Madokar Valortouched's page

I mentioned in an earlier post how Barzillai was eclipsed by an unforeseen opponent who swiftly became the most feared and hated enemy in the AP for my players. I finally finished a google doc chronicling everything that happened. So... here it is.

Fair warning: This obviously contains major late-game spoilers for the AP, as well as several moments that might be triggering to some. The following story contains scenes of severe corpse mutilation, mentions of sexual slavery, acts of terrorism, psychological torment, child endangerment, a succubus being... a succubus, and moments that invoke imagery of suicide.

And if you don't have a problem with those topics, then enjoy!

And honestly, it took me a few months to process everything and write a complete summary of the moments that significantly changed the finale of the AP. Because the final boss of the AP wasn't who you might have thought it would have been. Which is a good thing, because Barzillai went down like a punk in under one round of combat when the party confronted him at the Apex of Bone.

No, the final boss of the AP was... Mangvhune, of all people. Mangvhune survived the initial encounter with the party... because the party ran from him once he took out the Champion of Irori in under one round. But the thing is that when the Champion of Irori fell, it was the first PC death in the entire AP. Between me being a rookie GM and my players being experienced veterans, they went all the way until the halfway point of Book Five before there was a PC death.

Because of that, I heavily edited Mangvhune's section to instill that all-important threat of a TPK into the group. Because until this point, a TPK simply wasn't a possibility that was entering the minds of my players. They didn't feel like they were in danger. Which led to Mangvhune becoming the enemy they dreaded the most as he survived far longer than he was supposed to. And that whenever he showed up, it was extremely tense and a player always died. He even managed to actually cause a near-TPK at their penultimate encounter.

He's still alive by the end of the AP, for crying out loud. Mangvhune was even addressed as the party's "actual archnemesis" after they got back from Hell and destroyed Barzillai at the Apex of Bone. This kind of happened because A) Mangvhune made everything so extremely personal. And B) he openly revealed that he had been manipulating the PCs to accomplish his own goals. But because of what was happening, the PCs knew they had to do what he wanted.

Long story short, the PCs beat the AP and thwarted Barzillai's scheme. But Mangvhune was able to use them to create an "awakened" demon army for Shax at the final confrontation located at the Soul Anchor. The PCs were able to regain control of the Soul Anchor, but Mangvhune retreated after the PCs managed to survive all the forces he could marshal against them. Since he accomplished his mission, he saw no point in throwing his life away and was actually amused that the PCs were able to give him his first real defeat in all of his existence.

I'm trying my hand at being the first time. I'm currently GMing Hell's Rebels (my first AP as a GM), and so far we're doing great. The party is about halfway through Book Four: The Song of Silver. And we haven't lost a single one of the four PCs we started with so far! It helps that my players are mostly veterans (we have one rookie player, but we have been very supportive of her and now she is one of the most deadly PCs at the table)

Here's the tricky bit. In order to make my players really invested in being rebels and defending Kintargo, I worked with them on their backstories and tied most of them to major NPCs in the AP (the only one without a backstory tied to a major NPCs is the above aforementioned rookie player, since she is new to the whole roleplay aspect)

When one of my players decided to be a Pitborn Tiefling, I arranged it so he was a half-brother to Hetamon Haace via their half-succubus mother Natsiel. Well, when it came time to confront Natsiel under the Silver Star at the start of Book Four, he lost his chance to confront his villainous mother.

See, our Warlock Magus cast Invisibility Sphere over the party and the allied NPCs (Shensen and Strea Vestori). Between the bonus to stealth Invisibility Sphere provided and the situational -20 to Perception Natsiel and her Green Hags at the moment, it was a massacre. Natsiel died in the surprise round before my player connected to her could even land a blow on her, let alone talk to her.

Now my player is seeking ways to bring Natsiel back to life, because he wants to try and redeem her. Even after what she and her Green Hags did to his half-brother Hetamon. Between not having anyone willing to raise her and Natsiel herself not wanting to be raised, my player was denied a potent moment for his character.

This is where I got creative. Spoilers for Hell's Rebels ahead:

For clarification's sake, my players currently have an APL of 11. I plan to introduce the second Natsiel encounter until after they've reached an APL of 12 or 13. The party itself consists of a human Constructed Pugilist Brawler/Mounted Fury Vigilante (he actually wound up with Zailosorn, the wyvern from Menador Keep as his mount), a baseline halfling Ranger specialized in Archery with a Dire Wolf Animal Companion, a tiefling Nornkith Qingjong Monk/Divine Hunter Paladin with the Champion of Irori Prestige Class and a human Warlock Vigilante rounding out the group.

Anybody have any input on this? I would really appreciate a second opinion on this.

So our first Rise session was last night. Our group recently went through three PFS modules based in Magnimar, so we started at level 2. My original character stayed behind in Magnimar so I could bring in a new character, Baros the pitborn tiefling paladin of Sarenrae.

