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Hi! I seem to recall Paizo having a page somewhere on their site designed to show to print shop employees, to assure them that yes, I have the rights to print out copies of the maps from your adventures for personal use. But I can't find it for the life of me. My Google-fu has failed. Could someone please give me a link?
Today, at long, long last, I finished running Rise of the Runelords. The actual last fight was over a month ago on April 25th. I wrote up how our Karzoug fight went at the time. Today was the epilogue session, in which we wrapped up longstanding character arcs, and revisited a few favorite NPCs to see how their stories concluded. There's no particular reason any of you should care, I guess, but just briefly: Micah Valian Arneseph, half-elf ranger and the only PC to survive from level 1 to the end of the campaign, married his sweetheart Eri Valion at a fancy ceremony in Magnimar attended by all their friends (including Vernalia, a wyrmling copper dragon who did aerial cartwheels over the wedding party after the vows were exchanged). Zoe the android wizard reconnected with a former colleague, Kane of the Technic League, and returned to Xin-Shalast to conduct research on the now-ruined Leng Device. Wren Silver-Hand, the party bard, saved her family's tavern from being sold to pay off her father's gambling debts, and founded a bardic college of her own in a forest preserve outside Magnimar's walls. Skrag, the half-orc blood rager and cub reporter for the Urgir Herald, used his newfound wealth to buy full ownership of the paper just so he could re-assign himself from covering gossip in the human lands. Now he has returned home to Urgir, defeated his rivals in both the streets and the sheets, and become a prominent local newspaper magnate. Ronia, a cohort cleric of Ng, having managed to purge herself of her changeling ancestry and become a full human, is taking a long vacation to Aelyosos. She anticipates lots of swimming, tanning, and pool boys. According to my email Sent folder, I emailed links to the Rise of the Runelords player's guide to the group on May 20th, 2012. And now, nine years later (almost to the day!), we are finally, finally done.
There have been a number of different spell search utilities released recently. Here is one more that I've been tinkering on for several years: The idea here was to use faceted classification to let you drill down to a subset of spells relevant to your interests. Are you playing an Eldritch Knight and desperately want a comprehensive list of Wizard spells that lack somatic components? Hit the plus button next to Wizard, and the minus button next to Somatic, then click the Search button. And boom, there you go: all the wizard spells that have no chance of arcane spell failure. Or perhaps your wizard has taken the arcane discovery Yuelral's Blessing, which grants +1 CL and +1 save DC to spells that appear on both the Wizard and Druid spell lists. Use the plus buttons to require both Wizard and Druid, then hit search. Tada! Occasionally you will see spells appear more than once in results. This is usually because it exists in multiple sources with slight variations. For example, the spell Brightest Light was printed twice, once in the Adventurer's Guide and once in Inner Sea Intrigue, and the two (AG version, ISI version) are not identical. It should work tolerably well on mobile, though I only have one phone to test it with. It is not compatible with Internet Explorer. If you are still using Internet Explorer, I urge you to move on to some other browser. It's time to let it go. I would like to acknowledge the hard work of Tyler Beck from PathfinderCommunity.net, whose painstaking work building a spreadsheet of all Pathfinder spells provided the raw data that made this possible. And also to Paizo, for making their work available under the Paizo Community License for this kind of thing.
This past summer, Spotify introduced a "Group Session" feature that lets multiple people with Spotify Premium accounts listen to the same music at the same time. That would be *great* for playing background music during remote RPG sessions. Unfortunately, it only works on the mobile app, not the desktop client, which is far more useful for remote RPG-playing purposes. There's a suggestion in their "Idea Exchange" to implement it for the desktop version, but the Spotify team apparently won't consider it until it hits 500 votes. As I write this, it's sitting at 134. So ... if you have a Spotify account, please take a moment and vote to bring Group Sessions to the Spotify desktop client! It will make our gaming sessions better.
My players are finally approaching the end of the campaign. They entered the Pinnacle of Avarice last session. The campaign has run very, very long, and so I am not eager to extend the campaign beyond the published material. Therefore, I have quietly eliminated the possibility of Mhar Massif erupting if someone activates the Leng Device. One way or another, the fight with Karzoug will be the end of the campaign. So after some thought, I decided to use it to offer the players an alternate end fight. They can fight Karzoug here and now, in the world where he has been studying them and preparing specifically to counteract their favorite tricks. Or ... they can use the Leng Device to travel backwards in time to a few months before Earthfall and assassinate Karzoug when he has no idea who the heck they are or even that they exist. Going back in time will make the fight easier; and they can undo all the damage Karzoug has done in their time. But at the same time, they would lose everything. They have friends, lovers, wealth, respect -- are they willing to sacrifice all that to undo all the damage Karzoug has done to their time, and to give themselves an edge over the most dangerous opponent they will ever face? In order to make this choice more difficult, I have carefully integrated time travel into the campaign. In the ruins of Crystilan, they met a Time Dragon who informed them that they will have been very late, and once they are not so late they would have been welcome to a ride. They were extremely puzzled by this cryptic declaration, but the gist is they can go find the time dragon in the past and get a ride forward to their own time. Alternately, the bard and her cohort (a cleric of Ng) did a short solo side quest in which they traveled two million years back in time in order to plant a fossilized tree seed at the confluence of two flows of gods' blood left over from a battle between Rovagug and Sarenrae. They traveled in time by entering the Season of Hungering Sun, one of the unused seasons that the gods decided not to include when they put together the final version of the prime material plane. It lies adjacent to every summer solstice in history. As demigod of lost seasons, Ng has access to this place, and sometimes sends his servants through it to undertake inscrutable tasks for him. As one of his highest level clerics, the cohort could ask Ng to let them use the Season of Hungering Sun to return to their proper time. If they choose to use the Leng Device, they'll pop out in Karzoug's throne room on the summer solstice before Earthfall, as he is in the midst of holding court. In terms of creatures, I'm thinking the following:
There will also be some non-combatants scattered around -- a delegation from somewhere, perhaps, and some courtiers. These will flee in panic as violence breaks out. I plan to remind them that they may want to figure out some way of escaping once Karzoug is dead, but leave it up to them how exactly they accomplish that. As for what happens once they're done ... as mentioned, I've provided a couple of different mechanisms to return to their own time. I'm still trying to work out all the consequences of killing Karzoug in the past.
