Kilmore's page

Before Gormann's invasion of barbarians and humanoids last year, the town of Blagenz was known for it's hot springs. Lying alongside a major highway, visitors from the Imperial capital several days away would alway make sure to stop here for a refreshing soak on their ways to the east.

The players, a pair of 1st-level gnomish sorcerers (fey and rakshasha) are traveling east to investigate a lord who got himself appointed governor of a devestated territory. Halfway along the way, the PC's are traveling in a coach, stopping in Blagenz in the late afternoon. One of the fellow passengers will be a lady in her forties who owns the spa, having the deed to prove it. There is one pool in the heart of the spa known as the "Gnome Boiler" that I'm sure will catch the party's interest.

The Gnome Boiler is a foot and a half deep, nearly scalding, and has a delicious aromatic steam from both the minerals and the surround moss. And it has bubbles.

But getting to it is a problem. Months of barbarian occupation haven't done it much good. Not that they were nasty, but that they actually liked being clean, and used the heck out of the place, as a bath, as a laundry, as a hospital, etc. After that, the barbarians were mostly chased out by the Imperial army months ago, though wandering bands remain. Plus, since the whole town has been largely abandoned, monsters have settled in. Plus there might be a squatter laying claim.

This is going to be a 1st level adventure for a pair of crafty players playing gnomish sorcerers. They have a 1st level fighter and a 1st level cleric NPC traveling with them, and a 3rd level rogue agent of the people sending them east who is their handler who might not like this sidetrack, but is still observing them and judging their ability. Plus there's a cat dude on the coach with them who they will probably want to throw in the water.

Does anyone have any thoughts, ideas, encounters or maps that they can help me out with? I got about a week.

Inquiring minds want to know.

I would imagine a PC's degree of math skill would go up according to INT, but few PC's routinely delve into math beyond dividing up treasure. Is a 19 INT wizard automatically a math wiz?

I'm actually kinda shocked due to all the open playtesting you'all do. I figure it would be good for notifying folks about new products and playtests.

I know this is an area where realism and playability clash, but there's really no way you could reload a black powder weapon in a full action, much less a standard action.

It generally took about a minute. I know that's no fun, but that's why pirates and highwaymen carried around four or six of them if they could, and the western menfolk fired off several rifles while the womenfolk behind the wagons reloaded for them.

I've seen estimates that the British in the Revolutionary War could fire four times per minute, but their weapons were more user-friendly than the older pieces.

AEG's Swashbuckling Adventures basically said, 1 round loading is playable, 1 minute loading is realistic. Go with whatever floats your galleon.

Regarding the Stop Bleeding feature of the 11th level Utility Shot:

I have my doubts about whether pressing a gun barrel that is hot enough to cauterize a bleeding wound could do so without inflicting damage. Even Rambo yelled when he field cauterized his wounds.

Holidays.

I had a Christmas type holiday in my campaign one time and the players spent a lot of jack for each other AND the party NPC's. Sure there were plenty of weapons and defensive rings and such, but they also got each other things like Bottomless Beer Mugs, a Pan of Frying, sparkly swords, things like that. They also hooked up a lot of non-party NPC's they'd been hanging with.

Birthdays would work well too. The DM would have to keep track of the calendar and try to work in the adventures during birthdays, especially the local Count's birthday (if they want to keep hunting monsters on his lawn).

There's all kinds of gods who have their own festival days. Probably a good idea to remember them before setting out on adventures. The Goddess of Love's holiday is a double whammy. You not only gotta hook up the goddess, but your special someone as well.

I've always said learning a game was like a college course. Let's see what a formal degree program would look like.

PATH 111 Introduction to Pathfinder
Introduction to roleplaying, history of D&D/Pathfinder, basic concepts, character creation, gameplay.

PATH 201 Basic Player Character
Player Character stats and abilities, combat and maneuver, player etiquette.

PATH 202 Basic Game Mastering
Setting up the game, designing adventures, dealing with players, rewards and punishments.

PATH 203 Spells and Magic Items
Understanding the rules of magic, core spells, core magic items.

PATH 301 Advanced Player Character
Tactics, party composition, handling player knowledge, using non-core abilities.

PATH 302 Advanced Game Mastering
Campaign design, villains and rivals, judging non-core material, situations.

PATH 303 World Building
Real world geography, fantastic elements, power groups, establishing connections.

PATH 304 Cartography
Dungeon mapping, ship/building mapping, city mapping, campaign mapping, world mapping.

PATH 305 Rules Creation
Understanding game balance, house rules, creating new rules, playtesting.

PATH 306 Monster Studies
RPG ecology, using monsters in encounters, random encounter tables, monster building, modifying monsters into PC's.

PATH 320 Dwarf Studies

PATH 321 Elf Studies

PATH 322 Gnome Studies

PATH 323 Halfling Studies

PATH 324 Human Studies

PATH 325 Half-breed Studies

PATH 350 Pathfinder and other RPGs
Finding common concepts, modifying useful concepts, evangelizing Pathfinder to 4th edition players.

PATH 370 Miniatures
Selecting miniatures, miniatures use, miniatures painting, other scenery.

PATH 371 Game Book Writing

Eye of the Sun
Evocation
Level: Sun God 4
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: 1 mile per caster’s level
Effect: 30 ft. diameter sunray illuminates target.
Duration: 1 minute / level.
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
Target: One person or item.

This spell sends a very bright and visible sunray down from the heavens to illuminate the target’s location. The sunray is visible from miles away and is directly centered on the target, surrounding it with a thirty-foot diameter sunbeam. If the target gets under cover, the sunbeam illuminates the area over the target. The beam is noticeably warm but is not damaging unless the target is vulnerable to sunlight or moderate warmth in which case it inflicts 1d6 points of damage / round. The focus is a magnifying lens.

Here's what I'm thinking, to tackle someone you could go your full run +5 ft. to be able to catch someone running away from you. You make a combat maneuver roll opposed by the defender's combat maneuver defense. If you win the defender ends up prone. The attacker ends up prone regardless of success or failure.

The tackle is always treated as an unarmed maneuver. Any weapons carried cannot be used, and the maneuver cannot be attempted while holding a two handed weapon. If the defender is armed is provokes an attack of opportunity and can be set to receive like a charge.