Kastarr Eunson's page

I'm largely going to skip most of this debate as I don't really have time to read it all.

That said, for a character to flip to an evil alignment, it really needs to be prolonged and constant acts of evil before they flip over unless their act is so utterly abhorent that it flips them there and then.

Not to mention that anything below 5 HD (like most NPCs) will not ping as evil. This suggests that in order for someone to detect as evil, they must have some kind of physical or magical power to back that up. Unless, of course, they happen to be Undead or an Outsider. Or a Cleric/Paladin of an evil god.

Everyone is welcome within Shadow Haven! We do not discriminate amongst friends, unlike those with... loftier ideals.

Kyndriha, there is always room for the smaller of our people in Shadow Haven. Mostly because you can fit into places that others can't!

Necryn, I am sure we can come to some kind of arrangement. I have... contacts who are skilled in the matter of meat procurement.

Sounds good. Do you envision putting out assets that would aid in PbP games? For example, releasing clean maps alongside the adventures so that GMs aren't forced to use maps with all the secret doors and the like visible?

PbP is my main forum for gaming and I'm very interested in seeing this play out. With a season lasting two years, I think that could work very well in the PbP domain.

I'm interested in pitching a Dwarf Monk (of the Four Winds). I'll flesh him out tonight.

So with the adventure paths in "seasons", does that mean we'll see a full AP that takes characters from 1-18 or so, or shall it be broken up into chunks.

With the Kickstarter, will there be a pledge level where we can get the first AP alongside the ruleset? I'd be interested in running this on a PbP basis to see how well it works.

Just a small note that for those who wish to support Shadow Haven, please head over to the Land Rush vote and vote for us!

Shadow Haven, bringing you responsible evil since 2012!

At the moment, we're taking note of interested parties. We've yet to hammer out how things will be run. I imagine we'll probably look to set up some form of community site in the near future as the ball gets rolling.

And of course, the settlement of Shadow Haven is more than willing to accept ethically-challenged academics, artistes and accumulators of wealth!

I have a very sketchy outline of how I would imagine this playing out to begin with. First of all, the party would start out as Dhampir with the order to keep their ultimate intentions a secret. For all intents and purposes, their neighbours and paymasters would see a group of Dhampir who appear to be working according to their plan. I will likely have some who are suspicious of their motives but without any concrete proof then the group will probably be free to act out book 1 and possibly 2 in relative freedom.

The vampire template requires a victim to have at least 5 hit die which means fifth level at the very earliest for the party being turned into fully-fledged vampires. The issue I foresee is that they would then suddenly become extremely powerful. I'm toying with the idea that they would lose their class levels up to level 5 as they gain a lot more. This would be advertised ahead of schedule. It could also be that they don't wish to turn immediately and would retain some class levels after turning if this was the case.

I think that by book 3, they should have been turned into vampires and the suggestions here give me a lot to think about. I might look into this a bit further and try and sketch out a rough plan and attempt to pencil in some required changes.

From a player's perspective, I think this game would require a lot of politics and subterfuge in order to manage to successfully reach the climax of the arc.

I've been toying with the idea of running a Kingmaker game where the entire party are Dhampir (to begin with) that have been tasked by their Master(s) to use the Charter in order to bring about a Vampire Nation.

Although I have the imagination for this idea, I lack the experience. Anyone have any ideas what would need to be changed/added to the AP to make this work?

I'm interested too. I assume from the description that we'll have humans, elves and halflings as racial choices?

Backed at GM 3. Stoked to see a megadungeon with such pedigree writing it. Can't wait to see the finished product!

I'm starting this thread to catch the attention of those people who have already voted and won't check the vote thread again, or Andius' thread because they think it's conjecture.

Lee Hammock has stated that the pet system will include animal companions and familiars as well as cosmetic pets. These are core mechanics for Druids, Rangers and Wizards.

I would urge that people change their vote to get these prioritised so that they are working as soon as possible. Otherwise, a third of the classes will be under-powered at the beginning.

I'm going to submit an advisor-type character, a Tien man who is a Monk of the Lotus. He is very pragmatic and believes in the redemption of criminals although only because they could become valuable members of society whereas simply executing them could be a waste of resources.

It will be interesting to play such a pragmatic character, if chosen.

And that's why I came to Advice :)

Thanks, mplindustries!

I'm looking to multi-class a Cavalier of the Order of the Blue Rose with Monk in order to build a Society character who doesn't kill on their missions.

I was thinking of the following levels:

1: Monk (Monk of the Four Winds)
2: Cavalier (Order of the Blue Rose)
3: Cavalier (gives Flat of the Blade ability)
4+: Monk

1st level: Dodge
1st level, Human: Mobility
1st level, Monk: Combat Reflexes
2nd level, Cavalier: Feint Partner
3rd level: Power Attack
4th level, Monk: Deflect Arrows

I've only mapped out the first couple of levels and I'm not sure what to do with the 20 point buy to give me a well-rounded character.

