Swampwalker

Jokum of the Breakbones's page

636 posts. Alias of The Norv.




Hi lovely customer service folks! I tried to place an order using the discount code provided after the downtime earlier this year (link), but when I put the order through the discount doesn't seem to have been applied...any idea why that might be? It was recognized on the page asking about discount codes.

The order in question is 7435219.

Thanks!


Hi all!

In a couple of weeks I'm going to be running a one-off game for a group of complete beginners: creative arts therapists who are interested in incorporating RPGs in their work, in fact. Because they have almost no experience with RPGs but a fair amount of experience with roleplaying in other contexts, I'd like to run something that leans more heavily on roleplaying than combat mechanics. So I'm looking for recommendations! I assume a PFS scenario will be best since those are meant to be played in one sitting, but I'm open to other formats.

I am tempted to run The Confirmation, but I feel that it's a little mechanics/combat-heavy; since they're totally new I'm not sure that they'd "get" We Be Goblins (I could be wrong!). To give you a sense of what I'm looking for, if we had more time I'd probably run "Murder's Mark" for them.

Currently considering:
Scars of the Third Crusade
Night March of Kalkamedes (fun concept, but a bit mechanics heavy?)
The Confirmation

...bonus points if you have recs from PFS seasons 4-6, since I own all of those thanks to Humble Bundles!

Grand Lodge

Hi all! Glad to have you. Please post the following information so I can start filling out Chronicle sheets ahead of time:

Player:
Character:
PFS#:
Faction:
Dayjob:

Please also note if you're using the slow advancement track, or anything else funky like that!

Looking forward to the game. :)

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Once players are selected, you may dot in here.


Hi all,

Apologies if this has been answered elsewhere--I did a quick search through the threads I found on The Confirmation and didn't find it. I just have a quick question about the options for completing the secondary success conditions...all to do with our friend the minotaur.

In the group I'm running right now, several stated that they were heeding Janira's advice and fleeing into the cave. The gunslinger was the first to choose otherwise, and when she attacked the minotaur, those who had gone into the cave returned to help her. Thanks to some great luck (the gunslinger's first attack was a confirmed crit--a one-in-a-very-low-number shot; also, the minotaur failed its Strength check to wade through the stream) they killed the minotaur without it even reaching them.

My question is two-fold: 1) I'm assuming that those PCs who initially listened to Janira fulfill that secondary success requirement even though they then returned to help a friend in need, correct? 2) Does slaying the minotaur at this venture preclude everyone from fulfilling the "rescuing Janira" condition at the end? Or do they all get it simply because she survived?

I'm feeling a little weird about that one, because sure they did prevent the minotaur from killing her...but then again, she was never in any danger, this play-through!

Thanks!

Grand Lodge

Feel free to dot in here!

I also want to just take a moment to remind everyone to do what you can to try to post regularly and quickly...with a seven-person party, we don't want to get bogged down, especially when it comes time for combat! If you are worried you won't be able to post on a particular day, please let me know here or via PM so I can bot you.

Looking forward to the game!

Grand Lodge

The invitation delivered last night was remarkably simple, especially given the importance of the occasion: "Start where it all began. Meet us at the Pig's Paunch one hour before dawn."

The Pig's Paunch is a run-down building with a faded sign of a large pig standing on its hind legs, arms folded over its corpulent belly. Inside, the air is thick with the scent of human sweat, stale tobacco, and leftover food. In the center of the room, surrounded by inebriates sleeping off their revelries, a familiar elven man stands high upon a large, round table.

"Welcome! Welcome, my students! Please, have a seat." With that, Kreighton Shaine, the Pathfinder Society's Master of Scrolls, nimbly drops down to sit cross-legged on the table before looking about the tavern with a sense of reverent wonder. "Can you believe it? It all started here years ago--well, over four hundred of them, at least. Under this very roof the Pathfinder Society was born.

"But today! Today you will begin your Confirmation! Master Farabellus and I both agree you each have shown your worth and dedication to the Society, so there's no better time to see if you can handle becoming field operatives. Allow me to introduce you to Janira Gavix," he says as he motions for an excitable-looking halfling woman to approach. She wears a large backpack and carries all manner of tools, pouches, and scroll cases around her waist. Shaine continues, saying, "Janira here will be going with you on your Confirmation. She was one of my brightest pupils and will no doubt be an invaluable resource on your journey, for she discovered the caves you are about to explore during your own Confirmation."