The rest of the party arrived in Sandpoint as representatives of the Pathfinder Society. Baros was already in Sandpoint due to him being sent on pilgrimage from his temple in Korvosa. Nonetheless, Baros was already in the Rusty Dragon when Rogrimm the male dwarf barbarian, Josephine the female tiefling witch, and Venna the female elven bard arrived in town. They were escorted to the Rusty Dragon by a PS intern named Tim. They were instructed to find Shalelu, but they immediately went off on their own initiative to explore the town.

Baros, not being a part of the Pathfinder Society, made his way to the Sandpoint Cathedral to greet Father Zantus. Despite Zantus' backhanded comments about a tiefling paladin, Baros was still accepted into the Cathedral when he offered his services as a healer.

Rogrimm wanted to find a tavern with "more character" and found his way to the Fatman's Feedbag. He promptly asked for "something with some kick to it", and he was given blowfish sushi. Which Rogrimm promptly downed with no ill effects. A shady patron then set up a pool to see if Rogrimm could handle "the challenge" and finish off "the big one".

Rogrimm then had to make a FORT save after eating a whole roast lamb. Suffering no bad effects, he then had to eat a bulette steak. Again, he made his FORT save and asked for more. He then was given a charred lump of flesh that had to be some creature's heart. When he ate it, it tasted like smoke, ash, and it electrified Rogrimm's taste buds. Making his FORT save YET AGAIN, Rogrimm asked for MORE and then gained Electricity Resistance 2. A later Knowledge (Planes) check made by both Baros and Venna revealed that this was a Demon Heart.

Rogrimm was finally offered "the big one", and it was a whole roast boar. By this point, Rogrimm needed to Rage in order to down the boar, and down it he did. He made the final FORT save and won 25 gold. Rogrimm also looked like he was pregnant by this point from his swollen belly, let out a massive belch and asked for something to drink.

Josephine and Venna remained in the Rusty Dragon, and started to chat up Ameiko. Josephine wanted tea, since she viewed herself as a classy lady. When Ameiko provided some green tea, Venna and Josephine started to ask Ameiko about Minkai, much to her frustration. They kept this up, and eventually started to badger her about Ninjas.

By this point, Baros and Rogrimm had made their way back to the Rusty Dragon. Seeing Rogrimm's newly acquired mass, Ameiko informed him that while average patrons used the indoor chamber pots, Rogrimm had to use the hole in the back yard of the Rusty Dragon to make his "deposit".

Sensing Ameiko's growing frustration, Venna noticed a lute hanging behind the bar. Asking Ameiko if she played, Venna ultimately convinced Ameiko to start a performance in the Rusty Dragon. Everything was alright at first, as Ameiko's performance started to draw in people from the street. But then Lonjiku showed up.

Lonjiku started to berate Ameiko for running the Rusty Dragon, and especially for entertaining her patrons. Baros stood up for Ameiko, telling Lonjiku that Ameiko has great talent and should be allowed to choose her own path in life. Inspired by Baros, Ameiko stood up to Lonjiku.

Lonjiku responded by slapping Ameiko in front of all of the Rusty Dragon's patrons. Baros punched Lonjiku with a gauntlet covered fist in turn. Lonjiku then began to slink away, cursing everybody in Tien. Rogrimm, with his 8 CHA, decided to smooth things over by chasing down Lonjiku's carriage and making an invitation to the Fatman's Feedbag that Lonjiku's saw as an Intimidate check.

Rogrimm was somehow able to convince Lonjiku that he did the best he could for Ameiko that he could in Sandpoint with what little resources he had as they drank sake together. In the end, Lonjiku was convinced not to hold a grudge. Drunk as a skunk, Rogrimm escorted Lonjiku back to his estate and with the help of his servants, managed to get him safely to bed.

Meanwhile, back at the Rusty Dragon, Ameiko had run up to her room crying. Baros followed her, trying to console her. His Diplomacy check succeeded, and he gave her a sincere talk about how our heritage doesn't define who we are or how our lives must be. Only our actions and choices determine where we go in life.

The next morning, the party FINALLY met Shalelu. She arrived at the Rusty Dragon with rope in tow, seeking to arrest Baros. She was mildly stunned by the 6'6" tiefling with 18 CHA, but then presented the rope with intent to arrest Baros for striking a nobleman. Baros simply said that they didn't know each other well enough for that yet.

The racket that followed attracted Rogrimm, Josephine and Venna, and when Shalelu released these lunatics were the Pathfinders she was supposed to meet yesterday, her eye and ears started to twitch. Eventually, we made it clear that Baros only struck Lonjiku for striking Ameiko first, which made Shalelu relent on the arrest attempt, her eye still twitching.

Trying to get the tour of the town started that was supposed to have started yesterday, the group set off to explore Sandpoint. The tour went fairly well. Until we came across the Sandpoint General Store and met Ven Vinder along with his daughter, Shayliss.

Shayliss subtly flirted with both Baros and Josephine in front of her father, remarking on the "sinful opportunities". Picking up on Shayliss' intentions, Baros asked Shalelu about Shayliss' reputation. A Sense Motive check revealed that Shalelu and Shayliss were "friends with benefits", but Shalelu refused to classify the relationship in that manner.