My Kingmaker (now concluded) was so heavily modified it barely qualified as Kingmaker any more. My player did Book 1, the Rushlight Festival, and Book 6. The rest was a homebrew adventure, and in all honesty by the time we did the Rushlight Festival and Book 6, those were merely episodes on the way to the resolution of the campaign's main plot, which we need not go into here. In working with Nyrissa, I needed to understand more about what drove her. How did she become the cruel creature that she is? What I came up with is, essentially, a short story about Ranalc and Nyrissa's romance, told from Count Ranalc's point of view. I thought I would post that here, in the hopes that perhaps some other GM might find it useful. The entire thing is predicated on that notion that in the distant past, before the gods abandoned the First World, Ranalc was Lawful Good. When they left, that shook him to the core. He became Lawful Neutral, seeking ever to reclaim the goodness that once came so easily to him. And this is the story of how he finally lost all faith in order, and bitterly embraced a Chaotic Neutral nihilism. Spoilered for length. Spoiler:
Neither Appointed nor Foreseen
I am Ranalc, a noble creature who loves the darkness. I was created in the long-ago by the Betrayers, the ones who left us -- those beings that the mortals of the Second World call "gods". I loved my creators, and offered them praise and obedience. For time out of mind, all was well. Then they left us. They abandoned our world, the First World, and went off to make a whole new world to replace ours, to supplant it. This was the First Betrayal. They did not destroy us. Oh no. That would have been a mercy. No, they left us to continue without guidance, without care, without any path in life or hope of death, for our souls do not migrate for judgement on death as those of the Second World do. No, they condemned us to eternal life devoid of purpose. This was the Second Betrayal. We lived. We adapted. And we, the Eldest of our kind, stepped forward to fill the gaping emptiness that the Betrayers left. If they would not give us purpose, we would make our own. If they would not guide our people, our races, then we we would do it ourselves. Time passed. Slowly, we established some kind of life for ourselves. I myself worked with darkness and nobility. Daring midnight raids for the beauty of daring! Noble self-sacrifice, for the beauty of martyrdom! I strove to ennoble my fellow fey, to give them reasons to work together, reasons to live and love. But always I was lonely. The other Eldest did not share my aims. They took refuge instead in other things. Magdh and Shyka in prophecy and foreknowledge, the workings of time. The Green Mother in endless, mindless pursuit of pleasure and intrigue. The Lost Prince and Imbrex in depression and detachment. The Lantern King in a constant stream of ridiculous pranks, and Ragadahn in equally constant destruction. And Ng, well, who can say what Ng is up to? Certainly Ng says nothing about it. Alone among the Eldest, I felt that we should work towards more than salving our wounds. I felt we needed some goal, some purpose to hold us together. I wanted to do good! To help our people to do good. That was what we lost most when the Betrayers left us -- a sense of good. And so I worked tirelessly to recapture that goal. A mode of life that respected our hugely varying needs and desires, and balanced them against one another so that no one got too little, and no one too much. It was rough going, I'll admit. And so, when I found her, my sweet Nyrissa, I felt that finally I had the strength it would take to see it through. She understood! She saw what I was trying to do, she saw how I wanted to make us all better. Freedom is wonderful if it is used for the betterment of all. She helped me. Between us we could have made it work. And so I gave her power. I taught her secrets, and showed her the hidden ways. She grew and blossomed, my sweet night flower, into a greater and more noble being, a true partner. And so I gave her my heart. All of it. I loved her so, so much. And she loved me in return. But ... something went wrong. Nyrissa perished in an accident -- and, in the manner of our kind, she returned to life the next day. Afterwards, she was listless. Tired. She spoke of the futility of going ever onward to nowhere. Though we lived in a paradise of riotous unending life, she spoke of it as hollow. Empty. Paradoxically barren for all of its fruitfulness, because there was no purpose or end. Though I believed her spirits would recover in time, her words struck deep. And so, I betrayed my people: I went to the gods to beg them to aid us, a thing that no other among the fey had attempted in the ages since it became clear that the Abandonment was real and permanent. This was the Third Betrayal, and I committed it gladly for love of Nyrissa. Specifically, I went to Pharasma, the arbiter of birth and death. I traveled to her realm under my own power, and requested an audience of the Lady of Graves. It was granted, and I made my case: "O Pharasma, Grey Lady, I have come to beg of you a boon for the people of the First World. Long ago, you and the other gods abandoned us and turned your attention to the Second World. Ever since, we have been trapped in an endless cycle -- condemned ever to birth, never to death, and between those to an unending existence devoid of meaning or purpose. I do not ask you to take us back, or to make us equal with the children of the Second World. I do not ask to join the great migration of souls that governs their lives. I ask only that you complete your abandonment: as you have already withdrawn the blessings of death, I request that you likewise withdraw the blessings of birth. When we perish, let us not be reborn. Let us end. Since you seem to have no interest in collecting or judging our souls, let them simply dissipate instead. You are the goddess of Fate -- give us fates once again, I beg of thee." Pharasma gazed at me dispassionately as I spoke, and when I was done she shook her head slowly. "This cannot be. Withdrawing birth from the people of the First World is the same as granting them death, and that has been forbidden." "But why?" I cried. "What does it profit thee to leave my people in this hellish state?" She merely gazed at me, and offered no answer. "Fine! Keep your secrets if you must," I spat at her, "But know that this refusal to aid my people makes mockery of your vaunted neutrality. I name you evil, Lady of Graves, for claiming neutrality while blatantly favoring the children of the Second World over those of the First." And I turned to storm out of her chamber. But she was there. Mere inches from my face, without having moved. Her eyes were blacker than anything else I've ever seen. I could neither blink nor tear my gaze from hers. I saw tiny purple spirals rotating in the depths of her eyes. "I give you a prophecy, Ranalc," she said. "Three times shall you stand before me. This is the first. The second was decreed by the Tapestry at the Beginning, and shall be your end. You alone among your people shall break the cycle of reincarnation and die -- but judgment you shall not have until the third time you come before me. Thus do I prophecy." It seemed to me that the spirals in her eyes grew larger and larger as she spoke, until I could see nothing but the spirals rotating lazily in space, and hear the sound of her voice echoing within my mind. And then I blinked and found myself back in the First World, in my own throne chamber. I did not know whether to rejoice or curse. I had a death coming! A real death. It meant that I had a limited time to accomplish my goals -- that one day I would be done, and no longer have to endure. But -- I had also learned there would be no mercy for my fellow fey. I would escape, but leave them trapped. And, whether it came soon or late, I would die the death and leave my Nyrissa mourning me for the rest of eternity and unable to die herself. I threw myself into my work once again, exhorting my fellow fey to use their freedom to do good. Nyrissa's spirits improved -- perhaps she picked up on the new enthusiasm I brought to everything I did know that my end might come at any time. I never told her about what I had done, or what Pharasma told me. She would learn in due course -- why force her to start mourning before I even died? But we loved one another more than ever before. It was a sweet time. Sweet -- but short. I do not know how it came to pass, but the other Eldest learned of what I had done. At first I suspected Ng may have found out -- secrets are his meat and drink. But if so, why would he tell the others? He never gives up a secret he has learned. No, it must have been one of the others. I don't know who, or how, but once it was out, they raised the Tane against me, naming me traitor for having consorted with Betrayers. The Tane were creatures designed as weapons of war, feared even in a world where death had no hold. I fought them. They came one at a time, crying their purpose aloud for all to hear: "Count Ranalc has betrayed the First World, and must be punished!" I fought them -- the Jub-Jub bird, several thrasfyr, a Sard -- and won. It was only when they sent the Jabberwock that I knew my time had come. As the Jabberwock whiffled and burbled its way through the grounds, I told Nyrissa "This foe is beyond us. You have stayed at my side through all the others, but now it would perhaps be better if you left." She looked at me in puzzlement. "Why ever so? The worst it can do is kill us. Surely, the pain will be unpleasant, and it is always so disruptive to form a new body -- but then why would I leave you to suffer that alone? I love you, Ranalc. Do not ask me to leave." And so I let her stay. And we fought -- and perished. But only I died. Nyrissa awoke in a new body the next morning to find that I was gone, truly gone, for when the Jabberwock slew me that day, my soul fled the First World and joined the river of souls flowing to Pharasma's domain. I remember standing in line there, an awkward petitioner like any other, waiting for a few