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What do you think about the idea of "fake prophecies"? i.e, prophecies that were forged? Relatively easy to do in the context of the world? People will believe what they want to believe?

How do you handle prophecies in your campaigns?

Are they strict, immovable and deterministic and the PC's have to work within their confines, or are they subject to free will and can be changed and modified by the actions of the characters, whether it be PC's or NPC's?

I find the second option more interesting but I wanted to check the waters and see what others think.

In popular fantasy you can find both of these examples. How would it work on Golarion? Are there any modules or AP's that deal with prophecies?

Thanks.

Thanks, all. Some good suggestions. I'll check and see what works best. Again, I'm trying to avoid an "infinitely-panicked" scenario.

Personally I'd rule it as the full spells effect which includes the spells duration. Frightful Presence works the same way.

But what would the spell duration be? The spell's duration is based on the caster level, but a fire giant has no caster level, that's why I interpreted it as the aura being always "on".

I like this interpretation, it gives me exactly what I want, the creature has a very strong aura that prevents them from getting closer (if they fail). I don't like the idea of them running to the hills once they fail the save and never coming back.

Greetings

I would like to create a Fire Giant with the Terror template. Basically create an even more formidable version of the giant with a touch of the supernatural to strike fear and awe into the hearts of the PC's. I also need it for thematic reasons having to do with my campaign.

It says the the aura fear effect acts as a Fear spell. However, the Fear spell is limited in its duration. Since the giant in this case has the aura permanently "on", does that mean that a panicked creature stays panicked as long as they are around the giant?

Let's say there is a fight, and a PC fails their Will save roll, does that mean they are out of the battle for good? They just run somewhere and don't come back until the monster is down?

Also, if you have ideas for templates other than Terror that will give me the same effect I'm looking for, please let me know.

Thanks!

I found the Rampager template but not the Rough Rampager. Do you have a link by any chance, or can just tell me what the difference is?

The reason I'm inclined to leave him as a cleric is because it's part of his background story and I already wove this into the campaign as he is the BBEG, but I am willing to consider the Antipaladin idea just for the sake of stat blocks that best mirror the idea of a "humanoid spawn", since this is what he's turning into towards the end. I mean, I will prefer the build that can give me the right flavor but without too much complexity.

Thanks!

Hey everyone, here's a little challenge for you.

So I have a cleric of Rovagug who sets out to awaken one of the spawns of Roavgug (Volnagur). My idea is that this attempt backfires and the cleric turns into a much weaker, humanoid version of the spawn, or simply adopts some of the spawn's characteristics. This character should be a major antagonist for the PC's. I am looking for a CR 12 build.

Any ideas how this can be done and where to start? How should he look? What special abilities should he have? Just weaker versions of the spawn's abilities? What class should he be under? Should he still have hos cleric spells or shall I transform him completely?

Any and all thoughts are welcome.

Thanks you!

Thanks everyone! So many ideas! I feel silly and lazy saying I looked and couldn't find...

Unless the camp guards can see ethereal creatures, of course. What level of PCs/NPCs are we looking at?

The PC's are level 9 but they are not in the camp when this happens. It's a dwarven army of mostly regular soldiers, so no high level spellcasters of any kind.

If so, does this work? For example with Ethereal Jaunt?

A BBEG with pet phase spiders also springs to mind.

Did you mean Phase Spiders?

If he was sleeping, he'd be considered willing for teleport purposes.

For real? That could solve the problem.

BTW, The BBEG is level 12 (Wizard 4, Cleric 3 and Mystic Theurge 5)

I am the DM.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I'll clarify: in the last session I needed a cliffhanger to finish things off. Long story short, the PC's return to camp only to find their friend has disappeared during the night. I then told that player that "he finds himself in a stuffy room".

I have an idea why he's there and who kidnapped him, but after the session I went to see how I can make it work in game mechanics and could not find anything. It was a complete improvisation that came to me at the moment.

As you can see, the Will save won't not help here because I already told the PC he was taken.