Janira speaks up in a cheerful and enthusiastic voice. "Greetings, aspiring Pathfinders! Six months ago, while I was mapping cave entrances in the foothills of the Kortos Mountains, I witnessed a lone gillman entering a concealed cave. I thought little of it at the time, but I saw another one enter the cave mouth a month later as my Confirmation stretched on. A few days later, after I completed my assigned task, I entered the cave system, but was unable to find the gillmen."

Master Shaine hops to his feet. "Initiates, for your Confirmation, you will travel to these caves to explore and document its many passages. Additionally, and most importantly, you are to learn what the gillmen are up to in there. Oh, and you need to come back alive as well." With these parting words, the Master of Scrolls hops off the table and strolls out of the building, humming to himself.

Feel free to dot in here, introduce your characters to each other, and ask Janira any initial questions (or make any Knowledge checks you want to--Geography and History might both be helpful).


Hi all,

I've decided to try my hand at PFS Play-by-Post GMing, since I've had such a great time in PFS games on these boards. Since I'm don't want to dive in TOO head-first, though, I'm going to start with a very well-known scenario that I've already played once: Season 5, Episode 8: The Confirmation.

Almost all Pathfinders undergo extensive training for three or more years to learn the tricks of the trade, and their last test before graduating from the ranks of the initiates to the status of a full Pathfinder agent is the Confirmation, a special research project that involves considerable fieldwork and is designed to simulate the initiates' future work as a Pathfinder. Even the noteworthy field commissioned agents sometimes participate in such trials as a way to familiarize themselves with the Pathfinder Society’s rules and expectations. Although Confirmation is typically an individual affair, the society recently discovered a site on the Isle of Kortos that would be perfect for initiates but perhaps too dangerous to handle alone. Successfully uncovering this site’s secrets will not only contribute to the society’s body of knowledge but shape the exciting careers ahead for each of the prospective agents.

This scenario is particularly friendly to new players/players who are new to PFS, so if that means you, c'mon in and join us!

Please sign up here. I'll leave sign-up open until 9:30 a.m. tomorrow (Dec. 5th), and if there are more than 6 PCs signed up at that point I will roll a lottery to determine who's in.

If you're new to PbP or PFS...:
I'm happy to have you, and you should ask any questions you want to! To get you started, though, this post is a pretty good resource.

I'd also like to remind everyone of the wonderful Endless Forms'/Trotter Flaxseed's guide of expectations for PbP games. They apply to mine as well. :)

Thanks, and happy gaming!


Hi all,

Quick question re: dominate person. It's a pretty straightforward spell as far as it goes if the commands given are simple or there's no shared language, but there's lots of room for more interesting/creepy/fascinating scenarios if a language is shared. Particularly if you've got a creature like an aboleth, which is likely to play the long game, and might give a command like, "Indicate to no one that you hear me. Otherwise act normally."

My question is: in such a case, assuming the dominator wants to retain control over the dominated, can they recast the spell before its duration is up after giving the command "Give up your saving throw?" (Probably better phrased in game as, "Submit to me," or something like that.)

Of course there should still be ways for the dominated person to try to get out of it--the usual rules about being told to take actions that are suicidal/against your nature, etc., apply.* But does that seem like a viable command?

*Aaaaaand I just realized that the PC I might do this to is CN and VERY anti-authoritarian, so the very command, "Submit to me" might actually give her that +2 saving throw...crud. ;)


Hi all,

Just a quick question about Tempest Rising and the sandbox(ish) mystery that makes up Part Two: in the book it says that Jaymiss Keft, in addition to pointing the PCs to Haddon Pike, can identify the statue of a tengu they find in Pike's house as potentially Corlan, an old shipmate of Keft's. The book references Step 10 here, which sort of seems to imply that Jaymiss can tell the PCs everything they need to know about Corlan--ie., that he lives in Hell Harbor and they should go there to look for him, which would trigger the encounter at Corlan's, and effectively end the mystery. This is a hitch for me because the PCs are tracking down Jaymiss before investigating the Beachcomber/Brine Banshee angle at all!

I realize there's probably only a 50% chance that they'll ask Jaymiss about the statue regardless, but I wanted to inquire: how did you run that? Did Jaymiss know who Corlan was but not where to find him? Did you just skip it? Did your PCs never even think to ask?

