalanche threatening for 16th-17th level PC's? Two of them (an air elemental bloodline sorcerer and a druid), are going to be able to fly pretty much at will by then, and the ranger and fighter are probably going to have some way as well (maybe by flying on the back of the druid when he shapeshifts, maybe the sorcerer casts it on them, who knows?). Does anyone have any thoughts on how to make a variant avalanche that will make this a challenging and cool encounter?
Let them know that giants will figure heavily in the campaign. Flipping through, there are a decent amount of scripted encounters with giants in the sixth module as well. At least at the end parts. Plus, there is a 35% chance that a random encounter in the sixth module will include giants of some kind. I'm looking at the Anniversary Edition though, so if you're referencing the regular version, it might be different.
Jesse, I don't know why I would play anything but a full caster under those rules unless I deliberately wanted to play a character with far less power than the full casters. Most characters already have far less power than full casters, but you're right. My rule does increase their power even more. If it were part of the regular rule system, it'd be terrible design, but I think it works well with my group of players, and I just thought I'd share it to see if anyone could benefit from it. I talked to them about it beforehand, so that definitely helped. We'll see if it turns into an issue though.
I know it's a big rule change, but I've taken to making it so that PC's only have to rest/meditate/study an hour to regain spells and per-day abilities, essentially making them per-rest abilities. They still have to sleep 8 hours a day, but this gives me a way to allow them to rest in dungeons without so much suspension of disbelief. I'm still toying with this idea a bit; I'm thinking of putting a limit on how many times they can rest per day, but so far I haven't run into any abuse of the house rule. Also, I'm pretty harsh with random encounters if they try this without any precautions, so I think that's helped curb any tendency to rest after every encounter. Obviously, some people are going to have a problem with this solution, but it's working fairly well for me so far. P.S. I'm at Thistletop, too! We just crossed over the bridge, and I can't wait for my PC's to get further on. Have fun!
I like your solution trogdar. That sounds like it will be my new house rule. Maybe I'll have it be full bonus damage on the first weapon damage dice though. Thanks! Good discussion guys.
238-A group of three NPC's seek out the heroes and tell them their story. They were thrown into a furnace by a king for treasonous offences. In their torment, they called out for divine aid (a la Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), but none was received. Eventually they asked anyone or anything to help them and a contract demon appeared with his master and they agreed to save the merchants and grant them 3 wishes each in exchange for signing their souls over to the devils. They agreed, and now they want the PC's help in tracking down their contracts and destroying them so as to release their souls from bondage. They offer the services of their wish spells in the PC's mission.
In the stats for the the six level 5 Ogre Fighters, it says they get iterative attacks with javelins. However, none of them have the quick draw feat, so shouldn't they only get one thrown weapon even on a full round action?
@Kazejin: No worries! If Paizo does allow for Golarion to be used in 3PP stuff, then I'll definitely consider it. @Nylissa: Great advice especially for random thoughts! Yeah, I'm gonna start by building just a single region for right now which should help. Also, thanks for reminding me to have fun with it. I can see how some people might lose their passion if they don't keep a good perspective.
Hmmm. That's a good option. Thanks! On a side note, for sorcerer levels on a dragon, how would you handle bloodlines? Since "magic through bloodline" is already kind of built into dragons, I'd rule that they get nothing but increased spells known, spells per day, and caster level from sorcerer levels. Unless they possess another bloodline in addition to draconic somehow...Any thoughts?
Good point. I compared them to the red and the green since it will now be the same CR as the green. Seems comparable, so +1 seems good. Thanks!
Simple question: I want a black dragon to have the same spellcasting progression as a red dragon; does this warrant a CR increase? How much? I should think no more than a +1 increase. What do you guys think?
@Kazejin: I love Golarion. I was borrowing my friend's Inner Sea World Guide, and I finally got one of my own for Christmas. That said, I am thinking of eventually publishing stuff and I don't think third party publishers can use Golarion as a setting in their work. So maybe I'll just make a setting neutral region to write stuff in...we'll see! Thanks!
Lots of good advice. The Paizo community is awesome. @Kolokotroni: I think I'll do that. Sounds like a good way to start :) I probably won't be selling these for a while though lol. Thanks! @Byrdology: Picking up bits and pieces from other modules and stuff is a great idea. It also gives me more exposure to good design principles. Thanks! @Nylissa: Haha, in the future I will make no apology or explanation for my alliteration. I have a group, but they're all super beginners. I've taught them so far, but I'm sure they could still give me good feedback. Thanks! @Murph: A good suggestion. Oh, I'm sure they would be; they're loving the game so far. Thanks! @CalebTGordan: Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll check it out. Inside-out fits my style better I think...Thanks! @The Outlaw Josie Whales: That's a really good idea. I'm just not sure if I have the time. Thanks!