Have I painted myself into a corner or is there a way to justify it mechanically? MY BBEG is powerful but not that powerful, and I worry that I opened a can of worms with regard to his capabilities.

The BBEG is at least a few kilometers away from the PC's camp, and the camp itself is well guarded. The PC was simply whisked away during the night.

I should've mentioned it's not directed towards a willing creature. We're talking long-distance kidnapping, basically.

I see Wish is indeed capable of doing that but the victim gets a Will save.

However it's level 9 spell and the NPC doing the kidnapping isn't close to be able to cast it. I guess I can "cheat" with a scroll?

Or are there any other options?

Hello folks

Is there any artifact or spell that allows one to teleport another creature to a set destination from a distance of many miles, without touching or even seeing them?

I did some research but could not find anything.

Thanks!

Thanks, blahpers!

So essentially the artifact's description shouldn't link to that ability, since it's just confusing...

Hey folks

One of the PC's in my campaign has recently acquired the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords.

The item's description says: "Additionally, the wielder can summon an elder earth elemental (as summon monster IX; duration 20 rounds) once per week."

The Summon special ability, hyperlinked in the description says: "A creature with the summon ability can summon other specific creatures of its kind much as though casting a summon monster spell, but it usually has only a limited chance of success (as specified in the creature’s entry). Roll d%: On a failure, no creature answers the summons."

I am not sure what is meant by "creature entry". The page for the Summon Monster spell does not list any failure conditions, and when I click on some of the creatures just to check their individual pages, I don't see anything either.

My question is simple: can the PC summon the Elder Elemental automatically using the axe, or is there a roll involved?

Thanks!

Thanks, blahpers.

I assume you meant 10 armies of 2,000 troops each?

So if I have several "small armies" in the big army, how do I decide when one side is victorious? Maybe if the number of routed and/or destroyed units drops below a certain threshold?

Or else it can take a while.

Hello

I am not clear about how this works.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/other-rules/mass-combat/

So you have different army sizes, the biggest one available is 2000 units (colossal)

However, how do you claculate ACR for a massive army of 20,000 troops? Is "unit" considered a single soldier?

If so, do I just take this "2000 units" entry and multiply it until I get to 20,000? It doesn't make sense. Do the rules stop at Colossal because that's the biggest army you can have and therefore it's the maximum bonus to ACR? So any size above 2000 units will get a bonus of +8?

Thanks!

Yeah, I would like very much to create an Orc troop for CR 9 but it seems complicated. I have zero experience in creating monsters from scratch. I found Troop listings for several creatures (Goblins, for example) but not for Orcs.

It's also not a template that I can simply graft onto a creature using an NPC generator. Any idea how to appraoch this, if for example we take an Orc Barbarian as a basic unit?

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npcs-cr-3/orc-barbarian-4/

So far I've peopled the Orc army with Dire Boars, Goblin troops and Ettins. Maybe I'll throw in a few Orc Shamans as well. I just need the Orc troops to seal the deal...

Thanks, guys! I am taking down the ideas.

The PC's are level 9, Human Ranger, Dwarven cleric and a Barbarian Half-Orc.

How free to do their own thing are the PCs vs at the command of someone else? Do they start off assigned by command to do one thing then the chaos of battle along with seeing some threat command didn't know about end up improvising?

Will the battle take place outside or within the dwarven halls and underground or some of both perhaps? "Orcs have found the secret postern gate and you are the only ones I can spare that can reach them in time!" Or if that's too cliche maybe the dwarves are storming the orc citadel instead.

The PC's are in a high-ranking position in the Dwarven army, so they are mostly free to do their own thing. I plan to have the battle outdoors mostly, either in a field or as a siege. It really depends though on what the PC's decide to do. But bottom line is a battle is going to take place which involves thousands of combatatants from both sides.

I have found the Mass Combat rules and I will take a look, but again, trying to keep this relatively rules-light when it comes to the bigger picture.

Do you have ideas for some creatures that will fight alongside Orcs? Not magical or summoned, just regular run-of-the-mill monsters for diversity's sake. I've already decided to use dire boars as part of the Orcish cavalry.

