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the PCs are certain to never go first in large battles Presumably, only the mooks are getting group initiative, right? They should almost never beat all the players unless your mooks have Imp Init, +5 Dex bonuses, and a trait or familiar or something giving them yet another initiative bonus. We have a guy with a +11 bonus! He, really wanted to go first forever.
If I didn't have Hero Lab for tracking encounters I'd probably prefer group initiative, but I feel individual initiative is more fair to the players. I agree with you RD, If all the baddies go at the same time, there is a good opportunity for a player character to get swamped.
Forgotten Realms.I don't know whether you're being serious or joking, but I would very much disagree with that suggestion that Forgotten Realms is the worst setting to roleplay in. And I must respectfully disagree with you. And yes, it was a joke only in that I know the OP was looking for weird made-up ideas rather than grousing about published settings that one believes from the bottom of their heart sucks beyond measure. But let's not digress here. I only hoped to get a laugh.
I think there probably is, but in a genre and hobby that has been traditionally male-oriented it is more important for the setting to highlight the areas that empower, are exclusive to, or dominated by women. And I agree with that artistic choice.
I'm very lucky, and one of the things I appreciate most about Pathfinder -- and the good folks behind the presses -- is that bigotry and misogyny is not a thing that's tolerated here on the forums, or considered baseline cultural behavior in the books. I actually made a mistake last session when I assumed that Kelishites had a male-dominated culture, forcing me -- gratefully mind you -- to backtrack a bit. Sex and alternative sexuality has become a big part of my Serpent's Skull campaign, but not by design. Just kind of happened organically. I have three dudes, two women, one of whom is trans. She plays a trans woman and got into a relationship with one of the male NPCs whom I played as totally cool with it (Gelik Aberwhinge, so trans-species as well!). The other lady had a bi fling with Aerys the brawling pirate, whom I played as a lesbian because it seemed right for the character. Their first kiss (while a bloody battle raged around them), was one of the campaign highlights. We are all very comfortable with the level of romance and sexuality. I'm lucky. And we're all lucky the hobby has come such a long way. When I took up roleplaying games transsexuality and homosexuality were listed in the "insanity" tables of a popular game at the time I shan't mention (save to say it rhymes with "vanadium"), fighters were called fighting men, and women couldn't have a higher max strength than men.
Forgotten Realms.
Hi! I just d/l'ed the latest version and can truly see this as a time-saver. I have a few questions though on Hero Lab imports. Whenever I import from Hero Lab , every creature is a Neutral Medium Humanoid until I change it. I that supposed to happen? Also whenever I import from Hero Lab, any character that has Hit Dice from more than one source (like a creature with a class level, or a multiclassed PC) has 0 hit points and 0 Hit Dice. Is there a fix for this? Last, anything outside of standard weaponry, like a custom named item or an item made of a special material, shows up in natural attacks rather than in melee. Again, huh? Thanks for your work on this amazing program!
I think this is the generator I was asking about on another thread. It had the sliders? Does anyone know what happened to it or if anyone saved it offline?
Apologies if this is the wrong section for it, but alas! My favorite Pathfinder Treasure Generator has seemed to have vanished from the web. Wayback revealed no results. If anyone knows X marks the spot here, I'd appreciate the help. Or... has anyone saved it offline? The Generator in question is discussed in this article: and had this URL
Chalicotheres are not-too-shabbily statted for 3.0 in Nyambe: African Adventures, but called "engargya." Only necroing this thread because I was just looking for them and thought someday, someone else might too. As pointed out, they were featured on a Walking With... show so I'm surprised they haven't made it into a Bestiary yet.
It's taken 1.4 years Jeebus! I suddenly have to rethink all that extra stuff I've added here and there to Smuggler's Shiv. I don't want things to take THAT freakin' long!
lol That picture is perfect, but nope. What, your players don't like bad dad jokes? The AoW stuff doesn't kick in until much much later in the campaign, and I've changed all the villains to make them more snakey. I just really liked the end-game chapters to AoW and never got a chance to use that stuff, so I'm hoping to now. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to later find that there was an "Age of Serpents" in Golarion canon. Gelled very nicely.