moments of the Grey Lady's time to discover my fate. I do not know if it was short or long, but in time I reached Pharasma's chamber. "This is the second time you have come before me," she said. "And as foretold, you have died in truth." Before anything further could be said, there was a great alarm. One of Pharasma's greater psychopomps rushed in and whispered something in her ear. "If you will excuse me, Ranalc, it seems there has been an incursion of daemons. I must deal with that. When I return you will be standing before me for the third time, and then I shall pass judgement." And so saying, she left. I stood in Pharasma's throne room, wondering what my fate would be, when there was a sudden sound of combat behind me. Turning, I found my beloved Nyrissa standing there, blade bloodied. Behind her I could see a swathe of destruction: fleeing petitioners, psychopomps struggling against entwining plants, or lying still in pools of blood. She held her sword, Briar, and her breast heaved with exertion. "Ranalc!" she cried, striding forward. "I have come for you." "Nyrissa!" I exclaimed as she flung herself into my arms. "But, I have died. What ..." "No time!" she said. "I released a bunch of daemons as a distraction, but they won't last for long." And with that she kissed me -- the Kiss of the First World. Life surged into me, and when I opened my eyes we were once again standing in the First World. "Terrible man!" she said to me. "Did you really think I'd be content to go through the rest of eternity without you?" "I wasn't given much choice in the matter," I told her. "The Lady of Graves decreed that my death was written in the Tapestry when I went to beg for her aid for the First World." And I told her the whole story of the encounter. "I fear no good can come of this -- Pharasma prophesied that I would stand before her three times, and as yet I have faced her only twice." "Let her come," said Nyrissa. "I have you by my side, and that is all I care for." I believe it was that night our daughter Yanamari was conceived. We kept moving, and it was nearly a year before Pharasma caught up with us. But in the end, she did. She emerged from the Boneyard to personally lead a host of psychopomps against us. They killed none, but none could oppose them. In short order, we were brought to ground. Nyrissa and I were both taken captive, as was our daughter Yanamari, then a babe of 3 months. "Well, Ranalc," Pharasma said, "I did not expect this." "Grey B*@~~," Nyrissa snarled, "Your kind abandoned the First World ages ago. By what right do you harass us? By what right did you steal Ranalc's soul?" Pharasma turned her black gaze on Nyrissa. "By the same right that grants me dominion over life and death: fate. It was written in the Tapestry that Ranalc would die the death. That has been fixed and set since before even the First World was created. His appointed time came, and he died." Then she frowned -- a truly terrifying expression on a face so known for its blank dispassion. "You, little green one, have undone the threads of fate. Ranalc's time came -- yet here he stands, alive and breathing once more. And the father of this infant, at that." Nyrissa merely spat at Pharasma's feet. "I care not for your 'fate'. We were written out of your fate ages ago. You have neither the right nor ability to judge us. You ..." then she suddenly stopped as Pharasma made a short cutting motion with her hand, leaving Nyrissa voiceless. "Pharasma," I said in fear, "Please, she speaks in passion. Let her go." Pharasma turned her gaze on me. "Passion -- yes. It was passion that drove her to snatch you from my domain. Love that led her to upend the dictates of fate. This I cannot overlook." Reaching out, she took Briar from Nyrissa. "Nyrissa, it was love that led you to defy my law. Love that cheated Ranalc of his original destiny. Love that led to the creation of this babe, whose birth was neither appointed nor foreseen." And so saying, she plunged Briar into Nyrissa's heart. I cried out. Nyrissa did not fall, though her eyes went wide with the shock. Then Pharasma withdrew the blade. No wound marred Nyrissa's chest. "Love," Pharasma said, "Is too powerful a thing to allow you. Thus, I have taken it from you. Go now. You are exiled from the First World." Nyrissa nodded her head, diffident. All the passion that had stirred her before was gone. "Wait! Nyrissa," I called to her. "Take me with you." But she merely looked at me coldly, turned her back, and vanished into the forest. "As for you, Ranalc," Pharasma said, turning to me. "You were motivated by nothing worse than attempting to aid your people. You sought to free them of what you saw as an intolerable situation. But still you have offended against the dictates of fate. You knew that you were doomed to die; yet you went with Nyrissa when she came. And you fathered this child on her. Now you stand before me for the third time, and as I prophecied, I pass judgement: the death that you sought will never be yours. You shall live forevermore, being reborn in the manner of your kind forevermore. Death relinquishes its claim on you. But I prophecy that you shall not long be permitted to live in the First World." My heart shriveled in my chest as she spoke. I had come so close to breaking free of that cycle. And now I was right back there once again -- only I would be alone, with neither friend nor lover. "As for this one," Pharasma said, turning her gaze to my daughter Yanamari. "She is an innocent in all of this. Yet her existence is nonetheless an affront to the ordained order of life and death -- daughter to a father who was dead before siring her, yet not. No pattern was woven for her in the Tapestry, and as I did not arrange for her birth, neither is it my right to stand in judgement of her end. She will always be apart from the cycle of souls. But I shall see to it that she is cared for." And so Pharasma departed, taking Yanamari with her, and leaving me alone in the forest. I wandered grief stricken for some time; but soon the other Eldest found me, and offered me a choice: depart the First World forever, or be killed over and over, each day a new horror. And so I left and took up residence on the Plane of Shadows. May they all rot. That gave me a better notion of how to play Nyrissa: cruel not because she enjoys cruelty, but because in her lack of love -- her complete and total absence of empathy -- she has no comprehension of cruelty or kindness. I got a lot more mileage out of this story than just understanding Nyrissa's mindset better; I also used it to set up a different way to retrieve Briar, which led to one of the best sessions I've ever done. I hope it proves useful to someone else.
We're in Book 6, exploring Xin-Shalast. Last session my party finally managed to locate some reliable information about the city, in the form of some records from a survey the rune giants conducted shortly after waking. They then made a beeline for the Spolarium, where they announced that they wanted to set loose the spectres of slain gladiators with instructions to go hunt down and kill rune giants. I BS'ed my way through putting some challenges in the way of doing this, but amazingly, high-level adventurers have a broad range of powerful magic at their disposal. They handily accomplished each goal, and so there was nothing for it. They asked how many spectres they got, and I thought "well, these were in use for aaaages, so there should be a lot of them, so ... 1d100 per building." They managed two buildings out of a possible five and proceeded to roll 90 and 84 on their 2d100, for a total of 174 spectres set loose. And that's where we called session. It turns out that spectres are really good against rune giants. The spectres hit on a 2+ and inflict two negative levels. Rune giants have 20 HD, so ten hits means they die and become a fresh spectre. Meanwhile, rune giants have masterwork weapons per the default stat block. They're not magic. As incorporeal creatures, spectres take zero damage from non-magic weapons. The rune giants' Spark Shower ability probably counts as magic, so spectres would take half damage from it (on average 35), which is not going to be enough to kill one in one hit. Furthermore, spectres are intelligent (INT 14) and organized (LE). After the first couple of rune giants, they'll probably get smart enough to send in one spectre to harass the target until they use their Spark Shower ability, whereupon the rest of them pop out of the walls and swarm the giant before its Spark Shower can recharge. If they can arrange a surprise round, that wouldn't even be needed. The occluding field will probably shield the Spires. It keeps out ethereal creatures, and I'm pretty sure the spectres count as those, so they probably can't get up there. I'm trying to work out what to do with all this. My first inclination is, basically, to let this work. It's cool, and I don't want to trample their agency. But I also want to throw some complications their way. The players made it a condition of release from the spolarium that the spectres would only kill rune giants. They did not put any magical binding or enforcement of this clause in place, but since the spectres are lawful I'm inclined to think they'd honor that restriction. However, the party failed to specify that the same should apply to the spectres rising from dead rune giants, so the ones from the spolarium could easily exploit that loophole and send the ex-rune-giant spectres out to murder their way through every living creature in Xin-Shalast, slowly converting the entire place to a city of the dead. I don't think I really want to do that, though. I want to finish this campaign, which has been running since 2012. We're so close to being done. I don't want to introduce a major new problem at this stage. I just want there to be some consequences to using the shades of the dead as a weapon. Anyone got ideas for other ways this could play out? TL;DR: My players set loose 174 spectres on Xin-Shalast with orders to kill Rune Giants. I don't want to just convert the whole place to spectres. What other consequences might come of this?