Hey folks

I am planning to run a large battle betweem Orcish and Dwarven armies which the PC's take part in.

I do not intend to make this rules-heavy but to streamline it in order to give it an epic feel and to make the players feel like they are in a large, chaotic battle, so I am not bothering too much with number of units etc. I'm keeping it fairly general and would only use the combat rules for individual skirmishes the PC's are engaged in. I already know the result of the battle.

I am looking for any general advice you can give, perhaps from your own experience, on how to run such a battle in Pathfinder. For example, which warbeasts would the Orcs and Dwarves be using? Will either of the armies be mounted in any signifcant way? Is magic prevelant in such a battle or is it mostly blood and guts?

My aim is to narrate the battle, soak the players in the atmosphere, and then to just let them fight without bogging them down with too many rules that will hurt the pacing. My main inspiration for this is the large battles from the Lord of The Rings trilogy of films.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Just a clarification regarding the saving throws:

So regular attended items get the wielder's saving throw bonus, but a magical attended item gets a separate bonus? (2+ half CL of object)

So for example, would a Flaming Burst sword get to roll with a +8 bonus? (2+ half of CL 12).

What would a +1 Breastplate roll?

Hello

Some things are not clear to me regarding the rust monster attack:

- the antenna is making a "touch attack" against a metal object (let's say, a sword or an armor). What is the touch AC to roll against? Is it the character's touch AC?

- does the attack destroy all metal objects in two strikes, completely disregarding HP and Hardness?

- do magical weapons/armor get a saving throw or are subject to the same two-strike rule? (you're supposed to add 2 Hardness for every +1 of a magical object but it's meaningless if the rust monster only needs two strikes to destroy it).

Thanks!

Thanks so much, Meirril, I plan to stage the fight either inside Urgir or nearby, so having Orcs around makes lots of sense. This is a Dwarven-Orcish campaign.

And thanks everyone for the ideas.

Even after DMing for 1.5 years there is still so much to learn...

I'm definitely not familiar with it. How do you play a Mystic Theurge to its full potential?

So we are nearing the end of the campaign, and problem is I waited until the last moment to stat the BBEG. That was probably a mistake. I underestimated the task. But even so, it would've been very hard for me to bring them to level 12 or 13 without introducing tons of filler and screwing the pacing. We've been running this campaign for a while now and they advanced only a few levels (we play on medium XP advancement).

I'll think of something...

Thanks, guys. Ok, I'm trying wizard 4/cleric 3/ mystic theurge 10.

I'm getting a CR 14.5 character. The party is APL of 9. Thoughts? Will that work?

Also, I like the Fire Snake spell. Any other recommended spells?

Thanks.

Universal can't be a prohibited school. The entire point of universal is to cover a small selection of spells that all wizards should have access to. Also, it has less than a dozen spells, so you don't lose many spells if you pick it.

In the Dingle Games NPC generator, Universal appears as a prohibited school option you can choose. This is from the calculated page:

(School Conjuration Prohibited Universal,Illusion)

The reason I went with this specific duel class is due to the character's backstory, which led him from being a human wizard, to worshipping Rovagug and becoming a half-orc cleric within the city of Urgir. So my preference would be to keep the classes as they are. However. I am open to suggestions how I can keep the character powerful without clashing with the backstory.

The NPC was a selfish and vain wizard which took advantage of a small Orc tribe and conducted experiments on them. I won't get into all the details, but now he is sort-of making a penance for it. His interests clash with those of the PC's.

I'm not familiar with playing a Mystic Theurge. Will it fit here?

I would take quality over quantity, meaning, I prefer less spells, but more impressive ones. I do not look forward to spending two hours picking and choosing low-level spells I'll never have him use.

Hey guys

I'm working on building my main antagonist for the campaign. He is originally a human turned half-orc, started out his "career" as a Wizard (level 9), but later on became a cleric of Rovagug (level 8). He is NE in alignment.

