Many Owls's page

You could always handwave it so at that point in the campaign, most of the gray maidens are actual volunteers, and Ileosa hasn't had a chance to do any of her nasty mumbo-jumbo magic or whatnot on most of them, at that point. They're all just really lawful-ish. Also, some of them being evil because of coming from the Hell Knights makes sense, too.

Greetings, and welcome to the forums! As Seems said, not a lot of folks wander into the Crimson Throne part of the forum, if you're looking for lots of general build advice/build comparisons.

However, as a DM i think an Investigator is a wonderful addition into any Crimson Throne campaign party! It's a really cool class that can do stuff in so many situations, especially in an urban campaign! As for your comparison of investigator vs urban ranger, well... I've got a ranger (no archetype) with favored enemy (human) waving around two swords, and yeah, if it's human and in front of her, it's gonna die really darn fast. But crimson throne is a mostly urban campaign, so it's expected that favored enemy (human) gives you a lot of combat power. But an investigator can do much more than just raw damage (in and out of combat).

Also, I'm not really one of those folks that knows their way around good builds and how to optimize stuff, but your build looks very solid. You've got expanded inspiration, fencing grace and quick study in there, so you'll be fine, or so i've been told.

So yeah, in conclusion, I'm gonna guess the ranger will do more damage in combat, but the investigator has so much more stuff up their sleeves. If given the option to play either of them, personally I'd play the investigator, but both classes are great picks for this campaign.

Fortress of the Nail is a Society Scenario in a Hellknight fortress, so if you need Hellkninghts, well, that's where you'll find them! Truth be told, there isn't a lot of combat against them (if that's what you want), but still, lots of interaction. Haven't played it, so no idea if it's actually good or not.

The Stonelord paladin, it's incredibly flavorful and it basically changes the whole class. I love archetypes that change a lot (hell, i wouldn't even call a Stonelord a paladin, it's just so....different. And interesting!), and this one gives so much bonus flavor with it, as well!

Name of PC: Agnar

Class/Level: Human Cleric 1 of Iomedae
Adventure: Edge of Anarchy
Rules Set: D&D 3.5
Catalyst: Gobblegut

Oof, now that's one tough start to a campaign! The part with the spiders was just plain bad luck ( i admit it's kinda funny, in a way). I played Edge of Anarchy with five players as well. I had three well-built paladins with lots of hit points in my party, but still Gobblegut almost ripped one of them to pieces! He's a dangerous one alright.

I hope your party had a smoother road going forward in the campaign!

It's a pretty tough lesson to give in the first action-packed part of the campaign - the party stood around and waited for too long, and their actions (or lack of actions) had consequences. But sometimes it's a lesson better earned early and quickly.

However, I'd suggest just making the fight more difficult (as you said, someone could be dangling from the manacles, ready to drop into the waters below. Someone has to dive in and wrestle the innocent person from the jaws of Gobblegut before it's too late, while the others have to deal with Gaedren. Could be very intense). An intense standoff and negotiations in a hostage crisis could be a really memorable encounter, and i think your idea number 1 is wonderful (as long as they have a chance to actually still save everyone and be heroes) However, it should make sense for that person to be in manacles and being held captured at that moment ( was the Bloodrager's brother one of Gaedren's Lambs that Gaedren was planning on getting rid of anyways? A hasty hostage he took when he heard trouble was coming?).

Not getting their hands on the first bad-guy boss could feel a tad....empty, even tho the mysterious part of the unknown assassin could make stuff more interesting. Still, i'd be wary of giving out a hollow victory, especially the assassin one. The group might not figure out that this happened because they stood around for too long, and might just say "well okay, he's dead, that's that."

My party was pretty optimized and rather strong for a group of level 1 folks (3 paladins, 1 cleric and a rogue), so i changed the final part anyways, to make it more fun/intense/a challenge. Placed a few barricades on the sides to block passage, Gaedren had a flipped table in front of him for cover, and he had a caster ally. Gaedren also threw a couple of alchemist fires while the group tried to get trough the barricades.
Perhaps some of the stuff i used could be used in your situation as well? Gaedren had a lot of time to prepare: flip a few tables, perhaps craft a hasty trap or two. Also, I'd really suggest he also taunts or comments to the party regarding the time it took them to get to him, just to make the point clear that he was "grateful for the extra time that allowed him to craft a few extra gifts" for his guests, so to speak. He had time to prepare, and now the party will have a harder time.

Maybe Detonate is kinda what you're looking for? Has a sacrificing feel to it, but then again, you aren't 100% dead when you use it.

For every 10 ft faster than the baseline speed (30ft usually) of the chase you move, you get a cumulative +2 bonus to all the chase skill checks. So if you have a movement speed of 30 ft, and get hasted, you start moving at 60 ft. So with haste, you should have a +6 to all those chase checks.

So haste shouldn't really change the amount of cards you can move, it just gives you a nice juicy bonus on rolls!