The plan is for this character to move around the battlefield, dealing damage and debuffing the opponents. I deliberated about taking Scorpion Style in place of Deflect Arrows for the fourth level Monk feat.

Anyone have any ideas or criticsm?

I'm interested in throwing together a Cavalier, however I have a question on the conversion process. Should the conversion result in an alignment shift, would I then be permitted to shift Orders if it makes more thematic sense for the character?

I'm not saying that I would change Orders but would you permit a change if deemed more suitable?

Absolutely interested!

I'm looking to submit an Angel-blooded (Aasimar) Paladin. Most likely originally headed for the Worldwound but hears about the evil cult, hiding out in these catacombs.

So that'll mean practically every Paizo client will drop Internet Explorer then? It certainly assists in my decision about figuring out which laptop to purchase for my job.

On behalf of Shadow Haven, let me welcome you to the community! It would appear that Shadow Haven would be an ideal fit for you, a place where you can practice your arts in peace!

See? I'm not the only person who thinks that tabletop gaming can be considered PvP! Great minds think alike!

He'd not be antagonistic. It depends more on whether he feels the city needs him or not. I'd say at the moment we're 70/30 in favour of multi-classing into Cavalier.

Average or max wealth for starting?

It will all become evident once you read the backstory. How dark are you comfortable with? I will state that the character will be at his lowest point at the start of the game and there will be a major theme of redemption for him as long as the game continues.

Sounds really good. When do you intend to put out the Kickstarter? You'll have my support.

Would you be adverse to a character that has two campaign traits, as long as they fit with the background?

Hmm. This could be a good fit for a character concept I have in mind. Let me run the numbers and get back to you.

1d8 ⇒ 4
1d8 ⇒ 6
1d8 ⇒ 4
1d8 ⇒ 6

My only concern would be that I'm not sure I could do it justice as a DM. I might get Blood of the Vampire and see if I can figure it out.

One idea I've toyed with is an all-Dhampir game eventually taking the players into a full-fledged vampire nation.

I think that incorporating the kingdom building into WotW might be easier unless you limit an evil Kingmaker run to LE/NE. CE isn't going to be stable enough to build up a kingdom. Also, you'd need players who hide their intentions until they are powerful to stand against the Swordlords.

On behalf of the community of Shadow Haven, allow me to pass on my greetings as the Councillor of Merchants. Your group shall, of course, be more than welcome within our walls. You might have some competition from my own company, The Tilted Scales Trading Company, but competition can only be healthy.

Same way they did Goblin Squad; match the Kickstarter email against Paizo account emails. If there is no match, the Kickstarter email will get asked to provide an account to be tied to.

I understand your desire for high end structures not to be built with some kind of limiting factor but then it kind of removes what I feel would be an integral part of 'meaningful interactions'. Not only that but then what is to differentiate between the companies? It removes an essential draw for those companies who are competing for the most important resource of all; people.

I'd hope that rare resources are required. That could mean that a small company could settle around that resource and use it as their resource stream to larger settlements who need it. Yes, they might run the risk of one of those larger settlements crushing them but then they might appeal to the others who would come to their defence.

Perhaps we are coming at this the wrong way; rather than restrict people from carrying out company/settlement duties, why not instead provide synergies?

As an example, let us assume that first there is a core 'leadership' skill that applies to company/settlement management. Bob the Guard Captain is played by someone who is a warehouse manager in real life. They understand logistics but don't want their time off to be consumed by it. However, their settlement needs someone to manage their warehouses.

So Bob offers to do it. He's already Guard Captain which requires a certain level of Management. Fortunately, Warehouse Manager requires the same level so no additional training is required and off he goes, performing both duties.

Three months down the line, Jim the Warehouse Manager joins from a rival settlement as he's fed up with how they treat him. Bob relinquishes his role as Warehouse Manager and Jim steps in. Immediately, the warehouses gain 25% storage space because of Jim's trading skills.

Rather than Bob not be able to help out in a role that he can do with his eyes shut, he can help his settlement until a more suitable player who wants to play that kind of character comes along who suddenly provides a host of benefits due to his character's skill set.

For Bob's part, perhaps his character has a host of Unit Formation skills that grants bonuses to being Guard Captain; being able to marshal a larger militia, grant skill bonuses to NPC guards, etc.

At the same time it would mean that only players interested in running settlements successfully would train them.

We already know that Goblinworks intends to limit the ability to train certain skills to certain structures in your settlement and that is what I'd call 'highest tier' in absence of a better term.

I agree that skills shouldn't determine company size but I do think they should be there for the management of settlement structures, etc.

I'm really just trying to promote discussion, I'm aware that gouging can be a risky business. At the same time, a system like this could be open to one of the cardinal sins of griefing which is denying access to an area.

I can agree with an 'exile' system for settlements but not for hexes.

I don't think we can use 'standing on a node to make it impossible to target' as a valid reason as we've no idea how the harvesting system works. It could work like SWG where you construct a mine that operates automatically rather than having to manually click on a harvesting node.