As we explored the town, Venna and Josephine started to ask Shalelu about herself. Shalelu revealed that she was friends with Ameiko, which prompted more questions about Ninjas. This is when Shalelu snapped, attacked Rogrimm by slapping him, screaming about how on Golarion these lunatics were Pathfinders and she was kicked out, followed by her then running off into the forest.

We managed to come to the Cathedral before we ended the session, but Father Zantus told Rogrimm not to enter the Cathedral ever again after he started belching and Baros told him that he shouldn't have eaten the demon's heart last night.

My group is going to start playing Rise of the Runelords next week. I've got a character figure out, but I'm having trouble figuring out how he got to Sandpoint.

My character is Baros, a Pitborn Tiefling who is a Paladin of Saranrae. I originally played for a little bit in an Eberron campaign using Pathfinder rules, but the group fell apart not long after we hit level 2. Thing is, I was really intrigued by Baros as a character, because the first notable thing he did was accidentally seduce a dwarven serving girl without trying the first night he stayed in the tavern. I instantly established him in my mind having a succubus somewhere in his family tree, and him having a natural talent with women.

My current group was initially playing a few PFS modules, so we're starting the AP at level 2. I was playing another character for those PFS sessions, but Baros' concept just wormed its way back into my mind and I felt he would be so much more interesting to play then my old character. So I retired my old character and got GM permission to bring in Baros. This gives Baros a bit of leeway for how he gets to Sandpoint.

I'm was thinking that Baros goes to Sandpoint as part of a pilgrimage, but my initial reasons for said pilgrimage might not work out as well as I initially hoped. I was under the belief that the worship of Sarenrae was more common in Varisia than it actually is, given that Sandpoint has a shrine to Her in the town cathedral.

The original idea was for Baros to simply go on pilgrimage to Varisia and just visit the various sites of worship in the country, him being in Sandpoint when the AP starts. But now that I know that Sarenrae worship isn't as wide-spread there as I initially thought, would it be too "out there" for him to have received a vision to head to Sandpoint?

I was leaning for him to originally be from Absalom, him having been abandoned at the entry way to the Sarenrae temple in the Ascendant Court as a baby. Could Baros have received a vision from Sarenrae to go to Sandpoint at level 2, or should a more experienced cleric have had the vision? Or maybe there should be a better way for him to get to Sandpoint? I don't think Baros is a Sandpoint native. A Tiefling born in such a small town would be such a scandal, I'm not sure if it's appropriate.

So I've got a BBEG that is in possession of the Demonic Book of the Damned. One of the abilities granted through the Book is the option to choose any Demon Lord Boon as a free ability without having to take the Demonic Obedience feat.

If this BBEG takes Haagenti's Master of Shapes Boon, he gains the Shapechanger Subtype. Now, the Shapechanger Subtype doesn't actual state that it grants the Change Shape ability. Just that the subtype includes creatures who can change their form.

So if the BBEG takes the Master of Shapes Boon and gains the Shapechanger Subtype, does he gain the Change Shape ability or not? Because if he can't Change Shape while he has the subtype, then what is the point of having the subtype?

For the squeamish, look away. A disturbing scenario follows.

I have a Half-Balor Antipaladin who serves as the Big Bad of a homebrew campaign who will lay seige to Andoran. Towards the end of the campaign, he manages to capture Talmandor. During Talmandor's subsequent imprisonment, he is tortured to limit his strength. One of the tortures he's subjected to is that his wings are amputated, leaving his arms/hands still intact.

It's mostly a narrative thing by this point, but I'm genuinely curious: What Skill is used to amputate limbs in general, and amputating a Celestial specifically. Heal comes to mind right off the bat, but the Survival Skill is used to harvest meat from animals. I'm considering the Survival skill because the Half-Balor has an interest in eating the wings of Celestials. So I'm curious as to which Skill is the appropriate one for the situation.

So I've been working on a campaign for a couple of years now. But in the past month, I've completely gutted and rebuilt the narrative. The reason for this is because I've reworked one of the final bosses of the old campaign into the BBEG for the new one.

For simplicity's sake, the BBEG is in essence an unholy fusion of my three favourite villains in media: Eric Cartman, Light Yagami, and Ainz Ooal Gowne. Of those three villains, Light Yagami is the dominant inspiration. Because of that, I feel that I need to create a character who serves as the "L" to the villain's "Light".

This character's role in the story is to provide backstory to the PCs about the villain. "L" has been tracking the villain throughout the Inner Sea region for about 10 years now. He'll also be key to freeing the PCs from Andoran arrest since the villain has set up the PCs as patsies for the current part of his plan by the time he meets the players.

My primary problem right now is figuring what class "L" should be. I feel Investigator would be a good fit, though I also think that Inquisitor and Slayer might also be great choices. Of course, class(es) is just one hurdle. I have no idea what feats this character should have.