I came across a picture that I'm pretty sure was produced for a Pathfinder 1e product. Here it is -- the elf with the holy symbol of Abadar on her lapel. I think that's the original artist's site. Anyone know where was this picture used? Was she a character in an adventure path? An examplar of a an archetype? A spell illustration? It's a neat pic. I'm just curious.
Here is a small adjustment that GMs could make to Tyrant's Grasp in order to offer PCs a more compelling reason for the final suicide mission. Arazni is a lich; and she was obliterated by the Radiant Fire. Twice, in fact. The first time she re-formed. The second time is unclear. Certainly she hoped to die a true death, but the adventure leaves it open as to whether or not she succeeded. When she prepared her spells for that final battle against the Whispering Tyrant, Arazni abandoned her protections against divination. It was at that point too late for her graveknight jailors to stand any chance of stopping her; and she would need every spell slot for the fight to come. Thus, when she went to face the Tyrant, she did so knowing that anyone at all might watch her doing it. Perhaps she even voluntarily failed her Will saves against scrying effects. Let them watch! Let them see that for all their posturing, she was the one taking the fight to the Whispering Tyrant! She was truer to her vows than all those fools who spent these last millennia condemning her for things that were never her choice! And so, when the Tyrant invoked the Radiant Fire and wiped Arazni away, one of Lastwall's strongest diviners saw it happen. They saw the faint smile of hope cross her face before the white energy washed over her. They saw her dissolve away. The diviner was struck by a thought: "I am watching the dissolution of a lich. Her phylactery must surely be performing its perverted task at this very instant. But that weapon ... it's so powerful ... I wonder if ..." And so, in that moment, they cast: Discern Location targeting Arazni's phylactery. And it worked. No one has ever been able to find Arazni's phylactery. Arazni herself doesn't know where it is, despite being one of the most powerful wizards in the history of Golarion, and having it bound intimately to her very soul. But the concentrated burst of positive energy resonated along the magic threads binding her tattered soul to her phylactery, and the sheer power of it momentarily disrupted the protections that have for so long shielded it from detection. The diviner noted down this startling information immediately. When he tried it again, less than a minute later, the spell failed, as it always had before. Perhaps the phylactery was destroyed. Perhaps its protective wards reasserted themselves. Regardless, what that diviner learned was that when the Radiant Fire strikes a lich, it can reveal the location of its phylactery -- even one hidden by extremely powerful magics. This did not seem terribly important. Arazni was gone from the battlefield. The location of her phylactery -- while certainly of great interest -- seemed moot. And the diviner couldn't really think of a good way to induce the Whispering Tyrant to vaporize himself with the Radiant Fire. Surely he would simply teleport away via a contingency, as he did when destroying Arazni. But then the PCs return, with the obols gleaming in their hearts, and the assurance that the feedback will turn the Radiant Fire's power back on the Tyrant regardless of whether he has teleported away or not. And suddenly it becomes very relevant indeed ... That is what the PCs are buying with their souls: information. The location of the Tyrant's phylactery. The hope that some day, someone might be able to destroy it and finally put an end to the vile lich who has warped millennia of Golarion's history. Now, I don't know a lot about 2e lore so far, but I gather it presumes that the Whispering Tyrant is still around. If continuity with 2e world lore is important to you, then you can't just assume that all the armies in the world converge on the phylactery's location following the PCs' heroic sacrifice. There has to be a reason that can't happen. Naturally any GM can invent reasons for this; I think, in my case, the reason that it's impossible for people to just go there and destroy it is that it's not on Golarion at all. It's on Eox, buried deep in the heart of an airless mountain guarded by a ton of powerful constructs and warded by about a thousand layers of spells, including some unique ones of the Tyrant's own devising. When he reforms there, he has to prepare Interplanetary Teleport to get back to Golarion. He thought many times about destroying himself in Gallowspire just to get out, but wasn't sure whether the wards his enemies put in place would trap his soul there and leave him disembodied forever. If he tried it and it failed, what would that do to his connection with his phylactery? Would it even still work? He opted not to find out. Once they know the location of the phylactery, the leaders of Golarion may not immediately launch an expedition to go deal with it, especially if the Tyrant goes and sulks on his island, as per the default outcome of the AP. A failed attempt on his phylactery would instantly alert the Tyrant that his secret got out somehow, after which he can just relocate the phylactery. He can put up more wards to conceal its location, and this time there's no more Radiant Fire, so their trick for finding out its location won't work again. They get one shot at it, and so they're not going to commit until they've done everything they possibly can to prepare. In the meantime, the Tyrant can continue doing whatever he does in 2e lore, and all is well. So there you go. This little scenario gives you:
And it requires minimal adjustment to the AP as written -- basically, the addition of one high-level diviner NPC to cast Discern Location and later brief the PCs on just why it is that they're laying down their souls. I hope this helps future GMs.