Thanks in advance!


Hi there! Here's hoping this is the appropriate forum to post this to...

(And if not, I trust in the Paizo messageboard fairies to spirit the post away to the right place!)

I was a big fan of the Ultimate RPG Playlist, which some of you may know, until it sadly folded because, well, it turned out that pretty much every site it attempted to host itself on was illegal in some way. Whoops. Without it, though, I'm sadly lacking in the music department for the game I run, because I don't have time to seek out music intensively myself and I don't listen to a ton of soundtrack-y stuff in my free time. So...I'm hoping the hivemind of these boards can help me.

I run a Skull & Shackles game (the party's in Tempest Rising) and am in need of music for our next session. I have some stuff for the following categories, but would welcome suggestions:

General Sailing/Ocean Adventure
Shipboard/Swashbuckling Combat

What I really need is music for the following situations:

Visiting Quent (a good-sized city that's pretty cosmopolitan but also rough-and-tumble pirate haven)
Visiting Beachcomber (a much smaller town that's poorer, meaner, and generally less friendly and urban)
The Temple of Calistria (sultry, sexy, soft, maybe a tad "exotic")
The Temple of Norgorber (creepy, dark, quiet--trying to play up the creep factor, given that the "temple" is an abandoned warehouse staffed by a halfling wearing a creepy child's mask)

If anyone has any suggestions on these fronts, they'd be greatly appreciated!


Hello the boards,

I'm one member of a four-man (well, one-man, two-woman, one-halfling) team playing through Rise of the Runelords on the boards right now. We're currently in Foxglove Manor, partway through the second book (I believe) and our beloved GM, DocEvil, has had to bow out for personal reasons. While we're sad to see him go, the four of us would love to continue playing if at all possible. We're all dedicated and experienced PbPers, and would hate to see such a promising game fold.

You can read up on our latest adventures here. Our party consists of:

Robin, a professional halfling entertainer who's taken up a life of adventure

Qetsiyah, though we call her Kizzy, a wandering Varisian swordswoman and bodyguard

Cadas, our fierce Shoanti cleric of Gozreh,

and yours truly, a wizard fleeing a bad social scene in Riddleport but dedicated to rooting out the secrets of ancient Thassilon.

If there are any experienced and enthusiastic GMs on these boards who are dying to run (or re-run) Rise of the Runelords with a group of enthusiastic roleplayers, we'd love to hear from you! Thanks for reading, whether you decide to volunteer or not. :)


A question about our good friend the Canopy Creeper. I'm running one tomorrow, and I'm a bit baffled by its grab special ability--and the way that interacts with the 4 freakin' tentacles it has that don't do any damage but do grab.

The concept/visual of the canopy creeper is great. This plant suddenly comes to life up above you, and starts shooting down vines to just yank people up to its maw and eat them (or just yank them into the air, where if they escape they'll be falling a long way to Certain Doom). But here's where I get confused: my canopy creeper is going to be facing 6th-level PCs. Well and good. If it makes a grab attack, it gets to make a grapple. It probably "only" grabs the PC with its vine tendril, thus not gaining the grappled condition itself...but then (A) it only has a bonus to its grapple check of +3, which is unlikely to succeed on any PC that has halfway decent combat skills, and (B) does it still have to use a standard action to maintain a grab, per the grappling rules?

In other words, does this four-tentacled monstrosity only get to have one creature effectively grabbed at a time (since at the start of the next round it has to use a standard action to maintain the grapple, thus dropping the other three even if it succeeded in grabbing them in the first place)? And what's up with that -20? There's no way for it not to use "just that limb" to attempt the grapple, since it's likely 100' away, and it makes no sense for it too to gain the grappled condition.

Am I just running up against rules technicalities vs. my mental image? Thanks in advance!


Hello the boards!

It happens to a lot of games...I'm currently running a PbP game of Curse of the Crimson Throne, and sadly we've lost a number of players over the course of the game so far. We're looking to recruit 2-3 new players to round out the party!

Our current party is:
Korriban Balros, native Korvosan and son (hopeful inheritor) of the Old Korvosa brothel the Rosa in Fiore.

Teodor Niculescu, mad priest of Groetus and herald of the end times.