Time to pick the community's brain. I'm writing my first campaign, and one of the main enemy factions is the Cult of Haagenti. They are led by a Succubus Oracle who has completed the Rituals of Fiendish Apotheosis. She accomplished this through visions from Haagenti that directed her to the Demonic Book of the Damned.

Now, I would like the PCs to be able to match this advantage. So I'd like them to earn the right to use the Chronicle of the Righteous towards the end of the campaign. And truth be told, they'll need that advantage. Depending on how the PCs play out the campaign, the final boss might be a Half-Balor Antipaladin of Haagenti.

The Chronicle can bestow many benefits. Primarily of which, it can be a repository of information that the PCs can be creative with to figure out advantages to win the final boss battle. This ranges from discovering fiendish weaknesses to the locations of Celestial weapons and armour.

Thing is, I don't know how to present the option to the PCs. I toyed with the idea of the PCs being directed to the current guardian of the Chronicle. But it seems like it has too many cogs. They'd also probably have to leave the country to find him.

Also, once the found the location of the Chronicle, they'll need to pass some tests to prove they are worthy of the knowledge. Which I feel shouldn't just be combat. But tests of character and roleplay skill.

Any thoughts?

So I've got this villain for a homebrew campaign I'm writing. She's a Succubus with 12 levels as an Oracle. Her mystery is the Outer Rifts, so she's got Planar Binding as a mystery spell. Here's the thing. As a CE Outer Rifts Oracle as well as being a demon, she can't cast Lawful or Good spells. So... how can she make use of Planar Binding to call demons if she can't cast Magic Circle against Evil to maximize her odds of getting these called demons to cooperate?

A bit of background. This particular succubus has never even been to the Abyss. She was originally a Drow Noble who managed to perform all four Rituals of Fiendish Apotheosis thanks to visions from Haagenti. As such, she doesn't actually know any demons personally. In addition, she's only been a full succubus for the past couple of decades. So she doesn't really have any reputation or respect in the Abyss.

EDIT: Fixed my blunder. Originally posted Magic Circle against GOOD when I meant Magic Circle against EVIL

So I've got this Succubus who is the leader of a Demon Cult for my first campaign. She's been breeding her own legion of Antipaladins for the use of the Cult's military. But then, I had an idea.

I'm not too keen on the MLP franchise, but curiousity got the better of me and I saw Rainbow Rocks. And it got me interested in the Equestria Girls sub-franchise. Mainly because of how damn effective the Dazzlings were at their plan for the movie. Their songs were also very catchy.

I've been toying with making an homage to the Dazzlings for some time. I have a variant for this project I'm working on that's not related to DnD in any way, but I can also make a shout-out to them as a minor antagonist group in a campaign. So... why not have this Succubus Cult Leader have the Dazzlings as a group of her Half-Succubi daughters that she uses to pull the strings out in settlements?

Thing is, I have never played a Bard before. And the features of the class seem somewhat complicated. At least at first. Mainly because of the support role they gravitate to and all the options for Performances and Masterpieces. That's not even getting into the Spell List options and which are the most appropriate for a group based off of the Dazzlings.

Anybody out there have any suggestions to help make this work?

Been mulling over something for a home campaign. I've got this Antipaladin I want to be a major, end-game antagonist. Mechanically, he's sound. But for the life of me, I can't figure out his backstory. Let alone his name.

He's a human male Antipaladin of Haagenti. Through the Cult of Haagenti, the Antipaladin is performing the Rituals of Fiendish Apotheosis from the Demonic Volume of the Book of the Damned. Towards the mid-end portion of the campaign, he transforms into a Half-Balor. So he has to be a particularly vile person.

Since he becomes a Half-Balor before the campaign is over, he has to be performing all kinds of sins in order to trigger such a transformation. Off the top of my head, I see a heady mix of Lust, Wrath, Envy, and Pride to trigger the change.

Antipaladin's of Haagenti are relatively rare. But this particular cult of Haagenti has a Succubus who is one of the leaders the faith. She's been producing half-succubus Antipaladins of her own as a means to bolster the cult's standing armed forces. These Daughters of Sin could be a stepping stone to how this Antipaladin came to be. But I'm drawing blanks on how that can work.

I was toying with the idea that the Daughters of Sin would go out to corrupt someone into furthering the designs of the Whispers Within. But the idea seems to be going nowhere fast. After all, Alchemists are the primary targets for the cult. The cult itself is based in Oenopion but has dispatched several key agents to Cheliax, where the campaign takes place.

If the Antipaladin used to be a proper Paladin, then what faith was he a member of before his fall?
Why would he be targeted by the Cult of Haagenti? Why would he want to undergo the Rituals of Fiendish Apotheosis?

So my favourite anime/manga series is Fullmetal Alchemist. One of the main enemy factions in my first homemade campaign is a Cult of Haagenti. So I figured: "Why not have some fun and base some of the enemies in the cult off of the homunculi of FMA?"

Now, these villains are not carbon copies of the homunculi. They can't be. But they can be seven major enemies for the PCs to fight as the campaign progresses. Off the top of my head, I already have four enemies checked off.