True. I guess I'm just concerned that without a really good grasp on the rules, I'll design encounters that aren't fun or balanced. I'm probably just being too hard on myself after looking through Rise of the Runelords; that's an unrealistic standard to hold myself to for my first adventures though. Just out of curiosity, do you know anything about my second question? A good place to get feedback on adventures? Thanks for the encouragement, and good luck with your gaming!
Oh, and also, if I do decide to create stuff, is there a way to get feedback on it? Is there a good place I can publish PDFs so that people can read through them and give me advice on my work? Or should I just post descriptions here?
I swear the alliteration was mostly accidental :P So, I have several ideas for adventures and campaigns, but I don't have a ton of experience with the game yet. I've just starting GM'ing recently (Rise of the Runelords AE), and I've played in a handful of games. My question is this: is it too soon to consider creating adventures/campaigns? I've done a decent amount of reading, and I feel like I have a fair grasp on the rules. However, it seems like the structure of RPGs is best learned initially through actually playing in them and running published stuff. That way, you see what kind of situations can arise and anticipate those in the adventures you create. Anyways, I thought I'd turn to the community (you guys) to get some opinions on this. As a habitual lurker in forums, I've read a lot but haven't engaged in discussion much. The community at Paizo here seems pretty cool though, so I feel comfortable asking this here.
199 - The PC's are hired by a nation that is at war with a neighboring territory. The war has been going on for years/decades/centuries, and they are ready to put a stop to it. They task the heroes with infiltrating deep into the opposing nation to capture/assassinate the king/queen. However, it turns out the king/queen is but a child who is being manipulated by a council of nobles...
197 - A church has recently received word that a local fighting tournament is being used as a front for some sort of illegal activity. They hire the PC's to enter the tournament and investigate from within. Clerics ostensibly heal the losers of each round so they don't die. However, it turns out that they are actually killing the weakened contestants and turning the corpses into undead minions. The PC's thwart this operation, but discover that this is but one branch of a plan to raise an undead army to overthrow the city in an attempt to gain access to a powerful site of arcane energy that can be used for nefarious purposes.
Was looking for suggestions on this very topic when I came up with an idea that someone might like: A church has recently received word that a local fighting tournament is being used as a front for some sort of illegal activity. They hire the PC's to enter the tournament and investigate from within. Clerics ostensibly heal the losers of each round so they don't die. However, it turns out that they are actually killing the weakened contestants and turning the corpses into undead minions. Encounters alternate between fighting monsters or other teams of contestants during the tournament and trying to figure out what is going on within the tournament compound between fights. Eventually, they discover the leader of the operation and slay him. However, this may not make them very popular with the people who led gambling rings and other illegal activity around the tournaments.
As everyone else has said, the Core Rule book is a hardback book. Out of curiosity, where are you seeing it offered as a softcover book??? On Amazon. I wonder if it's the beta version as Haladir mentioned above or if someone put it together themselves as Patrick suggested. Hmmm, maybe I should contact Amazon?
Topic is pretty self explanatory. I'm finally getting the core rulebook, and I'm wondering if I should get it in paperback or hardback. I prefer hardbacks in style, but if the paperback is more durable, I'll probably get it. I'd love to hear the rationale behind your recommendation as well. Thanks, that helps a lot. I prefer hardback anyways, so it's good to know that it's a better choice structurally as well.
Topic is pretty self explanatory. I'm finally getting the core rulebook, and I'm wondering if I should get it in paperback or hardback. I prefer hardbacks in style, but if the paperback is more durable, I'll probably get it. I'd love to hear the rationale behind your recommendation as well. Thanks!
97. The heroes encounter a young evil dragon that has odd proportions (wings are too big, body too small, etc.) During their adventures, they find out that the dragon was actually an incredibly powerful ancient wyrm who was turned into a wyrmling by a powerful wizard. The dragon seeks to restore his powers through the use of powerful magic and then take revenge upon the wizard and/or his/her descendants. This is the campaign I'm about to start. Wish me luck! :)
Thanks! Haha, that line made me laugh. Yeah, I'm not gonna worry about it too much, but I may come up with some simple rules for it. Maybe I'll post them if I think they're good enough :P
Are there rules for dealing with flying enemies/players in the Beginner Box? If so, could someone tell me where to find them? I've been looking for a while. If not, how have some of you handled flying in your games? Thanks in advance for the help! :) |
