I'm about midway through running my first AP, and I'm considering going homebrew for the next campaign. We still have a long way to go in the AP, but I figured it would be better to get started early.
I'm looking at running a sandbox campaign, set in one of the larger cities in Varisia. This would be a Lankhmar-inspired urban campaign, set 90% in town. I have a copy of the ISWG and Birthplace of Legends. Besides the book for the specific city (currently leaning toward Magnimar), what other resources would you recommend? Most of my group are veterans of Golarian, so I'd like to start off as close to canon as possible.
So my players are going to be exploring a ruined city in a few weeks. In addition to the normal loot, I want to include some very minor magic items, specifically items with no combat application of any kind. My thinking is that a highly magical society would produce items for a variety of uses -- entertainment, vanity, housework, etc. From a metagame standpoint, they're really just there to be sold -- but if I could inspire some spontaneous RP, that would be fantastic. Some examples:
A whistle that attracts dragonflies -- almost a small swarm but not enough to provide any kind of concealment
A hand mirror that allows the user to speed up the growth of facial hair
A decanter that can change soup into wine and back
A clockwork songbird that predicts the weather
I really want to create a sense of the strange and unusual, without giving the players any kind of immediately obvious practical advantage. Minor curses/drawbacks might be fun though. Anyway, I'm sure someone has tried this. If you could share ideas, it would be much appreciated.
I just finished my last level 1 session. Before I lock everything in and move on to second level, I'd like to change my character's faction. Can that be done? Do I get to transfer my PP to the new faction if I change before my next session? I tried to change my faction in my account, but the old one is still listed under my reported sessions.
Hi everyone. I recently played my first PFS game and I'm hooked. My only problem is that I'm very underwhelmed by the class I initially chose: a teleportation specialized wizard. I ran out of spells about an hour into the session, and spent the rest of the night missing things with my light crossbow. The rest of the group pretty much carried me through.
I've been told that there are very few PFS scenarios that have opportunities to rest and refresh spells, and that most casters rely on wands etc. to get things done. Given how weak Wizards are in all areas other than spell casting, it kind of kills the fun knowing that anyone with a high UMD can pretty much accomplish the same things, plus fulfill some additional function that I can't.
So I'm going to retrain my character before I hit second level and I need some advice on a new class. Before anyone says it, yes, I know I should play what's most fun: what I enjoy most is being valuable to the rest of the group. Beyond, that, all I know is that I still want some kind of arcane caster. The blasting isn't the important thing -- I want to focus more on control and/or buffing.
Alchemists look like fun, but the splash damage on bombs worries me. Summoners also look like fun -- more fun actually -- but I get the sense that a lot of people don't like having them at the table. I'm still relatively new to the game too, and I'm worried about biting off more than I can chew rules-wise. My third option would be a bard with maxed UMD. I'm not in love with the whole magic musician thing though, so I'd have to look for an archetype that downplays this.
In Ultimate Combat, I see cargo capacity is listed among the stats for various ships. Are there rules somewhere for determining how much space different types of cargo take up? What about rules for provisions? As in, how much food and water would you bring on an ocean voyage for X number of days and Y number of crew, and how much cargo space would that occupy? I don't remember seeing that in UC or the APG, but I may have missed it. Is it in another book somewhere?
I'm going to be GMing this AP in a couple of weeks -- I had to order WWM from my LGS and haven't had a chance to read it yet. From the player's guide, I'm inferring that the PCs are already supposed to be piratey types when they're pressed into the crew of the Wormwood. Would it break the AP to change that?
Here's what I'm considering: I want to include elements cribbed from The Count of Monte Cristo (and other Dumas novels) into the story. More specifically, the PCs would be from Cheliax -- either nobles that got on the wrong side of House Thrune, or commoners wrongly convicted of some crime. The idea is to add some additional motivation for the PCs to become big shots in the Shackles, so that they can eventually use their wealth and power to get revenge on whoever it was that did them wrong -- either after the AP is complete or via digressions from the main plot. I also think it would add some fun to part 1 as they would not be used to life at sea. Of course, the *players* understand that this is a pirate-themed campaign (I have some great RPers on board), but the PCs would initially be very reluctant buccaneers.
I would start the players on a prison ship bound for a Cheliaxian penal colony somewhere (Arcadia?). They escape while the ship is in port for supplies, only to be pressed into service aboard the Wormwood. Would it make any sense for a Cheliax-flagged vessel to make a stopover in Port Peril? Is it essential to begin in Port Peril, or can I substitute another city? Any recommendations?
Also, can someone describe the role Cheliax plays in later parts of the AP (if any)?
I don't mind if this would take a little extra work in the beginning -- I just want to avoid painting myself into a corner later on in the AP (especially if I choose to run books 2-6 more-or-less as presented).
So I'm thinking about starting an AP with my current group (most likely Skull & Shackles) but I only have two players. Recruiting more is not an option right now. As I see it, I'm going to need to do some combination of the following:
-Start the characters at a higher level so that the CR's balance out.
-Letting each player control two PCs at once.
-Include a GMPC in the party
-Tweak the encounters to make them a little easier
-Use some kind of gestalt house rule
I'm nervous about gestalt rules or multiple characters, since my players aren't terribly experienced with this system. I worry about overwhelming them. On the other hand, I'm not really excited about tweaking every encounter in the AP. I'm usually a home-brew guy -- the main reason I'm looking at APs is because I don't have a lot of time for prep right now.
So... does anyone have advice for this situation? Have you tried something like this? What worked? What should I watch out for?
Hello everyone -- first time poster and still new to Pathfinder. Please forgive me if this topic has been covered before.
I never used published settings in the old days, but I really like the approach Paizo took with the ISWG. It's perfect really, since I don't have the time to work from scratch like I used to. I'm planning to start a new campaign in Oppara and slowly expand through Taldor and into nearby nations. Galt and Qadira, in particular, seem ripe for the kind of intrigue-heavy game I want to run.
Then there's Andoran. I'm sure there are plenty of people who love Andoran as-is, but the real-world analogue is way too over-the-top for my taste. Rather than ignoring the entire western border, I decided to tweak Andoran to suit my campaign. Here's what I'm wondering:
If I make significant changes to one country, will that make it difficult to run APs later on(assuming they're set elsewhere)? I'm not planning to right away, but I'd like to keep the option open. How far can I bend canon before it breaks?
For those GMs who have done something similar, what changes did you make (Andoran or otherwise)?