1) Lust: A Succubus. Most likely in need of tweaking in order to make unique, but I definitely have a role for a succubus in the narrative.

2) Wrath: An augmented Tyrannosaurus. One that has been subjected to Anthropomorphic Animal and Awaken, so it can have class levels in Barbarian.

3) Envy: This one was easy. A Doppelganger with class levels in Rogue/ Assassin, whose Change Shape ability works as Greater Polymorph due to some work performed on it by the Cult of Haagenti.

4) Pride: This one works as the pride of the Cult's leader. An antipaladin who has completed the first two rituals of Fiendish Apotheosis, and is about to initiate the third.

This leaves three enemies to fill out. Gluttony, Greed, and Sloth. I admit I am at a loss for what kind of enemies could be used to fill these roles. I have some ideas for Sloth, in that I feel something that causes physical erosion or advances the age of a target would be ideal. But I don't know of any creature or abilities that can produce the desired effect.

So this thought popped into my head. With all the various churches and cults on Golarion, one has to wonder what the procedure is for excommunication. Excommunication, as a part of a backstory, can make a great starting point for heroes and villains alike.

Paizo uses excommunication in their backstories for some characters. Szuriel was excommunicated from her faith before she became the Horseman of War. Though her example is kind of threadbare, as she was likely born on another planet and burned it down to nothing when she seized her current title.

That being said, reading over the Inner Sea Gods book, the faiths of the Inner Sea are very loosely organized. Some nations adopt a faith as their primary form of worship, but otherwise, the various temples are very independent of each other. Lastwall and Mendev are firmly in Iomedae's camp, with Nidal under Zon-Kuthon's thumb. And of course, we can't forget Cheliax and their relationship with Asmodeus.

Given that the Gods are very real in the setting, an excommunication is probably partially influenced by divine forces. But given that the Atonement spell is frequently used to absolve transgressions of the faith, excommunication would have to be because of a very serious offense to the church.

So I'm a newbie GM. GMed the Dragon's Demand Module, and currently reading up on my new Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance PDFs. Here's the thing. I like playing good characters. Paladins are my new favourite class. So I personally would have loved to have played on the side of the Glorious Reclamation in Hell's Vengeance.

Wondering leads to creation, and by pondering on what would happen if I had joined the Glorious Reclamation, I begin to imagine how a campaign based on reclaiming Cheliax from House Thrune and the Church of Asmodeus would play out. So I started working on my first home campaign.

The basic idea for this campaign is that a few other APs have been successfully completed. Namely, Wrath of the Righteous, Skulls and Shackles, and Hell's Rebels. The logic of those particular APs having succeeded is because of three reasons:

1) With Wrath of Righteous completed, the Worldwound has been closed. This frees up a huge amount of resources for the Church of Iomedae, allowing them to pursue other missions.

2) Skulls and Shackles happened because the group I play with now completed that AP before I joined them. So at some point in my campaign, they will receive subtle aid from the current Hurricane King, who will be a PC from their take on the AP.

3) Hell's Rebels happened so that the average members of the Chelaxian population in my campaign will have hope that they can escape the rule of Thrune. It will also be a beacon for enemy faiths of both Thrune and the Asmodeans that victory is possible.

As a campaign. this narrative is not just a mere reversal of Hell's Vengeance. While the PCs will have opportunities to avert some of the tragedy that befalls many good aligned characters in Hell's Vengeance, I will also be including original content to help fill in the gaps.

Of course, due to House Thrune and their allies making liberal use of Hell's resources, it's not so simple as overthrowing an enemy government. Infernal Contracts are a very real thing, and not easily negated. To that end... how would the contracts that bind Hell and Cheliax together be negated?

Going over references in Hell's Rebels, Hell's Vengeance and the newly released Book of the Damned, I have learned Infernal Contracts have Termination Clauses. The natures of which are varied. Termination Contracts are much simpler than outright destroying both copies of the Contract, which would involve a trip into Hell. I just need some help in figuring out ways for the contracts signed with the various Archduchies of Cheliax to be negated.

One thing to keep in mind is the ritual for the last part of For Queen & Empire, where Abrograil issues the PCs of Hell's Vengeance to perform a sacrifice to renew her family's obligations to Asmodeus. Hell's Vengeance does not give an example of what would happen if this sacrifice does not happen, but it should be something that would greatly aid the Glorious Reclamation.

So I'm working on my first home campaign, and I have an idea on how to introduce something late in the narrative. And I want to do it by way of a silver dragon.

Now, I've gone over Bestiary entry for dragons, and I have a solid idea on how to progress dragons based on their age category. But I don't have a complete idea of how skills work.

I do know how many Skill Ranks dragons get by HD, but I don't know which Skills are Class Skills. Or if there is a specific set of skills I should focus on. I can pull up the Skill Rank Totals from various Bestiary entries, but I don't know how they are calculated.