And Adoros Porphyria, gun-toting Chelaxian nobleman who's keeping a secret about his name...

We've just wrapped up book one (Edge of Anarchy) and are about to start book two (Seven Days to the Grave). Come and join us! We're open to any applications, though we're currently particularly lacking front-line muscle and arcane knowledge/might.

You can read the story so far here. (Warning: long.)

What I need from you:

Level: 4th

Ability Scores: 20-point buy.

Race and Class: Any Paizo with a reasonable RP; obscure races will need a correspondingly convincing/awesome backstory.

Alignment: Any non-evil.

HP Max at first level, half hit die + 1 for each succeeding (+ CON as usual).

Gold and Gear: Wealth by level (6000 gp). If you want to purchase property (per Guide to Korvosa) and have the means to do so, you can.

Traits: I am not requiring you to use a trait from the player's guide, though you may. If you do, be aware that:

Spoiler:
Gaedren Lamm was killed several weeks ago by a group of vigilantes who have since become well-known agents of Field Marshall Cressida Kroft.

Regardless, take two traits (no drawbacks).

Background: I highly recommend both the Player's Guide and the Guide to Korvosa, if you have it. Briefly detail who you are, and why you're in Korvosa. It would also be a strong point in your favor if your character had some link to one of the following:

  • Sergeant Grau Soldado of the Korvosan Guard
  • Field Marshall Cressida Kroft of the same
  • the Church of Abadar
  • the community of Trail's End, a small neighborhood/suburb of Korvosa just across the river from the main city. Very poor, mostly native sons and daughters of Korvosa, not terribly welcoming to fully ethnic Varisians and very unwelcoming to Shoanti
  • ...or, if this inspires anything...it'd be handy if your character had a fascination/worked with/knew about disease

EXTRA CREDIT This is optional, but I would love to see characters "in action" for a brief passage. Therefore, if you want, write up a short exchange/description of a key moment in your character's backstory. Again, totally optional, but will be greatly appreciated.

Posting Rate: Ideally I'd love to have you post once/day, but I feel it best to say up front that the posting sometimes slows down slightly. Hopefully some new blood and energy will get that rate up! :)

I think that should cover everything...let me know if you have any questions about the game so far! I'm looking forward to your submissions.

Recruitment will close at 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, October 23!


I'm curious for input on this idea...

I was toying around with a concept for a character I would enjoy playing, basically a bodyguard-for-hire whose main technique is to be disguised as a manservant or personal aide. (This character was definitely inspired by my vague memories of Butler from the Artemis Fowl series I read as a kid.) He's inconspicuous, quiet, sticks close to his employer, and he can grab and throttle you into submission with his bare hands if you put a toe out of line.

The obvious class for this seemed like Brawler, with the Strangler archetype...but then I saw that that archetype lost improved unarmed strike as a bonus feat, which would really slow down the feat progression of the character--important since I was hoping to synergize his grappling/choking with Combat Reflexes and Bodyguard.

Any thoughts on going vanilla brawler vs. strangler? Any other suggestions (I'm looking at Kraken Style or maybe Grabbing Style as alternatives)? Preferably PFS-legal...

Thanks in advance!


I don't think any of my players frequent these boards, but just in case...if you're playing Naesala, Sayyida, John B., Lynn, or Macoco, don't read any further. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. :P

Anywho...

My party has just arrived at Tidewater Rock, intent on taking it. For a number of reasons (not least the fact that diplomacy and tact just...aren't really their thing), they're going for the full-on tower assault. I realize that this is going to be a challenge, but they've trounced most of the encounters up to now without serious difficulty. I'd like to check in with more competent GMs than I to see if the rough battle plan makes sense, and if there's anything else I should do to make it an appropriate challenge. (5 PCs, newly 5th level)

The Situation:
Agasta and Royster had a long view of the ship's approach (they sailed around the island to do some recon first), so the tower's on guard. A brief attempt at bluffing their way in just failed, and hostilities are about to commence unless someone does something quite unexpected. At the moment, Royster, Agasta, and at least three guards are on the roof. My figuring is that there are three more up there and two downstairs to guard the front door.