I am using Dingle Games generator to create the NPC, and this is the most complex one I have yet to create. As a result, I'm simply overwhelmed by the amount of choices. I have to pick feats, spells, and magic items, and in these levels there are dozens and dozens to choose from. Especially when it comes to spells. So far I have decided that the Wizard's school would be conjuration with prohibition on Universal and Illusion, and that the cleric's domains will be Destruction and War.

I am looking mostly for any advice regarding which feats and spells are best for this build, I am interested in making him very aggressive with lots of buffing and attack spells, since he's the final boss of this particular campaign. Ditto for feats. He's at a pretty low AC right now (15) so he needs to have strong offence.

Alternatively, if there is a pre-made build that I can have access to that more or less correspond with the above, that would also help. I did not find anything matching in the NPC gallery. I am flexible in that I can play a bit with the levels but I still wanna keep him at CR 11+.

Thanks!

@ Belafon

No, this is not official PFS play, just adapting the scenario for a homebrew dwarven-focused campaign (it's a pretty cool scenario).

@ Andostre

That is funny! :-)

Thanks for the ideas guys, I think just having those bars be the value of the gold the scenario give the players is a good idea, it's a more interesting treasure than just finding another stash of gold coins. A bunch of silver/platinum bars stamped with the seal of the Koldukar treasury or something. A memento from a long-lost past.

I guess for PC Gen purposes I could tell the players to just convert it to gold and be done with it.

Yeah, I know, but what are the actual dwarven bars? What is their value? What are they actually made of? If you write for example "dwarven silver bars" in something like PC Gen do you get a hit, or should I simply replace them with gold coins? (even though the dwarven bars are more thematic)

I mean, the author of the scenario put this treasure there and my players would want to know what it's worth when it comes time to sell.

Thanks.

It's from PFS scenario 4-25, Glories of the Past part 3: The Secrets Stones Keep, page 9.

Does anyone know what "dwarven trade bars" are? It's a type of treasure in a Paizo module but I found no reference for it whatsoever in the rulebooks.

The only thing I found is from a Forgotten Realms wiki page where they talk about it being mostly silver but also gold. But nothing official from Pathfinder.

My players use PC Gen and if I give them treasure they need to be able to find it in the database and add it to their character sheets.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Yes, it's flavor, and it's referred to elsewhere in the scenario as "test of force", but it just sounded weird to me when they wrote "if the Orc wins" because it seems to take a very frivolous approach to the possibility that a PC might die in what is an almost random encounter, so I thought I might be missing something.

I guess I can put my own spin on it and decide that once one of the fighters reach a certain number of hit points the battle is over and the winner is declared, thus avoiding the possibility of a PC getting killed over this, since Barbarian does lots of damage in one strike.

And I think I will also allow and perhaps encourage maneuvers such as bull rush and trip to make it feel "dirty". I can certainly make use of it from the Orc's side of things.

Thanks.

Thanks.
However, It's not really that type of encounter. The PC's are just accosted somewhere in the wilderness by a band of Orcs and are denied passage until this "test of strength" is carried out...

The Orc champion is fully statted and armed to the teeth. But the description of the encounter is puzzling. If anyone wants to look it up, it's taken from the Pathfinder scenario 4-25 The Secrets Stones Keep. Here's a quote: "Should the PCs balk at paying the orcs or otherwise refuse, Magra proposes a test of strength—a single combat between the PCs’ champion and the Broken Spine Clan’s champion."

How do you guys feel about turning this into a wrestling match or boxing match with non-lethal damage? Can it work? There are weapons that deal non-lethal damage, but we are talking just straight-up punching here. Is it simply d20 + strength modifier against touch AC and then for damage... I dunno, 1d6 or 1d8 with the strength bonus?
The main drawback is that it might take a while, a long while, until someone reaches 0. Both PC and NPC have about 100 hit points...

Howdy

I occasionally use Pathfinder Society scenarios to mine some encounters for my homebrew campaign. I found an interesting one where the PC's are challenged by a band of Orcs for a "test of strength" with the Orcs' champion.