So I'm putting together a campaign. One of the main villains of the narrative is an Alchemist from the Cult of Haagenti. He has the Oenopion Researcher and Vivisectionist Archetypes. His overall role in the campaign is to develop a mutagen that affects multiple people and species simultaneously and to produce mooks via fleshwarping, golems, and anthropomorphic awakened animals.

His discoveries are Feral Mutagen, Infusion, Promethean Disciple, Alchemical Simulacrum, Doppelganger Simulacrum, Greater Mutagen, Greater Alchemical Simulacrum, Grand Mutagen, and Chameleon.

However, I have no idea what his feats should be. Right now, it's totally bogged down with Extra Discovery. The only concrete feats outside of Extra Discovery are Fleshwarper, Demon Grafter, and Power Attack. He's human (for now), and his racial bonus feat is Skill Focus (UMD).

So I'm building an Antipaladin as the big bad for my first homebrew campaign. And I'm looking up how the Fiendish Boon works, and an idea flew through my head.

If the Antipaladin takes an Outsider (such as Succubus) as his Fiendish Boon, can he benefit from any enhancement said Outsider can normally bestow? (Such as a Succubus' Profane Gift)

I've been working on my GM skills for about the past year. Really got a good idea for a first campaign. I'm incorporating three Pathfinder Adventure Paths into the backstory. Namely: Wrath of the Righteous, Hell's Rebels, and Hell's Vengeance. The way it works is that the WotR and HR APs succeeded, with HV failing. Now, Cheliax is in a state of civil war, with the Glorious Reclamation of Iomedae preparing to launch a full military campaign with allies from various nations.

But when putting an LG church against an LE church in open warfare, things can gut muddied if people focus too much on their Lawful components of their alignment. Obviously, the LG combatants will try to have due process so they can retain some sense of order.

The average Chelish citizen pays lip service to Asmodeus because they don't want to cross House Thrune. But with the Church of Iomedae officially coming in to remove House Thrune from power, I would imagine a noticeable amount of the citizenry would back the Reclamation.

Following that logic, I see the Iomedaens aiming to remove the Thrune Loyalists that head the various government offices across the nation from power. By the blade or by making arrests. Ideally, I would have any captured leaders and officials shipped off to Andoran for incarceration and trial, in a society that they have no influence over.

But in an LE kingdom, with LE courts, the entire rulebook has to be thrown out the window in order to bring about the necessary changes to improve the lives of the citizens. Which begs the question: How do you bring about LG reforms in an LE society?

Going over the rules for both Planar Ally and Planar Binding, the Greater versions of both spells only allow for a single Outsider with an HD total of 18, or three Outsiders whose total HD combined does not exceed 18.

But what if you want to throw something heavy at the group? What if, as a GM, you want an enemy to summon a Balor (which has an HD of 20), or give the group the option to summon a Solar Angel (HD 22)? How do you pull that off?

So I'm working on an Avenger Vigilante build with the Wildsoul (Falconine) Archetype. Going to take the Heavy Training Vigilante Talent later on, around level 8.

This will allow me to pick up a set of Mithral Fullplate. That will bring the ACP down to -3 from -6. This set will also have the Comfort special quality from the Pathfinder Society Field Guide. That will bring the ACP down to -2.

Thanks to having Heavy Training, I will be able to pick up Armour Focus and Improved Armour Focus (from Armour Master's Handbook) as feats that are geared towards Fullplate. Which will reduce the ACP to -1.

But now I wonder... is there a way to check off that final -1 to ACP? An item? A special armour quality? Another feat? Some input would be nice. I don't know all of my options at this point.

So the other night, I had a little idea. A potential springboard for a homebrew Pathfinder campaign. Thinking of the starting point of the campaign to be Absalom. The trick is, how do you get the PCs together to start everything?

While browsing the net (TVTropes, specifically), I came across some bare-bones information about Dr. Skule. He sounds interesting, and a potential springboard into the campaign proper. But I can't seem to find his stat block or where he was introduced into the lore of Pathfinder anywhere.

So before I really commit to this, I would like to know some things about him. His alignment is a big thing. As would be how he handles Skule's Army. He's a troll with levels in Alchemist, so he's probably a mid-level or above threat if the PCs try to fight him. Would be nice to know how I could control him in a fight with resulting a TPK of a new group. I don't WANT the PCs to fight him, but some people see a troll, they might attack him regardless of what I want to do with him.

I've been gaming for about 2 years now with a group of four people. Three players and one GM. We recently switched it up, with one of the players becoming a GM for Strange Aeons so the previous GM can have a chance to play for a bit.

We've had little success in recruiting more players by word-of-mouth (as in, we can't seem to find anyone we know who is able to play on Monday nights). So, I got permission to post a recruitment ad on this site to see if our luck will change.

As I said earlier, we meet on Monday nights in Edmonton, around 6:30 in the evening until 10:00 PM. On the east side of the city, in the Abbotsfield area. If anybody is interested, respond to this thread or PM me so I can refer you to the group. You'll have to pass a mild interview from the homeowner, as we all must do, because we are inviting you to someone's home.