The Plan:
The water being high, the PCs are currently on their ship and will need to fight their way in. I figure that at the top, the six guards on top of the tower will work together to fire their ballistae each round (at individual people; a houserule being that if the shot misses by less than 5, the bolt will still strike the PCs' ship). Agasta and Royster will make as many ranged attacks against those they think to be the leaders of the PCs' crew as possible. Meanwhile, the two guards downstairs will attempt to reinforce the main door. If the PCs don't break it down within three (?) turns, it will be stoutly reinforced by timbers from the room, increasing its effective hardness by 3, hit points by 10, and break DC by 5.

If/when the the PCs do make it in, the guards will beat a fighting retreat up to the defensive corridors of the tower. The guards on the ballistae will head down to assist, and Royster may as well (though not if Agasta is in any danger). The last stand (if there is one) will take place in the fourth floor dining room.

Questions:
Based on the above:
1) Have you run this as a combat? If so, is there anything I'm missing that I should be aware of? Anything that was particularly useful to your defenders?
2) Does this plan make sense?
3) I'm wondering if there's anything fun or creative to do with the noncombatant NPCs...open to ideas here.
4) My party has sent a group of their pirates to attack the tower and attempt to scale it from the "landward" side. I don't want to spend much time on this, as we haven't focused on specific crew actions in any ship combats so far, but it's a clever plan. Any thoughts on a bonus or boon I can grant them for this?

Thanks for your thoughts, in advance!


Hi all,

Thinking of getting into PFS GMing because I've had a good time playing via PBP here on the boards, and had a question about setting up legal tables:

On p. 4-5 of the guide it talks about using the "structure" of the PFS campaign for a private game with friends. What I'm confused about is this: does this mean that any game I play with 3-8 PFS-registered players, with PFS-legal characters, is eligible for credit? Or do they have to be public events, and that line is more about, "And hey, you could use this to make your own campaign too!"

In simple terms, I guess: can a "private" campaign that meets the requirements also be official, or does it have to be publicized and open?

Thanks!!


Which (if any) god on Golarion would you worship in real life if they had a church? Empyreal lords, etc., are ok too.

I'm looking mostly for gut reactions here, curious to get a broad sense of people's feelings for a home project I'm working on that was inspired by a comment about this topic elsewhere. But reasons are welcome!

I, personally, would almost undoubtedly belong to Erastil's church...


I'm a little worried that I'm just going to be told not to even bother playing this character, but...oh well. :P

I have an idea for a character I'd like to submit to a Jade Regent campaign (actually I came up with this for PFS but given how combat-oriented PFS is I don't think that's viable). The concept is MAD as hell, which is unfortunate, but I like the flavor. I'm looking for any advice on how to improve the character mechanically, because that's not my forte. I'm not going to be looking at all to be a monster-chomping god, just be able to contribute something useful in combat.

The Concept:
A kitsune geisha whose training includes the martial arts, as those fall under the purview of "arts" that she considers aesthetically valuable and important. She focuses on "soft power:" diplomacy, deception, distraction, seduction, and even a little bit of poison, rather than full-on head-to-head combat. In fact, she tries as much as possible not to kill any sentient creatures she can't avoid killing, preferring to immobilize, cripple, or distract them enough to win them over with words or be able to move on without fear of reprisal. She's looking to return to her homeland after having come abroad as a child.

The Rules:
15-Point Buy...that's pretty much it.

The Crunch:

Mostly what I'm concerned with here is the feats: what order to take them in, and whether anything is redundant/if there are more efficient ways to achieve this result. To whit, a concept:

Lotus Geisha X/Monk of the Lotus 6 (I'm not sure what the endpoint of the campaign will be, but pretty sure I need those 6 monk levels ASAP)

STR 12
DEX 15 (+1 at 4th)
CON 7
INT 13
WIS 14
CHA 15 (+1 at 8th?)

Feats
1st Level (Bard): Combat Expertise
Lotus Geisha Auto: Spell Focus (Enchantment)
2nd Level (Monk) 1st Monk Bonus: Dodge
Monk Auto: Improved UAS
Monk Auto: Touch of Serenity
3rd Level (Monk): Feinting Flurry
2nd Monk Bonus: Deflect Arrows or Scorpion Style?
5th Level (Monk): Improved Feint
7th Level (Monk): Nimble Moves
3rd Monk Bonus: Mobility
9th Level: Gliding Steps
11th Level: Greater Feint

Past there I haven't really figured anything out. Planned to equip her with a fighting fan for the +2 to feint. So, again, the goal is: lots of feinting (hopefully in ways that give allies a hand too) and the ability to get herself the hell out of Dodge when need be. Thoughts on this?