My players have decided to venture into the Tangle, in the hopes of finding an ally who can help them fight Karzoug's minions in Xin-Shalast. So I came up with a stat block for the Root of the Tangle, who does not have one in the adventure as written. RP notes: It knows Thassilonian but has no mouth and thus cannot talk. In order to speak with the PCs, it's going to puppeteer one of its yellow musk zombie minions -- a lamia matriarch musk zombie, I think -- who has the rotting mouth and vocal cords it needs to form words. Mechanical notes: It has Power Attack, but the stat block shows the values for when it is NOT power attacking. When power attacking, it takes -5 on each attack roll and adds +10 to each damage roll. Also note that it has grab, allowing it to grapple as a free action on a hit, and a unique ability that allows it to do an Awesome Blow combat maneuver as a free action on a hit. Obviously it has to choose between one or the other on any given hit, as you can't knock someone away while also grappling them. Still, this should make it possible to do things like move squishy casters closer and knock pesky martials further away and such. Oh, and it has 30 foot reach, so there's a good chance everyone will start combat in range of it, and Combat Reflexes so it can make 4 AoOs per round. Hopefully this will be useful to some other GM at some point. Stat Block for the Root of the Tangle: Root of the Tangle CR 19
XP 204,800 Unique yellow musk creeper NE Colossal plant Init +7; Senses low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +42 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 35, touch 5, flat-footed 32 (+3 Dex, +30 natural, -8 size) hp 312 (26d8+104); regeneration 15 (negative energy) Fort +18, Ref +13, Will +15 Immune mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, stunning; Resist acid 10, cold 10, fire 10; SR 28 Weaknesses vulnerability to negative energy -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 0 ft. Melee 6 tendrils +27 (2d8+16 plus grab) Space 30 ft.; Reach 30 ft. Special Attacks pollen burst Spell-Like Abilities (CL 26th; concentration +28) . . Constant—speak with plants -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 42, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 20, Wis 21, Cha 14 Base Atk +19; CMB +43 (+45 awesome blow, +45 bull rush, +47 grapple); CMD 56 (58 vs. awesome blow, 58 vs. bull rush, can't be tripped) Feats Awesome Blow, Combat Reflexes, Greater Awesome Blow, Improved Awesome Blow[ACG], Improved Bull Rush, Improved Initiative, Improved Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness Skills Bluff +28, Diplomacy +28, Intimidate +28, Knowledge (nature) +31, Perception +42, Sense Motive +37, Stealth +30 Languages Thassilonian SQ create yellow musk zombie, lush vitality, pollen spray, whiplash -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Create Yellow Musk Zombie (Ex) As a full-round action, the Root of the Tangle can bore dozens of tendrils into the brain of a helpless creature within reach, such as a creature entranced by its pollen. This attack inflicts 1d6 points of Intelligence damage per round. When a creature is reduced to 0 Intelligence, it dies, and the tendrils break off inside its brain. One hour later, the creature animates as a yellow musk zombie. Lush Vitality (Ex) The Root of the Tangle receives maximum hit points for each of its racial hit dice. Pollen Burst (1/1d6 rounds, DC 26) (Ex) The Root of the Tangle may spray yellow musk pollen in a 60 foot cone once every 1d6 rounds. This functions as its usual Pollen Spray ability, but targets every creature in the area of effect. Furthermore, it can use its Create Yellow Musk Zombie ability on any creature within its reach. This is a poison effect. The save DC is Constitution-based. Pollen Spray (DC 26) (Ex) As a standard action, the Root of the Tangle can spray a cloud of pollen at a single creature within 30 feet. It must make a +10 ranged touch attack to strike the target, who must then succeed on a DC 26 Will save or be entranced for 1d6 rounds. An entranced creature can take no action other than to move at its normal speed into a space within the yellow musk creeper’s reach, at which point an entranced creature remains motionless and allows the creeper to insert tendrils into its brain. This is a poison effect. The save DC is Constitution-based. Whiplash (Ex) When the Root of the Tangle strikes an opponent with one of its tendrils, it may choose to perform an Awesome Blow combat maneuver as a free action.
Hi, player here. My party just reached Castle Scarwall, and my GM has expressed a heartfelt wish for some kind of prop he can use to point out features rather than trying to describe it all. He struggles with description, which has at times in the past has led to some miscommunications and frustration when the players fail to understand the scene. Some quick googling revealed a YouTube video of a Castle Scarwall model from 2013, probably done in Sketchup. That's already very helpful and we will be using it, but I'm hoping to find the 3D model file itself so that I can print out a copy on a 3D printer (small; say, about 5 inches side-to-side). The creator shared a dropbox link to the model in the comments on the video, but it's long dead. Does anyone have a copy of that model kicking around? If so, would you mind sharing it with us?
For example, consider the now-defunct campaign called A Tiny Little Frozen Village. The campaign name gets printed into the document as part of the <main> tag, thus: <main class="ctf online campaigns - a tiny little frozen village-ctf subtier"></main> The entire contents of the document now have the class "tiny", a CSS class designed for use with the [smaller] BBCode tag. Thus, the fonts for the entire page render at size 0.8125rem, making them very difficult to read. I'm not sure why the campaign name is being added as a class, but to avoid this kind of unexpected collision, I recommend adjusting your code to replace all the spaces in the campaign name with hyphens. Or, failing that, just don't add it in the first place. Cheerfully submitted in the hopes that you will find this bizarre edge case amusing.
I am pleased to report that I finally persuaded my group to convert to Pathfinder! Specifically, to Pathfinder 1e from 3.5. Now I can finally quit converting between grappling systems in my head on the fly when running PF1 content for 3.5 PCs! ... Eh heh. The timing may be a bit ironic. See you all in another decade or so! ^_^
The Healer's Hands feat from Planar adventures says: Quote: Benefit: You can use the Heal skill to treat deadly wounds as a full-round action. You do not take a penalty for not using a healer’s kit when treating deadly wounds this way ... So I don't need to use a healer's kit. But if I do use one, how many uses are expended? A) Two uses, because if you use it at all you have to use two uses as per the Heal skill description. B) One use, because if you don't expend at least one use you can't get the +2 circumstance bonus from the Healer's Kit. C) Zero uses, because the feat negates that requirement. For myself, I'd happily house-rule that your healer's kit never gets expended if you have this feat; it's just a set of tools, like a set of masterwork artisan's tools (which grant an identical +2 circumstance bonus at 55gp instead of 50gp). But I'd like to hear what other people think.
Found this lovely sunken ship image today, which would make an excellent encounter area for a Ruins of Azlant random encounter or side quest. The best part is that it's a real ship. There's a version in the comments on that Reddit thread with the diving robot photoshopped out.
For the last few days I've been noticing that the "page loading" indicator for any page on the Paizo site keeps going for a long time after the page is apparently loaded. Further investigation has revealed that the pages are trying to load this file: https://matomo.paizo.com/piwik.js ... but that subdomain is not responding to requests. So the loading indicator just keeps going until the connection times out. While I'm here, I noticed a couple of other errors while I had the JS console open: Quote: Blocked loading mixed active content “http://paizo.com/include/fonts/OpenSans-Regular/OpenSans-Regular.woff” Prob ably means you've got a hard-coded HTTP somewhere which needs to either be HTTPS or else be protocol-relative (which has downsides of its own). And finally: Quote:
Since that's minified code I don't know that I can give you much more useful detail than that, but it appears to be something that's called when someone is creating a new post.
Some bug reports. Browser is Firefox Quantum 59.0.2 (64-bit) on Win 10. First up, the menus on the the home page have some issues. The Starfinder and Organized Play menus contain a large area of odd, empty space. Screenshots: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xgfubw655muimm/paizo-sc-005.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xgfubw655muimm/paizo-sc-006.png?dl=0 It looks as though the .tier-two li.links-stem in these two menus contains no data other than an empty UL, and is picking up styles that might make sense if they actually contained links. The Community menu has links, but they are weirdly offset from their parent navigation element. Screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8xgfubw655muimm/paizo-sc-007.png?dl=0 Next, the #nav-ribbon bar that appears on every page except the home page has two dead links: Pathfinder and Community, which go to (respectively): These two pages exist, and their presence in the nav ribbon indicates that they are important enough that they need to be constantly visible throughout the visitor's browsing experience. But they don't actually have any content. They have the header, the footer, a breadcrumb, some social media icons, and that's it. Screenshot of the Pathfinder page: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hjhr7nadjyij24/paizo-sc-008.png?dl=0 I don't know what you plan to do with these pages, but leaving the blank doesn't seem like a good idea. Pathfinder is your primary product; its landing page needs data. Similarly, leaving the Community page blank makes it look like there isn't a community. Of course there is, but a new or prospective player may not know that. You need to put something there. Lastly, and this one is more subjective, my participation rate on the forum has plummeted because it's much more difficult to browse the forums to see what's happening. There is, of course, the all forums index, but it suffers from having too much stuff in it. I admire Paizo's commitment to continuing support for discussion of legacy products; but by my count, there are currently 146 forums displayed by default, which is a ton of content to wade through. I'm aware that I can collapse forums to remove them from my view -- in fact I discovered that today in the course of poking around the source code. But I suspect that a lot of people, particularly more casual users, don't know about the expando-collapso arrows. I apparently missed them for eight years. Beyond that, I shouldn't have to curate every tiny aspect of my experience. At least some of the time, it's up to the site designers to make sensible default choices. Collapsing everything in the "Archive" section by default would be a good start -- still available for anyone who happens to want to go looking, but not taking a ton of real estate on ancient RPG Superstar contests and Dragon Magazine issues from the days of yore. That said, I really miss having a way to just see the most recently active threads across all forums. Prior to the redesign, that was my primary method for discovering new threads I wanted to read or post in: they floated to the top of the list of the most recent posts in the sidebar that no longer exists. I miss that mechanic. It was great. I care much less about which forum a post is in than whether or not it's recent and active.