We've already started on the AP, and we have not yet left the Asylum the AP starts in. We have a Swashbuckler, a Vigilante (me), and an unknown melee build (the player has requested he be able to surprise the group with what he is, and the GM has allowed it). So we need some spell casters. Ideally someone with healing capabilities.

I'm going to start playing in a Strange Aeons AP this month, and I'm going in on a Falconine Wildsoul Vigilante. Thing is, Vigilante doesn't have Fly as one of it's Class Skills. So I'm wondering if there is a trait or something that will allow me to get Fly as a Class Skill. Anybody have any suggestions?

I'm the middle of a homebrew campaign, and I feel like doing some worldbuilding in-character. I play a Paladin of Iomedae, and I am feeling a bit of conflict with the local temple of Abadar. Part of it is that they have the biggest paladin force in the city, and we know that some of those "paladins" are on the take from the nobility.

We know that as the party Shaman made his Perception check after we raided a cultist hideout to notice that some of the prisoners discreetly passed some gold to some "paladins" and were released. These are cultists that employ lycanthropes that plan assault the city during the next full moon, and kidnap the poor to turn them into bombs.

That raid also revealed that a fair number of the cultists are of the nobility. Nobility that we know have plans of sedition against the ruling mayor, due to a communion with Sarenrae.

So, I decided to "lead by example" and provide an alternative to the people of the city. Both the party Shaman and I built temples to Sarenrae and Iomedae, respectively. Thing is, the Shaman player took the Leadership feat to get a following for his temple and to boost the party numbers. I did not, and I am seriously considering retraining to get a "Leader" feat.

I'm kind of on the fence on which "Leader" feat I should invest in, though. If I take the bog-standard Leadership feat, I get to reach the hearts and minds of the commoners. If I take Recruits, I get more powerful agents for my temple. Agents I can leave behind to manage my temple when it comes time to leave the city to continue the campaign.

My paladin's NPC girlfriend was abducted last session. She was under house arrest in the temple of Sarenrae for killing the NPC party bard. She claims that he was consorting with cultists and fiends, and there is some evidence that she is telling the truth. At the very least, she isn't lying, as we have subjected her to Zone of Truth and identified her divination scrolls she used to ascertain the bard's guilt as genuine articles. All the same, the rest of the party wanted to "keep an eye" on her until this was sorted out.

As we were performing a casting of "Speak With Dead" on the Bard's corpse, her cell was attacked. As I entered the cell, I noticed that explosives were used to make an entrance from underground. The tunnel formed was one of the same make as the wererat swarm that has been aiding the local cultists/terrorists that have been bombing the city.

Naturally, my paladin charged into the tunnel after his girlfriend. As he reached the exit, he noticed something horrific. His girlfriend's finger. Bitten off alongside her magic ring. At this point, my half-orc paladin is feeling the blood fury of his orc father.

What follows is a chase through the city for two carriages. The first one followed was a decoy, and another bombing vessel for the cultist's agenda. The second one was the one that she was being kept in, given the pool of blood we found in the seat. Fortunately, the party Shaman was able to track her through her Headband of Alluring Charisma.

We tracked her down to a house she accused the bard of making rendezvous with. After storming through the house to the basement, my paladin found her in a cage. Shackled to the wall, bloody, beaten and bruised.

The session ended when we killed two cultists, one got away, and we captured the remaining two. Given the connection that we know exists between the cultists and wererats, it's highly likely she was bitten by wererat. She was going to stay in the cage until she turned, most likely.

While we are going to get her the medical attention she needs, I'm wondering if Lycanthropes can infect through bites regardless of what form they are in. We're going to cover our bases and get the necessary Remove Disease/Heal spell cast on her by a 12th level cleric. But I'm curious about the actual rules on Lycanthrope infection.

This is a thought that has been floating around my head lately. Mainly because I have this scenario in my head if I was ever playing a CG rogue that crossed paths with Alain Germande.

So if I was to ever encounter Alain as an NPC, that would mean that the rest of Iconics could be in the campaign too. Which brings me to my thread question. And if anybody had any inkling of how to interact with them, as either GM or player.

I recently joined a new campaign, and made an Aasimar (Angelkin) paladin. After reading over my copy of "Blood of Angels", a passage on Aasimar origins and births struck my fancy. It basically boils down to same-sex couples praying for children and being blessed with an Aasimar child. So I thought: what if my Aasimar paladin was born to a lesbian couple who wanted a child?

After all things like height, weight and age were calculated, my Aasimar paladin Ragathon (named after the Empyreal Lord Ragathiel) is 76 years old from Vigil in Lastwall. He's buried his birth mother after she's died of old age, and his second mother disappeared during a campaign in the Hold of Belkzen decades ago.

I see Ragathon's parents as being a paladin and cleric of Iomedae. With his birth mother being the cleric. I like the concept, but I'm a bit leery of using gay characters as my parents in my backstory. Mainly because I'm a straight white man born to straight parents and I worry about being insensitive to other groups.