One Question: Is there a ruling on whether Greater Feint impacts Feinting Flurry, or are "feint" and "feinting flurry" considered separate actions?


Hi all, quick question:

A question's just come up in one of my PbP games that I don't know the answer to: specifically, are witch hexes purely mental actions? This is very important to the witch's functionality if they get, say, paralyzed. You know. Like a necrophidius might do.

The closest I've been able to find is in the Rules FAQ, which states that you must actually cackle in order to use the cackle hex. This implies that some hexes, at least, have somatic/verbal components. But do they all? Is each different? I've done a quick search but haven't been able to find a definitive answer.

Thanks for your help!


Hello the boards! Our GM has recently been called away to Fort Benning, and is unable to continue with us. We're looking for someone able to continue to help us through the adventure path. We thought we'd found someone for a moment, but it seems to have fallen through...

At the moment, our party stands thus:

Jokum of the Breakbones tribe, aasimar shapeshifter ranger and ex-pat of Sarkoris That Was
Pollux Wardroxan, evangelist cleric of Asmodeus
Ce'Eshna Lightfoot, a young sylph bow maiden with a smattering of arcane power
and
Karthak Ironbreaker, an inquisitor of Torag and agent of order.

Our halfling rogue took our GM's departure as an opportune moment to bow out, and we're still trying to see if our resident arcane caster, a young girl named Tess, is with us--we haven't heard from her in a bit.

Please let us know whether you'd be interested in taking us on; I think I can safely say that we're an eager bunch of roleplayers. I, for one, have had a great time!

You can read our previous adventures here. We were cut off in the midst of a fight in the ruins of the Blackwing Library.

On a personal note, I'll add that this game has been going for 11 months and I've loved it; would really hate to see it die due to lack of a GM! Thanks for your time and consideration.


Hey all, I've found a couple questions by searching, but no real answers. Also don't see any errata listed on PPC: Dragon Empires Primer page, soooo...I'll ask some again, and one new one.

1) As many people have pointed out, the list of spells to add to your wizard spell list includes a lot of overlap with the normal wizard spell list. I had thought at first they meant add to your spellbook, but RAW that's not what's written. Anyone know of any clarifications?

2) In an inverse problem, guidance is listed as a Void-school cantrip, but isn't on the normal wizard spell list. Not a big deal, it's a cantrip, but still....

Any help and knowledge is greatly appreciated!


I will probably regret asking this, but....

As of the most recent update (which I think was 8/14), the "Additional Resources" page has a line under "Blood of Fiends" reading, "To create an aasimar, you must have a Chronicle sheet that opens the race as a legal option at character creation."

Link!

However, in the Guide to Organized Play that was recently updated, it doesn't list tiefling as a race option. I'm guessing that this is a typo on the website (since there's not a whole lot on building aasimar in Blood of Fiends), but hoping that it might not be, since I have a friend I'm trying to get into PFS with who really, really wants to play a tiefling.

If you do need a race boon to play a tiefling, how would you get one of those without first playing? Don't you need to have created a character before building a Chronicle stack?

Thanks for your help!


Male

Feel free to dot here as well, players! Can't wait to get started!


Male

Several days' journey has brought you, at last, to the small town below the hill that your quarry is rumored to lie beneath. The last tip you got suggested that the Pathfinder Society would be very interested indeed in any information or valuables that you could uncover, and that they have a venture-captain in town who'd be willing to guide anyone interested to the entrance of the fabled tomb.

The small town of Dusk Hollow, however, seems singularly unlikely to yield adventure. The very color seems leached out of the buildings and people around you. People are sweeping the dust off their stoops, or sitting on their stoops puffing on pipes. Ragged-looking children trail you occasionally, eyeing your possessions and your bearing with some awe before disappearing behind houses. At the small inn, which bears the sign of the Jeweled Skull, an aged halfling with a tankard sits with a wide-brimmed hat pulled down over his eyes on the porch. As you approach, he glances up, and grins.

"Well now, you don't look much like the usual travelers we get in these parts," he says with wheeze and a chuckle. "Good equipment, a spring in yer step...you wouldn't happen to be here for the job offered by the Pathfinder Society, would you?" He leers up at you. "I hear tell there's a couple comin' in tonight that might be joinin' you."