However, there is no mention anywhere in the scenario what this test of strength should actually be. Is this just regular one-on-one combat? The scenario stipulates that "if the PC's win, do so and so, but if the Orcs win, do so and so". If it's a regular combat, then if the Orcs win, it means they could potentially kill the PC. It doesn't make sense. This is an encounter that opens the scenario and should be a kind of skirmish, not a battle to the death.

Do you have an experience with similar situations in your games? How should this be carried out? Should I just have them duke it out with their fists for non-lethal damage? Should I let them lift heavy boulders above their heads and have them roll a strength check? The first option is more suspenseful because it's evolving, but the second option is a classic "test of strength".

What do you think?

Sometimes I really wish these scenarios would be written more clearly... but hey, it's a time saver.

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking, that spells that "confirm" such things can easily be manipulated by politics.
Unless you decide you play in a world where nobody contests such things and magic is the final word.

I may not go with the "tuning into a dwarf" storyline, but I don't see why accepting the axe as the real deal should be straightforward and simple. It's not really the axe, it's what it represents.

Thank you!

Yeah, I know. You can spin it so many ways to suit your purpose. I came up with this "proof" idea not because I didn't think anybody will recognize it, just as a device for dramatic tension between the players. And it made sense to me. But following the comments here I was persuaded to not follow through.

But I suspected it was problematic, that's why I came here for some feedback.

You are right, somebody could turn someone else into a dwarf through magic as well, so if someone doesn't believe the Axe is real nothing will persuade them. Good point!

My campaign is based in Golarion because it's easier for me to use pre-constructed maps and places and even events, but it is not 100 percent compatible to official Golarion history and to Everything That Ever Happened. My players know next to nothing about the world, only what they get through me, or what's relevant to their current adventure. They had the option to read the Inner Sea Guide but opted not to, so as far as I'm concerned I'm free to play fast and loose with the rules without a player coming to me and saying "hey, nobody believes in prophecies because of this and that". Golarion for us is just where the adventures happen. I would be happy if the campaign was deeply rooted in the history of the place, but since my players don't care about that too much, I don't either. Sometime I mention something from the distant past, for example, one of the adventures took place around the Eye of Abendego, and I mentioned it was caused by the death of Aroden, explaining who he is, but I got the distinct feeling that my players are just doing a mental shrug when they hear these things, for them, what matters is that they have this eye of the storm they need to navigate around, they don't really care how it got there. I guess I could've made more effort to teach them about the world, but at some point it was evident it's not really an issue as far as the game goes, so... I prefer to focus on concrete, immediate goals then to lecture them about history and endless exposition.

So you could say the campaign takes place in a modified version of Golarion that suits my players' style.

Thanks.

First of all, I was not aware of Legend Lore. The party has no Arcane spellcasters so my knowledge regarding Arcane spells is limited. If I'm not aware of it, almost certainly my players won't be aware of it.

(I have to admit one of the issues I have with high-magic fantasy setting is the way spells seem to fix everything, while reducing dramatic tension. Someone died? No problem, we'll go to a cleric and they'll resurrect them for a fee. Need to fix your sword? Need to authenticate your item? There's a spell for that. Yeah, I know, it's my campaign so I can ban these spells if I wish, but I'm just saying this as an aside.)

So basically you're telling me that it's not a great idea. Not only does it force the players to do something they might not like, there are also several ways in the rules to solve the issue and authenticate the artifact.

I do like the idea of other dwarves contesting for the axe, it's just that the PC was mentioned in a prophecy as the wielder of the axe. This is another aspect I'm considering, how many dwarves believe in said prophecy.

Hi folks

The PC's in my campaign are after the legendary Axe of the Dwarvish Lords.

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/artifacts/major-artifacts/axe-of-the-d warvish-lords/

They are very close to (hopefully) acquiring it.

