Marakash Arkenrae's page

For reference, this is a repost from the "what would you change thread"

We had our first session last weekend and it was great! The table ate it up and some of them are really opening up as role players. This AP looks to be a lot of fun, but it does need some plot polish and a bit of duct tape heh.

Early in part 1

Below is a list of things I modified to explain away plot holes and be confident I could understand and explain how the events unfold. I owe a lot to this forum for the ideas and inspiration, as well as to the Glass Cannon Podcast. I hope it encourages prospective GM’s thinking about running this AP!

Halgra’s speech
Edited for brevity and added welcoming words to recent merchants and refugees. I played up the influx of outsiders to help explain the presence of the half-orc infiltrators, and to ramp up racial tensions.

The tug of war
My group were lightweights and they rolled like hot garbage, heh. I added the ability for the highest str PC to be able to roll an aid for a +2. I also emphasized that they could take 10 on the check. Not one player took advantage of this, lol. Roderick and the Trunau defenders would have destroyed them, but they went into “good sports for Ruby” mode, and the party wins.

Ramblehouse
I added a little bit where Cham mentions losing her keys as the PCs check in for the night. Skreed stole her keys and she has to find her spare set. That’s how he got into Roderick’s room. I came up with random half-orc names for the guestbook, and had several of them end in variations of “nail” to hint at the twisted nail tribe presence. When Cham describes Skreed, I decided to keep his facial scars between his human and half-orc appearances.

Post murder Kurst
I had him emphasize a sense of paranoia, to help explain why he is turning to these mostly non-militia outsiders, and to encourage them to stick together and set a watch in prep for the assassination attempt.. One of the group is in the militia too, which lends credibility. I had another caravan of traders / refugees come through right at that moment, playing on the heavy suicide / murder vibe and once again, racial tensions. Plus, then Kurst had to take off to take care of the new arrivals.

Ramblehouse Roderick’s room
They found the note, which I printed out and crumbled up, but not the secret compartment in the desk. I added a hidden flask outside the window of the Ramblehouse, engraved with “RG” it was obviously Roderick’s flask. The night before, at the hopeknife ceremony, Roderick, hereafter referred to as Rod, stated that he didn't drink much in public, but he planned on taking a few nips once he got home. The alchemist carried it upstairs, failed his alchemy check, since he is quite the lush decided to take a shot of it, then failed the fortitude save and was knocked out for two hours. All this while the crew is talking to Cham. It was great, I think the player was more amused than anyone else, even while the fighter dragged him around town.

Skreeds room
They didn’t find anything except for a tiny splash of the white alchemical paint, as if someone had spilled some. Too bad the alchemist was unconscious.

Half-orc graffiti
This was a frustrating part of the book, as it didn't describe what the graffiti was, and you just know players are going to ask. So I made it be tiny versions of the graffiti cross (which I modified to look more like a twisted nail, because that makes more sense, but still kind of like a sword), stuff like “Halag wuz here”, “Trunau sucks”, phallic symbols, and a vague map of the town, but no one got the geography check.

Post wolf fight
Of course the ranger wanted to track where the wolves came from and rolled high, and of course the book makes no provision of this. So I had them follow some tracks to a beat up cart, covered with a tarp and shoved in an alley behind Brinya’s boarding house. Then they followed them further towards the commons, where they found a glass potion vial (of invisibility) on the ground and a large crowd of people that Skreed has slipped into.

I will try to post more as we progress. Next session is in about two weeks. Enjoy!

We had our first session last weekend and it was great! The table ate it up and some of them are really opening up as role players. This AP looks to be a lot of fun, but it does need some plot polish and a bit of duct tape heh.

Early in part 1

Below is a list of things I modified to explain away plot holes and be confident I could understand and explain how the events unfold. I owe a lot to this forum for the ideas and inspiration, as well as to the Glass Cannon Podcast. I hope it encourages prospective GM’s thinking about running this AP!

Halgra’s speech
Edited for brevity and added welcoming words to recent merchants and refugees. I played up the influx of outsiders to help explain the presence of the half-orc infiltrators, and to ramp up racial tensions.

The tug of war
My group were lightweights and they rolled like hot garbage, heh. I added the ability for the highest str PC to be able to roll an aid for a +2. I also emphasized that they could take 10 on the check. Not one player took advantage of this, lol. Roderick and the Trunau defenders would have destroyed them, but they went into “good sports for Ruby” mode, and the party wins.

Ramblehouse
I added a little bit where Cham mentions losing her keys as the PCs check in for the night. Skreed stole her keys and she has to find her spare set. That’s how he got into Roderick’s room. I came up with random half-orc names for the guestbook, and had several of them end in variations of “nail” to hint at the twisted nail tribe presence. When Cham describes Skreed, I decided to keep his facial scars between his human and half-orc appearances.