I have a daily checklist for the Shiv that seems to be working okay...
Okay, something I've noticed reading these threads... EVERYONE seems to play Gelik like a snarky d!*k that the player's hate. In my campaign, I ditched Ishirou, mostly because it was less bookkeeping, I couldn't think of a way to portray him that wasn't laughably racist, and I could easily give his quest to someone else. I chose Gelik. That meant portraying his character in a way that the PCs wanted to interact with. The guy has an amazing CHA after all! I thought... "who in all the media I've consumed is somewhat foppish, a liar, cowardly, ans possesses a mean sense of humor; yet is amazingly compelling?" Quark from Deep Space 9. I'm playing Gelik as Quark. And already one of the players wants to reciprocate a romance with him.
Yes it is. So, I increased the size of the place. By a lot. What I wanted was a ruined city that felt like an entire gameworld to explore like the ruins in the Fallout games. My reasoning was that the Azlanti were advanced and the city would have had time to develop a huge population. I mean, look at how many people are in the United States after only 240 years! So my Saventh-Yhi is kind of like Sharn from Eberron. Towering districts and subterranean levels over 36 square miles, roughly the size of modern Paris. All those little pyramid things you see on the map are equal to a Vivec cantar ala Morrowind. Just a staggering amount of stuff to explore. So, yeah. I guess what I mean to say is the city should be a lot bigger than the handful of city blocks the scale on the map would indicate.
This thread is a million years old now but my campaign has M'degog possessing a popobala served by a bunch of sabosan. The bat people scour around looking for material that might be useful for the intellect devourer's lab, so sometimes they attack the camps because M'degog thinks one of the factions have looted something it needs. I thought having the Maka-yika bandits just squatting there either before or after the city was discovered stretched credulity, so I came up with something even more convoluted and fantastic.
Cut and paste from my campaign wiki, AGE OF SERPENTS.. Dornas! Taldan Magus (Hexcrafter, Staff Magus): A Taldan dilettante on a quest for fame and fortune far away from his noble family—which serves both parties fine. Finding himself the sole legatee of a distant and eccentric Sargavan relative, what treasures, or trouble, could he have inherited? Kishtari! Kalashtar Telepath (Yes, using Eberron and Dreamscarred stuff): A refugee from another world, will this impetuous young psion find the gateway she seeks to her homeland in the heavens? And who is the unseen messenger leaving her cryptic notes? Kor’lec! Half-elf Druid (Jungle): Raised by his elven mother’s tribe, this half-elf has been abroad on a vision quest with questions about his heritage. But is he ready for the answers? Monica Montana! Taldan Bard (Archeologist): This neophyte archeologist has come up with some unorthodox theories during her extensive research of the Mwangi Expanse. Eager to prove herself and continue her education in the field, will she be able to afford the tuition? Nemanji! Tiefling Barbarian (Jungle Rager, Primal Hunter): Born among demons to fulfill a sinister prophecy, can this this ferocious hunter be trusted not to succumb to his fiendish nature? There is a WHOLE lot I've added to and changed with all the sandboxes. I promised something like Elder Scrolls with an overplot but also the ability to do whatever. That required a lot of tinkering. I swear I've done more work with this path than I've done with my own custom worlds! But it's worth it. All my players are engaged and this is the best thing I've ever run.
Amazingly useful post. 500 Discovery Points to you, and thanks!
Quick update -- after an untimely delay I am getting my campaign going again. Tuesday nights and we can probably use another player. Hit me up if interested!
Have anyone's players tried to restore the Nightvoice? It is described as "mostly intact" and the only hurdles outlined in the text to making it seaworthy appear to be the lack of sails and the fact it's wedged in pretty tight between some rocks. Oh, and it's full of groaty fungus. But that would melt away on it's own in a few miles. I would probably say that the ship's wood is so badly rotted by the fungus the whole thing would come apart before it could be leveraged out of the rocks... but I was curious if any other DMs had to stymie the players this way.