So, let's go ahead and have introductory posts, and then we'll get started!


Hi all,

I'm setting up a PBP game over on the forums here that's going to start at 7th level, and I had a player inquire with me how many starting spells a wizard would get. I realized that I don't actually know what the standard practice (if anything) is. Do they just get their first-level spells plus the normal level increase ones? Or is there some mechanic to mimic the finding of spells and spellbooks that would normally happen?

Thanks for your help!


"Listen, after the last four, this chamber should pose no problems."--Garthus the Valiant, approximately 21 seconds before his gruesome demise.

All right, folks. I'm hankering to run a short(ish) adventure, and I figured why not the most famous one of all? I'm going to run Zombie Toast's Tomb of Horrors for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game! Can you take it on and emerge alive?

Tech Specs

  • Looking for five 7th-level characters, 20-point buy
  • No ability score below 8 BEFORE racial modifiers (so feel free to min/max a bit)
  • Standard gold/level (23,500)
  • Any Paizo published class and archetype is acceptable
  • Non-mythic
  • No race above 15 RP
  • Two traits from different categories, no drawbacks.

Background
To me, it makes perfect sense that the party exploring the Tomb of Horrors would be an adventurous group of Pathfinders. Our Tomb of Horrors lies in the hinterlands of the Aspodell Mountains, in the tiny nation of Isger. I'm curious to know what your character's like as a person--their interests and behavior--as well as their background. What brought you to seek out the Tomb of Horrors? Fame? Riches? Scholarly pursuit? How did you become a Pathfinder?

Caveats

  • It's not a Tomb of Horrors without some real horror. I'm not planning on pulling any punches, so go into this knowing that it's entirely possible that characters will die. Feel free to try to build your characters to avoid this fate!
  • While I strongly, strongly value roleplaying, and that will likely be the main metric on which I choose the party, don't neglect crunch. It's a brutal dungeon, and I'd hate to see a fun idea die off just because you didn't pay attention to mechanics.
  • I do ask, given the nature of the dungeon, that you let me know if you've played or DM'd it before. This won't be points against you, just something I want to be aware of.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN.


Hey boards,

I'm getting a hankering to try my hand at running a short, one-off module rather than the long campaigns my PbP is currently involved in. I'm wrestling now between two options, both a little unusual.

Option A, and what I lean toward, is the Tomb of Horrors. It's a classic that I've wanted to run for a while, and haven't gotten the opportunity to yet IRL. Zombie Toast made a good conversion for Pathfinder (and a couple of other systems) that seems to strike the right balance, and I'd be excited to try that out.

Option B, a bit tamer in some ways but also, I think, much creepier in others, is Nicholas Logue's GameMastery module U-2: Hangman's Noose. This is very much a survival horror module, with some pretty terrifying and grotesque events going on in an abandoned courthouse that the PCs and several NPCs are trapped in.

The reason I'm curious to see which of these people would be interested in boils down to: is the ToH hackneyed/old hat (ie. does everyone know its tricks? If so, not as fun)? For those who have read or played "Hangman's Noose," on the other hand, do you think it would work well as a PbP (a lot of its atmosphere relies on a sense of timing and urgency)? Ultimately, would people here be interested in playing either of these as a one-off?


Hi all,

Can anyone tell me where the rules for reading/using the city stat blocks laid out in products like those in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting are? I would swear I have the book and have read them, but now am looking for the reference and can't find it.

Many thanks!


Male

Hi guys,

This Flex Time thread can be used for conversations, etc. that you might want to have while hanging out in places between main plot points. Have at it! (Or don't, I'm a forum post, not a cop.)


Hi Paizo staff!

I've been trying to purchase "People of the Sands" as a PDF for some time now (almost since it first came out), and my card keeps being declined. I tried entering various permutations of the billing address, assuming that was the problem, and sent an email to the customer service address (which confirmed that that was the reason the card was declined). I've entered the address as identically to my bank statement as I can make it; are there any more thoughts/info you can give me on how I might be able to make purchases again?

Many thanks for your time and assistance!


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I'm running a PbP group through EoA and I just got the joke to do with the Verik Vancaskerkin episode! I'm probably just slow, but...

Spoiler:
All the World's (possessive) Meat! We give free meat!

All the World is Meat.