Idea 1: In my campaign legendary artifacts need proof that they are the real deal. A +6 bonus is not something visible, nor is a keen ability, and the exterior ornamentation can be forged. The only visible characteristic of the item is Hands of the Maker. i.e, if you hold it/use it for an extended period of time (a few weeks), and you are not a dwarf, you will turn into one.

This is essentially the only proof that the Axe is the real one.

Since finding the axe is supposed to convince an entire dwarven populace to gather behind the PC's, I feel that the more suspicious of dwarven rulers will require proof before expressing their allegiance.

Idea 2: an offer is being made to the PC's, that one of them who is not a Dwarf will carry the Axe instead of his usual weapon. If he begins to show dwarven physical attributes, then this is the proof that the PC's have acquired the artifact.

My concern: this will involve "forcing" a player to use a different weapon then the one they carry. They might like the idea, they might not like the idea. The party has three PC's, so there are two possible choices since the third one is a dwarf.
I believe both other PC's are proficient with martial weapons.

Of course, the PC's can refuse to do it altogether, so in that sense I'm not really forcing anyone, but let's be honest: it will be evident to them that this is the way story "should" progress. Now, I'm completely open to them refusing and to any creative alternative solutions they may find for the problem. But my players seem to sense when I would prefer them to go in a certain direction even if on my part they have the freedom to do whatever they wish.
For me, having another character use the weapon is an interesting idea because it involves themes of sacrifice and camaraderie. (of course I will not let the affected PC remain a dwarf unless they would wish to).

The question: do you think it's a good idea to even introduce such an element into a campaign, where a players choice, at least on paper, seem to be restricted by what the GM wants? I don't want someone with a powerful magic sword he worked hard to acquire to be given the Axe (a powerful weapon in itself, to be fair) and then resent it, nor do I want the dwarf to resent not being able to wield the Axe himself, even if it's only for a limited time. I plan to have at least two full session where the Axe will be wielded by a non-dwarf.

Your opinions are welcome!

Well, fair enough, but my players don't like it when I tell them stuff they perceive as something they shouldn't know. They don't like it when I tell them the DC of something, they don't like it when I tell them a certain weapon doesn't damage a monster, they don't like it when I tell them a monster has DR or SR. They like to be in the dark and figure stuff organically and not in a gamey way.
But on the other hand, they don't study their characters well enough to know exactly what capabilities they possess, so this approach has costs. I try to help them when I can and it seems fit, but as the game is a simulation, I also feel that they are more challenged if their survival depends on their capabilities and competence.

Usually the only time I initiate a knowledge check without any prompt from the players is when they come to a new place and I just let them roll to see how much they know of this place and its past, it will usually be a Knowledge History or Religion. I suppose Dungeoneering can be treated the same way. But it just didn't feel right to me. It's just that usually knowledge checks are not done under such duress.

When they entered the room and the ooze came spilling out I had three options:

1) Leave them in the dark as they like to be, and only give a knowledge check in response to a direct query. That would require the Ranger player to know what Dungeoneering is and how it can be used.
2) Ask them for a roll a without being prompted.
3) Roll secretly for them and then freely give them the info if needed.

My problem with "always rolling" is that once I tell them to roll for a check they know something is up, even if the roll failed. Maybe this method works with Perception, (even though I feel it just slows down the game when you roll it every single time you enter a room), but when it comes to knowledge checks, telling someone to roll to identify the Ooze traits immediately tells them something is up with it. They encountered an Ooze before, so their characters should remember the basics. If they don't remember, should I tell them? I dunno, maybe I'm too harsh, but I try and work with what my players seem to want.

Just to be clear, they were not angry or frustrated about the encounter, they just admitted it was tough and they were happy to escape with their lives. Hopefully they learned some valuable lessons in the process. I just came here to see if I ran it more or less correctly by the rules.

Yeah, that makes sense, that's why I ruled that its attacks do not become weaker. I didn't explain it my head exactly as you did, but it just didn't feel right to handicap it just because it splices.