Sent you an email!
Hi again! We are all moved in and settled in our cozy corner of Germantown and want to get started soon. Looking for players who like an about equal mix of immersion roleplay, self-motivated exploration, and tactical combat. We'll probably play Sunday afternoons at my place in Schnitzelburg, but that's tentative. Fortune and glory awaits those who seek the fabled ruins of the Mwangi Expanse! Savage cannibals, ferocious dinosaurs, strange visitors from beyond, and an awakening cult of prehistoric evil will test your mettle as you struggle to survive in the primeval jungles! AGE OF SERPENTS, my Obsidian Portal Get in touch if this sounds like your kind of game!
Hi Dela! This sounds like some great work. If these are still available, I'd love to see them! jim_citizen at yah00dotcom Thanks in advance!
Can I just say that in preparing for this campaign, this thread has been super useful. Looks like the consensus is that the lacedon cleric and the chemosits need to be toned down. Thanks!
I am personally looking forward to incorporating a tribe of jungle giants (Bestiary 3). What's a pulpy jungle adventure without enormous Amazons?
As far as I can tell all of the encounters for the adventure path can be freely downloaded here: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/extras/community-creations/hero-lab
My girlfriend and I are moving to Louisville in April and I'm starting up a highly customized Serpent's Skull campaign. Anyone interested should hit me up. We're definitely looking forward to meeting fellow gamers in our new home!
I also think its important that however you set the point buy, EVERYONE else in the world be built less than that before racial mods.That kind of defeats the point of playing low point games. Not to me. The PCs are eventually going to be facing scores of foes; and creatures with racial mods and abilities far beyond the core races. I'm in favor or 15 point buy as a means to focus builds so one guy can't be good at everything and has to rely on his team to pick up the slack. But a better base point buy, some extra bit of potential that sets him slightly apart from everyone else of his race, is one of the perks of being the story's protagonist.
I also think its important that however you set the point buy, EVERYONE else in the world be built less than that before racial mods.
Don't wanna super-heroes. That, at least at first. I'm doing 15 for my upcoming ZEITGEIST campaign because I didn't think anime-style Gary Sues fit with the gritty industrial age setting. I wanted to encourage team thinking, and tightly focused builds. Alas, one of the players insists on trying a gunslinger/magus anyway.
These are incredible. Thanks for sharing!
For my gnome alchemist .........there are no drawbacks to my build. I hadn't thought of that. Don't tell my DM!
For my gnome alchemist (bomber build), I cast reduce person before every combat for the bonus to hit and AC. Doesn't effect speed or bomb damage so there are no drawbacks to my build. I'm eventually looking to make it permanent because I'm also the party scout, so it would be helpful to have it on all the time.
All characters in the game--PC, NPC, and Monster--play by the same rules. That's what is most important to me and what I love about 3.0 to Pathfinder. It's like having an underlying "physics" to the world.
I mostly use
That's called "Intimidate". The fighter doesn't have enough skill points to put into it without hamstringing himself somewhere else.The fighter needs to have something to contribute in social situations[kills the man on the couch] I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? I didn't mean to do that. Please, continue, you were saying something about best intentions. What's the matter? Oh, you were finished! Well, allow me to retort. Nah, the fighter just contributed a bonus to the party face's Intimidate check.
The fighter needs to have something to contribute in social situations [kills the man on the couch] I'm sorry, did I break your concentration? I didn't mean to do that. Please, continue, you were saying something about best intentions. What's the matter? Oh, you were finished! Well, allow me to retort.
I weighed this issue too for my alchemist but decided I want to take this down the pike--to summon gelatinous cubes and such on enemy squares. Especially enemy spellcasters. It seems to me the various immunities oozes have go a long way to stymieing those who aren't prepared with the right spells or equipment; a well chosen ooze can be trouble well beyond its CR. I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out for you joey, so keep us informed.