O.O

That is all! I felt like sharing.


Male

Hi everybody! Feel free to post in here when you get a chance. Can't wait to get started!


Male

Hi gang!

I'm super excited to start this campaign; I've been reading APs essentially as novellas (lacking a regular group after a move) for a while now, and Curse of the Crimson Throne is one of my favorites. A few formalities before we begin:

Please take a moment to flesh out your characters as fully as possible. A section on your aliases for important NPCs in your life would be nice, but the one thing I really NEED to know before we begin is where and in what conditions you're living right now. That'll help get the narrative kick-started in a big way.

A few more specific mechanical questions:

Gadriel:
Is Gadriel Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral? In your stat block it says one thing, but in the sidebar another. Only matters for a minor cosmetic question at the very beginning of the adventure.

Teodor:
Do you channel positive or negative energy? Also, is your spontaneous casting the inflict or the cure school? Apologies if that info is in there and I just missed it.

Raina:
If you wouldn't mind cutting yourself down to two traits, as we discussed, I'd appreciate it.


"Sami? Sami, I'm hungry. D'ya have any of that pastry left?"

"Shut up, Willa! Giggles is watchin'. If you screw this up for me, I swear I'll stick this knife between your ribs. If it's the last thing I do before he drops me down to Gaedren, I will."
--Two of Lamm's Little Lambs, overheard while casing a mark.

Korvosa is a proud city. Known around the world as "the jewel of Varisia," with a heritage dating back to the glories of the Chelaxian Empire and a rich local culture including everything from a renowned school of magic to a hippogriff-mounted cavalry, it is a mighty city-state that dominates the region and draws travelers and trade from around the world.

Korvosa is an old city. Though young in years, weathering the beginning of the Age of Lost Omens has hastened the city's decline. King Eodred II is an elderly and degenerate man, more interested in playing with his soft and pretty young toys than ruling. His young queen, Ileosa, is a petty Chelaxian noblewoman disliked by the public and far too inept to rule in her husband's place. The city is held together more by its traditions and its militaristic bent than by any real civic spirit.

Korvosa is a dying, degenerate city. Crime flourishes, semi-legal thanks to the institution of "vice taxes" and the recognition of the thieves' guild. Enrollment in the Acadamae is down, while the number of prostitutes, pickpockets, and con men has nearly doubled. Visitors are many, but immigrants are few. Trade flows through, yes, but increasingly of an unsavory kind: kidnappers, slavers, and drug peddlers all dock in Korvosa's harbor. It's hard to find a city more simultaneously wrapped up in law and order and abandoned--particularly in its lower classes--to hedonism, crime, and decay.

But none of that concerns you.

You are interested only in one man: Gaedren Lamm, the crime lord who leads a gang of enslaved children known as Lamm's Little Lambs. Whether you seek him out for justice, information, or revenge, he has harmed you in some way. It is time for you to bring his fate home to him.

THE CRUNCH: I am looking for 4-5 PCs for a PbP of Curse of the Crimson Throne, one of my favorite Adventure Paths. Character creation rules are as follows:

Ability Scores 20-point buy.

Race and Class I will consider anything published by Paizo (and, in the case of race, with a reasonable RP--no Drow Nobility, please). However, if you choose an obscure race or class, I must ask for a good backstory to support it. If you're playing a ninja or a samurai, how did you get this training? Or, if you're a native of Tian Xia, how did you end up in Korvosa? If you're playing a human ethnicity, please provide as many details as you can--eg. Shoanti Quah, relative rank in Chelaxian nobility, etc.

Alignment Any non-evil.

HP Max at first level.

Gold and Gear Use the average for your class. If you want to purchase property (per Guide to Korvosa) and have the means to do so, you can.

Traits Use one from the Player's Guide and one other one.

Background I highly recommend both the Player's Guide (above) and the Guide to Korvosa, if you have it. Briefly detail who you are, why you're in Korvosa, what Gaedren has done to you, and what you want from life beyond your immediate, Gaedren-centric goals.

EXTRA CREDIT This is optional, but I would love to see characters "in action" for a brief passage. Therefore, if you want, write up a short exchange/description of the first time you found out who Gaedren Lamm was. Again, totally optional, but will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to seeing your characters!

DEADLINE: Recruiting closes at 12:00 noon on December 9, EST (GMT-5:00).