Post murder Kurst
I had him emphasize a sense of paranoia, to help explain why he is turning to these mostly non-militia outsiders, and to encourage them to stick together and set a watch in prep for the assassination attempt.. One of the group is in the militia too, which lends credibility. I had another caravan of traders / refugees come through right at that moment, playing on the heavy suicide / murder vibe and once again, racial tensions. Plus, then Kurst had to take off to take care of the new arrivals.

Ramblehouse Roderick’s room
They found the note, which I printed out and crumbled up, but not the secret compartment in the desk. I added a hidden flask outside the window of the Ramblehouse, engraved with “RG” it was obviously Roderick’s flask. The night before, at the hopeknife ceremony, Roderick, hereafter referred to as Rod, stated that he didn't drink much in public, but he planned on taking a few nips once he got home. The alchemist carried it upstairs, failed his alchemy check, since he is quite the lush decided to take a shot of it, then failed the fortitude save and was knocked out for two hours. All this while the crew is talking to Cham. It was great, I think the player was more amused than anyone else, even while the fighter dragged him around town.

Skreeds room
They didn’t find anything except for a tiny splash of the white alchemical paint, as if someone had spilled some. Too bad the alchemist was unconscious.

Half-orc graffiti
This was a frustrating part of the book, as it didn't describe what the graffiti was, and you just know players are going to ask. So I made it be tiny versions of the graffiti cross (which I modified to look more like a twisted nail, because that makes more sense, but still kind of like a sword), stuff like “Halag wuz here”, “Trunau sucks”, phallic symbols, and a vague map of the town, but no one got the geography check.

Post wolf fight
Of course the ranger wanted to track where the wolves came from and rolled high, and of course the book makes no provision of this. So I had them follow some tracks to a beat up cart, covered with a tarp and shoved in an alley behind Brinya’s boarding house. Then they followed them further towards the commons, where they found a glass potion vial (of invisibility) on the ground and a large crowd of people that Skreed has slipped into.

I will try to post more as we progress. Next session is in about two weeks. Enjoy!

I've listened to dozens of actual play podcasts over the years and the glass cannon network shows are right at the top. Great audio quality (including drops and ambient sounds), a good grasp of the rules (they do make some mistakes of course, like we all do from time to time), a great balance of story, humor, and combat make this one my favorite podcasts of all times.

I was worried as the network expanded that quality might suffer, but I've found that these guys are just putting out more great content. I have listened to every single episode they have ever put out.

They also do a starfinder podcast called Androids and aliens.

Highly, highly recommended!

I concur with front loading more ancestry feats. You can still have choices and customization you just do it on the front end.

I'm not a huge fan of goblins as a core race, but I still get the motivation behind it.

However a bonus to Cha? They have always seemed like weak willed cowards to me. They are always getting bullied into some big bads nefarious plans.

I also get that these numbers are in place for mechanical balance and that's a definite challenge.

The only array that makes sense to me is:
-2 str, -2 Wis, -2 int, +4 dex

But that is most likely mechanically out of bounds.

This ancestry is so problematic you might have to step outside the normal attribute bonuses and balance them another way.

I don't know what this is, but I will think on it.

hmmm, never thought about that. Here's what the PRD says:

"When you attempt to perform a combat maneuver, make an attack roll and add your CMB in place of your normal attack bonus. Add any bonuses you currently have on attack rolls due to spells, feats, and other effects. These bonuses must be applicable to the weapon or attack used to perform the maneuver."

PRD LINK
(near the bottom)

So it seems to me like weapon focus and enhancement bonuses would apply to things like disarm and sunder, but not bull rush or grapple.

I guess that makes sense.

I'm fairly new to this, (I'm running my very first campaign right now) but I can't imagine pitching a fit and cancelling an entire campaign because someone asked to join. I also can't imagine excluding a friend from playing a game, unless there is some subtext.

Honestly ask yourself: Why don't these guys, including the DM want me around? Are you obnoxious? Are you annoying? You don't seem that way from your post, but this is the internet after all...

If I were in your shoes I would approach the "friend" I am closest with and ask for point blank honesty if these guys really dislike me and why.

Think about addressing those answers, improve your social skills, then move on, learn the game on your own, and find a new group.

Either way, even if you are lacking social skills, this DM is a jerk. Adding a 4th player is nothing, indeed all the CRs are built around a 4 player party. And telling someone they can't have two arcane casters in a group? WTF? Also, you aren't jumping in mid-game, he is still "designing" the campaign. He sounds super railroady and controlling.

Look elsewhere and / or start DMing your own game.