I wasn't sure where to post this, but this seemed like a logical place. Mods, if there is someplace better, please move the thread. Thanks. I'm planning on running a one-shot at GenCon, entitled The Song Pharaoh's Coda, on the Wednesday before the convention proper starts. This is not an official Gen Con event, and will not appear in their event planner. I haven't nailed down the exact time or venue, but it'll most likely be around 1 PM either in my hotel (which is connected to the convention center via skyway) or in the convention center itself. I have two definite players and one "probably"; I'm looking to recruit two more people who can definitely attend, aiming for a finished group size of 4-5 players (plus me as the GM). In brief, it's an adventure for level 9 PCs, set in Osirion (the Egypt analogue of Golarion, Paizo's campaign setting). Behind the spoiler, you'll find a player's guide with a lot more detail (much of which is probably review for people here on Paizo's forum, but I prefer to be thorough). The Full Details:
= The Song Pharaoh's Coda: Player's Guide =
== Setting == The adventure takes place in the land of Osirion, in the world of Golarion, Paizo's official campaign setting. For players unfamiliar with the campaign setting, Osirion is roughly equivalent to Egypt. It is one of the oldest nations in the world, and has all the features one would expect in a fantasy analog of Egypt: pyramids, tombs, harsh deserts surrounding a fertile river valley, and so on. The gods of real-world ancient Egypt have likewise been integrated into the setting. For several centuries, Osirion was ruled by invaders from neighboring Katapesh. Three generations ago, the native people of Osiriani finally overturned the Katapeshi intruders and returned to Pharaonic rule (though there are still many people of Katapeshi descent living throughout the country). The current ruler of Osirion is Pharaoh Khemet III, the Ruby Prince. His great challenge is restoring the traditions that were lost or changed during the centuries of Katapeshi rule, while simultaneously managing a fractious country on a treasury depleted by war. In order to pursue these dual goals -- rediscovering past lore, and funding the current government -- the Ruby Prince has officially made it legal to excavate the tombs and lost cities of Osirion's past. Treasure hunters operating under a government mandate are required to bring their finds to Prince Khemet's archaeological staff for evaluation. Any pieces of particular historical importance will be kept by the state, and a finder's fee paid out to the person or group that discovered them. Pieces of lesser interest will be returned to the finders with papers documenting their authenticity, who are then free to keep them or sell them as they see fit. The Church of Pharasma, the goddess of death, has reluctantly agreed to this arrangement, and imposed a set of rules governing the treatment of the dead (basically, try not to disturb the peaceful dead any more than necessary, and destroy any undead). You will be playing such a treasure hunter. As an experienced adventurer (of 9th level), you have been selected for a very special assignment by Nazmi, one of the Ruby Prince's direct advisors. Play begins in the capital city of Sothis, a sprawling metropolis on the River Sphinx. (But note that you won't be staying in Sothis for long.) If you are interested in learning more about Osirion or Golarion more generally, consult the Pathfinder Wiki: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Osirion https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Sothis There's no real chance of spoilers from the wiki, as this is a custom adventure, so feel free to read as little or as much as you please. == Mechanics == === Allowed Source Books === In general, I'm okay with allowing anything published by Paizo, with the exception of the classes mentioned below that don't really fit the adventure. If there is some third-party material you want to use, tell me what you want and we'll discuss it. === Alignment === No evil characters, please. Also, I have a no patience for people who use Chaotic Neutral as "I'm evil but I don't want to admit it," or as an excuse to cause trouble with party members. I expect players to follow Wil Wheaton's law: Don't be a dick. === Races === All of the races from the core rulebook are present in Osirion. The population is predominantly human, but also has a large number of halflings. Dwarves are comparatively uncommon, but not unknown. Osirion also has a long history of contacts with the elemental planes, and so the elemental player races (Ifrit, Oread, Sylph, Undine, Suli) are more common than usual. If you wish to play something beyond the races listed here, please talk it over with me first. === Character Classes === Most classes will work well with this adventure, but those with skills associated with dungeon delving are most useful. Knowledge skills may prove helpful, particularly those which may reveal information about the distant past. It is not uncommon to find a few traps in ancient tombs. And of course anyone who can contribute to a fight is welcome, when an expedition may at any time run into a beast or ghoul. That said, there are a few classes that I am banning, either because they do not really suit the flavor of the adventure, or because they may find that their class features are not particularly relevant. These include: Antipaladin, Gunslinger, Kineticist, Medium, Mesmerist, Ninja, Occultist, Psychic, Samurai, Spiritualist, Vigilante. Please give those a miss. If you have any questions about whether a particular class would work well, please let me know and we can discuss options. === Wealth === Players start with standard wealth by level for a 9th-level character (46,000 gp). In general, most magical items you might need are available in Sothis. Please don't spend all your gold on one fantabulous item; split it up. === Ability Scores === To generate ability scores: 1) Roll 1d10. Add 8 to the value rolled. This is one ability score.
Example: Set 1
Set 2
I'd probably choose Set 1, out of these two. So my starting ability scores (before racial adjustments and level bumps) would be 18, 16, 14, 14, 11, 9, arranged to suit myself. === House Rules === We are going to be using the feat tax rules from Michael Iantorno. The full details can be had here: But to sum up: 1) Everybody gets Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Point Black Shot, Power Attack and Weapon Finesse for free. You only use them when they make sense -- for example, there's no point using Weapon Finesse if your Strength is better than your Dexterity. 2) The feats Weapon Focus, Greater Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization, Greater Weapon Specialization, and Improved Critical let you pick a weapon group, rather than a specific weapon. For example, instead of picking Weapon Focus (Greataxe), you would get Weapon Focus (Axes), and gain its benefit on any weapon in the Axes group from the Fighter class. 3) Dodge and Mobility are now a single feat. It's called Dodge, incorporates the effects of both feats, and counts as both for purposes of meeting prerequisities for other feats. 4) Improved Two-Weapon Fighting now incorporates the effects of the later two-weapon feats. That is, if you have Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, when you would get an extra attack due to an increase in your base attack bonus, you automatically gain a new attack with your off-hand weapon as well without spending even more feats on it. 5) New feat: Unarmed Combatant. This replaces (and counts as) Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple. It grants all the benefits of both feats. 6) New feat: Deft Maneuvers. This replaces (and counts as) Improved Dirty Trick, Improved Disarm, Improved Feint, Improved Reposition, Improved Steal, and Improved Trip. It grants all the benefits of those feats. 7) New feat: Powerful Maneuvers. This replaces (and counts as) Improved Bull Rush, Improved Drag, Improved Overrun and Improved Sunder. It grants all the benefits of those feats. In addition to the above, we're going to use the Background Skills option from Pathfinder Unchained. It divides the skill list into two chunks: adventuring skills and background skills. Ranks in adventuring skills can only be purchased with your normal skill points from your level, Intelligence modifier, favored class bonus, or human bonus skill point. The following skills are adventuring skills: Acrobatics
You get 2 extra skill points per level to spend on background skills. These are the background skills: Appraise
If you want to spend some of your regular skill points on background skills, that's fine. == Backstory == For backstory, I want to know: 1) Your PC's name, gender, race, and so on. Include cosmetic details like hair and eye color.