His name would be Gruffi and he wouldn't agree to anything unless it was the Gummi way.
Antipaladin. Women love bad boys.
I'm a fan of adventures using creatures I have represented in my crate of minis. I.e. old standbys.
They can easily serve as a party's primary spellcaster in place of a wizard or sorcerer. EDIT: If you want damage spells, go with the Elements patron. But the witch is best at save or suck spells. Blast magic is a trap, however satisfying.
As long as someone's playing a wizard (i.e. you) you should be okay. You're the least expendable.
@Jim, while you are correct that an Alchemist doesn't need to decipher the writings, he still needs to succeed on a Spellcraft check to copy the spell into his formula book. For a Wizard, there are a total of two SPellcraft checks that have to be made, while the Alchemist only needs one. Absolutely correct. When I rechecked and carefully considered the paragraph I realized my error-- and that I'd played it wrong in the past. I always thought for wizards the first Spellcraft check mentioned was to cover the deciphering part. Didn't know they needed to make two checks! Live and learn.
Totally ninjad. 1. Poisoning is no longer an evil act afaict. 2. PRD: "An alchemist does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them." So Spellcraft isn't required to copy analogous extracts from a wizard's spellbook. It only otherwise seems to do what the skill description says it does. (Edit: Oops! That's wrong. You still need to make a Spellcraft check, it seems!) 3) They stack. A 10th level alchemist with Rapid Shot and Fast Bombs can throw 3 bombs at a -2 penalty to hit. (Source=FAQ) 4) No, because an extract needs to be consumed in order to be cast. 5) PRD "Only spells and spell-like abilities are subject to spell resistance. Extraordinary and supernatural abilities (including enhancement bonuses on magic weapons) are not." Thus, Spell Penetration does not hinder a bomb's damage, nor its secondary effects, because they are either extraordinary or supernatural. 6) I wouldn't think so. There is nothing I can see to say it can't but most DMs will rule against it, I think. 7) Elemental Focus would work for your (few) extracts that allowed you to deal energy damage, but it would be a waste of a feat. Again, your bombs aren't spells. PRD=(Elemental Focus) "Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells that deal damage of the energy type you select."
I'm quite intrigued though, in what possible situation would it ever be advantageous to be struck. I had a situation once where my players were tossing a mapcase around, trying to keep an invisible thief from obtaining it (while others worked out making the thief visible or killing her). I figured that catching a good throw is a lot easier than making a good throw, so I had the throwers just use the touch AC of whoever they were trying to "hit." To catch was just a move action and succeeded automatically assuming the throw "hit." As an aside, my "plot" was contingent on the map falling into enemy hands--but the players kept the thief running back and forth. They never missed a throw and the thief never got close. It was so great I decided to work around the bad guys never getting their hands on the player's map.
This was so funny it literally brought me to tears. Thank you.
labyrinthian and Jim Mount - we might have some openings in a Kingmaker game starting soon. contact me at tmzeit@gmail.com Sent you an email...
I intend to run this AP (my first) but I really can't stand the idea that the goal is to install an NPC on the throne of an empire. This makes the NPC the star of the show, doesn't it? Would it derail the plot too much for one or more of the PCs have Ameiko Kaijitsu's role as heir?
I've noticed that dinosaurs are popular, but you should consider the campaign environment. We have a druid in Carrion Crown that insisted on having a dinosaur companion. She does cast Endure Elements on it every day to keep it from suffering in the cold of Ustalav. Theropods were almost certainly endothermic. But even if you don't believe that, remember this is a fantasy world. It doesn't break anything to say that a creature with the same statistics as an allosaurus has downy feathers like a penguin and can thrive in cold temperatures. The druid player in my game wanted a squid, even though the campaign takes place on land. I just made the thing amphibious, altered its ink attack to work on single targets and said it was a rare animal. I even tied its presence into her mysterious background, she's an orphan unaware of her region of origin--wherever the arboreal squid is from, she's from. Everyone's happy.
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