We can replace my example with 'rare resource X for project Y'. I find it an unlikely premise that materials for the highest tier of buildings isn't going to be limited in some manner as that would limit meaningful interaction between players.

Yes but your mechanic as written does not require your opponent to accept and indeed, if they are bothering you, they are hardly going to accept.

What GW are speaking of there is a duel/party duel system which appears to be along the lines of a 'wardec lite' system.

I believe you have noble goals, Andius, but this could cast your organisation into a whole new light. Assuming that TEO and their allies grow into a major political force then you'll make decisions on how much someone can charge for a rare resource? I think that it's a fair assumption that the materials required to craft the highest tier of buildings will be restricted in some manner. If TEO et al disapprove, shall we see moves made to take over those resources?

On the exile mechanic, the most obvious grief play that could be made with this is that any given organisation can inhibit movement into a particular hex. Scale that up and an organisation could feasibly annex entire areas of the map.

I think that this problem (that of someone bothering you in 'your' hex) could be fixed by permitting the wardec system to include individuals albeit at a similar price as that of declaring on an opposing company to prevent abuse.

I read that Andius' first option would mean that, for example, only a trading character could manage buildings with trading actions, unlike the Eve example where a character can be trained in only Corporate Management skills even if it has an obvious connection to a particular skill set.

For the original problem; in what situations would this deal with an annoying player that a simple /ignore function would not?

As for your exile mechanic, how would you propose to deal with this situation: Kingdom A has captured most of the important resources for settlement-building, for argument's sake I'll say 90%. They artificially increase the price of those materials to the point where it requires a lot of initial investment in order to found your own settlement. A coalition of organisations who want to try and reclaim some of those resources gather in a hex, claimed by Kingdom A, in a bid to recover these resource nodes. However, before they can found a base of operations, Kingdom A names them exiles which means that not only does our coalition have to fight Kingdom A's player characters but also their guards. In a game that states the power curve isn't going to be insurmountable, how does this mechanic not go against that grain?

I hope GW forgoes any management skills that map onto real world, metagame leadership. A skill like "melee combat skill" is there because we can't do what it points to without a game abstraction (combat). But the leader/s of a political entity is something you can do in and metagame.

I don't want the limit to the number of people in our settlement to be a management skill. I want it to be the real world political skill of the membership as they try and balance out the increasingly complex and disparate needs of a larger polity. In-game structural choices can support this, for example the choice of political structure in a charter.

I think it is probably a given that there will be some kind of gated mechanics to the operation of a settlement as that is what Goblinworks perceive most of our time being used to build towards.

It also dissuades opportunistic "corporate thieves". If you have a gated system where they must devote time to training those skills, it then means we'll see less of them, as for many of the "leet kids" who think it's cool to steal from people simply won't want to invest the time.

The only issue I foresee is that typically the ability of an organisation to manage itself is tied directly to the skills and abilities of those who are in upper management roles.

For that reason, I'd not vote for option 2. However, option 1 resonates very clearly with the way that I'd expect things to happen. Just to ensure we're on the same wavelength, from what I read you would suggest something like this:

Skill: Company Management
Pre-requisite: None
Description: Enables the ability to receive company roles.

Skill: Warehouse Operation
Pre-requisites: Trading 5, Company Management 1
Description: Permits the operation of warehouses. 5% bonus to warehouse capacity per level.

Skill: Warehouse Management
Pre-requisites: Trading 5, Company Management 5
Description: Permits the active management of warehouses. May manage one additional Warehouse Operator per level.

Something similar to that? I've used a similar tiering system to Eve Online. I've made the assumption that there would be a core "company management" skill simply to provide some kind of gate to assist in the prevention of scamming.

On behalf of the settlement of Shadow Haven, allow me to extend the hand of friendship towards you. I am Kastarr Eunson, Councillor of Merchants and proprietor of The Tilted Scales Trading Company.

Members of your organisation will, of course, be more than welcome to stop by our bustling little town and take a load off.

In dealing with evil-aligned creatures, I'm happy with alignment shifts. However, having a bounty applicable makes things open to abuse as it's one system for all bounties. What of a neutral trader who sells a masterwork longsword to the alt of a Player Killer? Should he suddenly be eligible for bounties? In that same example, you have no way of knowing mechanically whether the trader is aware the alt is an alt and will provide the PK with that weapon but if the system isn't applied fairly then no one will use it.

Also it's a false analogy. I'm not (necessarily ;)) providing players with weapons but predictable NPCs. At worst it will prove a strain on the opposing settlement's defences which then allows my mercenary forces to crush you utterly. Or at least destroy your trading buildings, which leaves you having to buy goods from me!

Although of course, the settlement does not condone outright violence as we are a peace-loving settlement merely looking to practice our various trades and arts in quiet.

Ah, a fellow trader. On behalf of Shadow Haven and The Tilted Scales Trading Company, allow me to welcome you into the fold. It is always welcome to have competent competition, it stimulates... activity.

You are, of course, welcome to visit Shadow Haven any time so that we may discuss war stories. I am Kastarr Eunson, Councillor of Merchants and friend to all.