Been looking over the Oathbound Archetypes for Paladins. Initially, it seems like one of them (the Oath of Vengeance) is compatible with my favourite Archetype for Paladins, the Tempered Champion.

Thing is, all Oathbound Archetypes add spells to a paladin's spell list. Which Tempered Champion takes away. So does that mean that the Oath of Vengeance and all Oathbound Archetypes are incompatible with Tempered Champion, or can you take both Archetypes?

So I got invited to a group that's in the middle of the Giantslayer campaign. They've just hit level 9. After talking to the player that recruited me, what they really need is a melee combatant.

Ideally, I'd play a paladin. But I'm new to the group, and it's their policy not to allow paladin characters until they have a better understanding of how the player acts in the campaign.

I was toying with making a Bloodrager/ Dragon Disciple build, but I misunderstood something about the Blood of Dragons ability and how it would severely limit the progression of the Bloodrager class features.

So now I'm completely up in the air about what to do. I don't know if I should focus on tweaking the Bloodrager/ Dragon Disciple build or investigate another melee build.

A Fighter and Slayer are in the group already. I'm just wondering what I can do to contribute. I was considering a Warpriest or rogue at one point, but I'm not sure anymore.

My GM set up a situation for the party. Various corruptions (not related to Horror Adventures) that have started to warp the party members into something... else. We managed to solve one of them. Due to circumstances, the Bladebound Magus had his Black Blade destroyed. This has removed his corruption, and he is more or less "whole" again.

That just leaves me and the Shaman left with corruptions. The Shaman is okay for now, aside from having no flesh on his forearms and a Paralyzing touch. But my Paladin now has a constant Life Drain effect that takes off 2 HP a day that can't be healed or regenerated normally. There is one way to overcome this. The GM has given my paladin the ability "Premeditated Murder Healing".

My paladin regains 1d8 HP for every sentient creature murdered with an INT of 3 or higher. This effect activates whenever my paladin directly murders someone or arranges a situation that causes someone's death in the presence of the paladin. Evil outsiders and other enemies in combat will not activate the ability.

My paladin is not about to become a serial killer. He has 140 HP at Level 10. That means he has 70 days to resolve this before he gets down to 0 HP. So I'm starting to feel a little pigeonholed at the moment.

For awhile now, our party has been corrupted by unknown forces into different states of existence. The Bladebound Magus has been fading from reality, the Shaman looks like he is becoming undead, and my paladin looks like he is becoming a devil. Leads to solving our condition have born little fruit. Until last night.

Due to circumstances, the Magus had his Black Blade destroyed. Eight days later and a reforged Blade later, major changes happened. His Corruption had vanished, and his Black Blade had become a White Blade. The White Blade still performs the function of the standard Black Blade. It just had a more favorable attitude now. It was also the source of the corruption, for some reason.

After preparing a Communion spell with Sarenrae, our Shaman identified what his causing his Corruption. And possibly mine. Both my paladin and the Shaman died some time ago and we were Resurrected by the local temple of Erastil. Initially, it seemed like the Resurrection went off without a hitch. But according to Sarenrae, the Shaman's soul is responsible for his current corruption.

It's possible that when he was Resurrected, not all of the Shaman's soul came back. Most of it did, for sure. But not all of it. The Magus has dropped hints that he believes that the Resurrection ritual was botched somehow. He knows this from the knowledge he gained when he performed his ritual to get his Black Blade reforged.

Going forward, and not knowing what my particular source of corruption is yet, I have to ask the question:

How do you repair a soul to restore your corrupting body?

I just started posting seriously here, and I am having trouble figuring out how to set up thread subscriptions here. So far I have to keep coming back here to check on the threads I've posted on.

I am using Google Chrome as my main browser, and I want to get notifications on my Hotmail account. I've tried clicking on the orange box on the upper left-hand corner at the start of a thread page. But when I do that, I get a page of code that I can't make sense of.

My paladin recently fell in our campaign. He attacked the Bladebound Magus who had failed his Will save against the Black Blade. Said Black Blade was commanding him to kill a silver dragon. A Silver Dragon that did not register as Evil after a use of Detect Evil.

At first, my paladin tried to grapple the Magus. But his CMD was through the roof due to his build. Making it a moot exercise. It was also pointless to try and disarm the Magus, as he had reached level 9 and could teleport his blade back to his hand so long as he had points in his arcane pool.

Knowing that the Magus had a very impressive build and that the dragon was in the Young Age Category, I deemed the Magus to be more of a threat to the dragon than the dragon was to the Magus. To that end, to save both lives, I moved to knock the Magus out with nonlethal damage.

I snuck in one lethal attack because I knew I wouldn't overcome the Magi's high AC if I took the nonlethal penalty. I got disapproving looks from my group, so I stopped doing that.

Apparently, the GM viewed spilling the blood of an ally as an evil act and betrayal of the paladin code. I was just wondering if it's that extreme. The intent was to prevent the Magus from committing an evil act by killing a potentially good-aligned creature while he was under the influence of an unknown, aggressive intelligence.