This is going away from rules discussion, but I am trying to get my players more invested in the minutiae of their characters and know their characters inside and out, and I sometimes feel that if I remind them what skills they have and when they should roll I am doing their job for them and thus they become lazy. Because when they are adventuring there isn't some omnipotent voice from above thundering YOU MAY USE YOUR DUNGEONEERING SKILL NOW. They should know what it is and when it's useful.

I did remind the player post-game that he could've used the skill, so hopefully next time he'll remember.

They have a Ranger with Dungeoneering but he was not using it to identify the monster. I think he was not aware of it or simply forgot. I opted not to tell him how to play.

The room was small and became smaller as the monster spliced when hit by arrows. They withdrew barely with their lives and lost an important NPC along the way.

You know, you put monsters to challenge your players, but you can't play the game for your players.

Based on the title I thought someone was going to apply Allfood to the pudding after the battle.

Now, if you could do that on the living Pudding, that would be something else.

I see.
I described them to my players as being smaller, because I wanted to give them a visual clue that the spliced portions of the Pudding are weaker. They seemed overwhelmed and did not know how to handle the situation. I had to do something to clue them in to the fact the Pudding loses hit points as it splices without saying it outright, which lead to the question above.

I think if I didn't allow the Pudding to lose grapple as it got spliced I might have had a TPK on my hands.

It's a tough monster.

Hey folks

Tough battle last session with a Black Pudding. Some issues came up that I had to resolve on the spot, so coming here to pick your brains about it.

1) one of the players, which was grappled by the Pudding, asked me: "if I attack it and hit, and it splices, won't it release me from the grapple automatically?" I could not find a reason to not make it so since it seemed logical to me, so I ruled that it's possible. I could not find any corroboration to that in the rules, not in the Black Pudding stats, and not in the Grappled entry. What do you think? Does a Black Pudding lose its Grapple when it's spliced?

2) another question from the players: "when they splice, and become smaller, they attack with the same force"? This time I ruled that yes, their attack doesn't change, because there was only one Offence entry in the stat block. However, does it really make sense that when a Black Pudding splices, and is now smaller with less hit points, that his offence capability will still have the same attack roll and the same damage? I mean, when I look at Enlarge Person for example, the offence and defense capabilities change with the change in size. Why wouldn't it be same for a creature that become smaller as it's hit repeatedly? But there is no mention of anything like that in the stat block.
What's your take on this?

Thanks!

These are some great suggestions. Thanks, everyone!

I see. OK, cool. Well, stepping into a darkened room actually makes the scene cooler.

But since the PC's are holding several torches, will that have an adverse effect on the Drow's vision when she finally comes in to see who's been slinking into her lair? (she's an NPC that's supposed to supply some information, no combat is planned, unless the PC's are unusually aggressive. I'm asking for role-playing purposes).

Are you saying a Drow's "hangout" should have no light sources of any sort?

In case it wasn't clear I'd just like to stress out that the library is not deserted or anything, it's fully occupied and lived in, it's just the owner is not there when the PC's arrive and is due back shortly afterwards.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Hi all

The PC's are about to enter an underground library belonging to a CR 8 Drow Flame Oracle. The Oracle will not be there when they arrive. I plan to hide the entrance with a secret door but other than that I'm looking for some challenges within the room, it can be a trap or a guardian monster/monsters.

Do you have any ideas/advice in the matter? I'm not experienced with Drow encounters. Are there certain monsters they like to enslave for these kinds of purposes? Something incorporeal that springs on them might be better than just a big monster sitting in the room. The room itself is not that large.

We have two clerics (Serenrea and Torag), one ranger, one Barbarian and one investigator. APL is 7.

Thanks!!

Leaving the rules part of the discussion aside for a moment: Lynos, how do you feel about hold person?

I didn't consider Hold Person... doesn't the Paralyzed effect though negates the Harpy's influence? (the victim is supposed to move). Or are you simply referring to the last 5 feet?

Do you guys really feel that simply negating the Dex bonus to simulate the captivated effect is really that problematic? I couldn't find anyone that really supported it. :-) :-)

BTW, here's the link to the listing:

https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/monstrous-humanoids/harp y/