If you want to add more backstory, that's encouraged! But not required. === Languages === The native language of the region is Osiriani, but virtually everyone also speaks Common to some degree. Note, however, that modern Osiriani is substantially different than it was in the past, and no one really uses the hieroglyphic scripts any longer. Ancient Osiriani is thus considered a language unto itself, and is not available as a starting language (even to races that are ordinarily able to pick any language, such as humans). If you wish to know Ancient Osiriani, you must put a skill point into Linguistics to learn it. === Religions === If you are playing a cleric or a religious character, any of the major non-evil deities of the Inner Sea region are fine. Those are: LN Abadar, god of commerce and civilization
In addition, and of these from the Osiriani pantheon are fine: LN Anubis, god of burial, mummification, tombs
Domains, favored weapons, and basic info about all of these deities can be had in the Pathfinder Wiki: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Portal:Religion If you want more info on any of these, please let me know and I'll be happy to answer any questions. In general, the wiki articles on the core deities are pretty good, but the ones on the Osiriani pantheon are stubs -- they've got info like domains, favored weapons and such, but precious little about the deities themselves. If you need to know more about the world or have any other questions of any kind, please do not hesitate to ask. If you're interested, need to know more about the world or have any other questions of any kind, please let me know.
Suppose your PC is blinded, lacks the blind-fight feat, and wants to smack something. Doing so requires an attack roll, and suffers a 50% miss chance. In order to do this, I often see people use this procedure: 1) Make the attack roll.
This is slow and cumbersome. So at my table, I encourage to people to do this instead: 1) Roll your d20.
I find this much faster. It only requires one die roll per attack, not two, and you know immediately whether or not you've passed your miss chance. Knowing that prevents you from wasting time on math that isn't necessary. And it integrates seamlessly with the standard rules for automatic miss (natural 1, odd) and automatic hit (natural 20, even). Just thought I'd put that out there. I hope someone finds it useful.
Designers, while you are working on PF2, please bear cognitive load in mind. Having options is great! But the more options you have, the harder it becomes to remember all of them in play, and more difficult to choose between them. Some people are quite adept at this; one player I know routinely builds complex characters with three or even four different point economies to track, and uses them to great effect -- once he makes up his mind about which of his many options to choose. Having more options presents a greater opportunity for analysis paralysis, but he generally does fairly well at avoiding it. Other players struggle to operate a single-classed PC with no bells or whistles. This is particularly true of new players. Because they are not familiar with the system basics, running their PC takes a lot of mental work, and they are thus prone to forgetting options that are available to them. I tend to steer such players towards feats and equipment that grant static bonuses. Things that get added and figured in once are things you don't have to remember from moment to moment in the game, which tends to make running the character easier. So, please try to strike a balance between game elements that add new options and those that improve existing options. Players should be free to build PCs that suit the cognitive load they are prepared to bear, whether that's low or high. Crap, I wrote a five-paragraph essay with an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. Somewhere, my English teachers are cackling.
First up, storage! At the moment, my solution for storing printed gaming maps looks something like a heap of bits of paper and a basket. On the left of the chair, are a bunch of artist's binders I got from an art supply store, containing a ton of loose laminated paper maps. On the right is a hamper from Target, minus the lid, containing a bunch of rolled up vinyl maps I had printed out. The binders are awkward to work with, bulky, I have no good place to put them, and it's awkward trying to shuffle through them to find any particular map I happen to need. The hamper is slightly better, but the effects of gravity means that often the vinyl winds up developing kinks down in the basket where the roll slumps under its own weight. Neither of these is satisfactory, particularly given that today I acquired these new maps. Yes, that's 47 distinct vinyl battlemaps ranging in size from 5x8 inches up to 50x30 inches. I might be able to get all of them in the hamper, but the smaller ones would get lost at the bottom and it would rapidly get hard to actually find anything. Next up, transportation! I'm going to be running some games at NorWesCon and GenCon this year, and I will need to haul maps along with me. I have to fly to both of those destinations. How should I go about transporting my maps? I'd rather not just fold them up and cram them in my suitcase and hope for the best. Any suggestions for either of these two things would be welcome!
Here's a screenshot: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hmrjrtfue0uomjj/paizo-sc-001.png?dl=0 The text of the headings "Roleplaying Game" and "Adventure Card Game" under the Pathfinder menu are too wide to fit the available space. They get smooshed together at the edges. Also, the headers occupy a different number of lines: Roleplaying
... vs ... Adventure
... which throws the items underneath them out of kilter. For example, take a look at "Expansions" from the ACG menu; it's about half a line further down than "Sourcebooks" from the RPG menu. It comes out looking rather messy. This screenshot was taken using Firefox Quantum 58.0.2. I have a bunch of extensions installed, but I don't think any of them are likely to be affecting this. On a related note, I took a look at the code in the menu, and found this: <input name="rpg" id="pathfinder-rpg" type="checkbox">
It makes me happy to see that you are labeling your form inputs! (Even if I have no idea why there's a form input mixed into a basic navigational structure.) However, there's an issue: you've got an associated CSS rule like this: header #nav-main ul.tier-two .links-stem > ul > li > input {
I'm guessing you're using that to hide the checkbox. Unfortunately, "display: none" causes the browser to treat that input in most cases as if it does not exist. That, in turn, causes screen readers for the blind to ignore both the input and its label. Screen readers skip labels for non-existent inputs, in order to avoid confusing blind people by giving them the impression that there's a form input they need to interact with when there actually isn't. So by hiding the form input with display:none, you've effectively disabled your heading for blind users. You may not want the input to be read aloud, but I suspect you probably DO want the text of the label read aloud, because it's serving double-duty as a form input label and as a heading in the navigation. Consider taking a look at the ARIA properties for cases like this, specifically the aria-labelledby attribute.
The new "My Account" menu is currently organized as follows: 1 Order History
Perhaps my own case is unusual, but I think I've accessed my order history all of 2 or 3 times since signing up on the site eight years ago. It's mostly irrelevant -- you place the order, it's done, and you never have to think about it ever again. On the other hand, I access my profile daily. Usually multiple times daily. It's the fastest way to find the posts I've made so I can see if anyone has responded to them. So I would like to suggest that the order of the links in the My Account menu may not be ideal. If it were up to me, I would organize it thus: 1 My Profile
"My Profile" gets top billing as the central hub for your own activity. "Organized Play" a close second because PFS/SFS people need to access that routinely. "Private Messages" supports both of the first two items, particularly for people in play-by-post games. "Digital Content" is important, but not key to site navigation. Paizo's digital content consists of PDFs; I suspect people tend to download them once and then keep a copy on their local machine, and only have to revisit it for new stuff or if they're not using their usual computer for some reason. "Order History" -- eh, does this even really need to be present in the top-level My Account navigation? It's got top-right column billing in the Account Settings page, so if it were up to me I'd remove it entirely and just leave it under Account Settings. "Account Settings" -- makes sense where it is, next to last. "Sign Out" -- is exactly where it should be; it's at the bottom by standard convention. I hope Paizo is tracking analytics on how many times each of these links get used. This kind of thing is where tracking usage data excels at telling you how your customers are voting with their clicks. Keep an eye on that for the first few months of the new site, and adjust if a pattern emerges in the data.
I'm not sure whether this is a world lore question or a rules question because it involves both; but it feels more like world lore question to me. If I understand correctly, souls in Golarion originate via some mysterious process on the Positive Energy plane. Then, once they have developed sufficiently there, they migrate to the material plane where they bond with a body (either an organic body like a human child, or occupying a recently vacated android body). The soul then learns things, does things, makes choices, and generally lives its life. Eventually, the body dies (or the soul passes out of the android), it becomes a petitioner, gets judged by Pharasma, migrates to its assigned outer plane and meets whatever fate its actions in mortal life prepared it for. Right? So my question is this: what happens when you use Polymorph Any Object to turn an inanimate object into a living creature? The iconic example from the spell is turning a pebble into a human for 20 minutes. It gets all six ability scores (10 for physical, 5 for mental). Does that mean the pebble now has a soul? Or is it more like a construct? Or what? If so, what happens when the duration expires and the pebble reverts to being a pebble? Does the soul move on? It'd be a pretty lame life to get exactly 20 minutes to explore the world as a thinking, breathing being, and then your body suddenly isn't a body any more and you're punted out of material existence and on to yet another whole new world. I don't really have any purpose in asking beyond food for thought.
The Rise of the Runelords forum has a wonderful thread keeping track of all the extras and additions that people have created over the years. Here's one for Ruins of Azlant. If you have something to contribute, please add it. If it involves external files, such as a map or handout, please choose a host that's stable in the long term. It's terribly frustrating for future users when a link goes dead. Maps: Cut-away view of the Alabaster Trident by Chinchbug (also posted on the the cartographer's guild)
Inner Sea Gods says that one of Pharasma's servitors is a unique linnorm named Birthed-in-Sorrow, and gives some basic details on her abilities (channel positive energy, animate objects). Do we know anything more about this creature from any other source? Motivations? Backstory? Stats would be nice, because I think my player is going to be fighting her soon.
There are some moments that I am proud of in my GMing history. Some of them are things that happened on the spur of the moment. Others took months to set up and play out. Probably a lot of us have such moments. And we don't really get to share them very much! Often, they take a lot of explaining before they can be properly appreciated, and it's hard to find someone whose eyes won't glaze over about a quarter of the way in. So -- GMs: tell me your triumphs. Tell me what you did that you are proud of as a GM. How did you do it? What went into it? I promise to read every post in this thread in full, even the long ones. I am not afraid of spoilers, but for the sake of people who care about such things, please put any potential spoilers for published adventures in spoiler tags. I look forward to hearing your tales.
I'm running a dwarven wedding this weekend. The bride is a cleric of Bolka, so she wants aaaaaaaall the extras. So far I haven't found any info on dwarven weddings. What are they like on Golarion? Ideas so far: - Ceremony takes place in an underground chapel. The bride and groom emerge from an even deeper chamber behind the altar. Afterwards, the wedding party and guests leave the chapel together, emerging outdoors to re-enact the emergence of the dwarves at the end of the Quest for Sky. - The altar is a giant, completely functional anvil with accompanying tools and an active furnace. - Bride and groom do the hand-fasting thing, only it's masterwork cold iron manacles. Each of them wears one half of the manacles, which have short chains dangling off them. They have to cooperate to forge the final link in front of the assembled guests out of solid gold. Possibly with a dwarven choir chanting guttural songs. - Refreshments outside consisting of traditional dwarven foods: hot, packed with calories, designed to sustain you through a fully day of mining or forging. Plus vast quantities of alcoholic beverages, mainly ale and stout. - Finally, the bride and groom have to collect a coal from the altar and use it to start the fire in their new home. It's terribly bad luck if the coal goes out.
Pathfinderwiki has a category for dead deities. If I've counted correctly, only six of them are full-on gods:
Am I missing any? All the others on the wiki list are demigods of one sort or another. Mostly demon lords killed by Nocticula -- she's a busy lady. Namzaruum is hero-god and it's not exactly clear that he's perma-dead. Thron isn't technically dead, and it's not exactly clear whether he was a full god back in the day. Tsukiyo is a full god, but since he got resurrected he's not actually dead any more.
The following spoils Book 4 pretty thoroughly. Thoughts on Book 4, City in the Deep:
I found this chapter problematic.
My chief objection is that Naqualia, the BBEG of the chapter, has no obvious motive for doing the things that she does. The Adventure Background ends with the line "when the PCs arrive in Talasantri, Naqualia realizes her time [to seek out Vallik] may be running out." Why? The PCs are not looking for Vallik. They don't know Vallik exists. Similarly, they have no idea that Naqualia exists. The PCs are irrelevant to Naqualia's task unless they get in her way somehow. All she has to do is keep her head down, focus on her task, find Vallik, and be gone before anyone is the wiser. Instead, she almost immediately begins harassing the PCs and attempting to sow widespread chaos and discord through the city. Why? Chaos and discord are not going to help her. In fact, it's likely to make her job harder! People become suspicious and less willing to talk when their lives are in uproar. That will make it more difficult to track down Vallik. Further, harassing the PCs accomplishes nothing beyond alerting them that they have an enemy. It is literally the worst possible thing she could do. So ... why does she do these things? Is she dumb? No -- INT 14 is pretty bright. Is she inept? No -- the book says "Naqualia operates from the shadows, leading her mercenary forces with her impressive social skills." (Except that she doesn't really use her social skills, and blows her cover pretty fast.) Does she just want to see the city fall apart for kicks? No -- her alignment is True Neutral, and she "fears nothing more than failure," which argues that she's likely to be pretty task-oriented. While reading this, it seriously felt to me as though most of Naqualia's actions were dictated by meta concerns. The plot demands that the PCs have opposition; therefore, Naqualia messes with the PCs even though doing so actively undermines her primary objective. Part 4 suffered from a similar major problem, in that the entire setup on the island makes no sense. Rillkimatai says his predecessor flagged down a passing ship and paid them to construct a tomb on a nearby island. And they did. Whaaat? This poses a number of problems: 1) Why was there a ship passing through here in the first place? There's no regular traffic between Arcadia and Avistan as far as I know. I mean, isn't the whole point of establishing a colony out here that there's nobody around? So where did this ship come from? Of course, it might have been a pirate. They might have reason to be lurking about in the ruins of Azlant, seeking good hidden bases from which to launch raids back towards the more settled lands. 2) Aside from that, excavating and finishing a tomb of this size is a HUGE project. It would take several months, minimum. Possibly as much as a year, especially considering that random sailors are not known for the superlative mining and engineering skills. Would a random ship have enough supplies to even keep their people fed that long? Would they even have the tools needed to excavate a tomb like that? Progress is going to be slow if you've only got three shovels and one pick, no matter how many sailors you have on hand to use them. 3) Why would they actually follow through? A merchant captain would be incredibly reluctant to blow their schedule off for that long at the behest of some fish-man. He might take Wavewalker ashore, spend a day or two building a cairn of rocks on the beach, say a few words, and then hurry along his way. And a pirate captain would probably be happy to take their money, then dump Wavewalker's corpse on the beach and sail off with the payment and the spear thinking "Sweet Besmara, those fish-men are chumps!" In neither case does a tomb of that scale plausibly get built. With all that said, I really liked Talasantri itself. The city is cool, and the Drecissa/Anemora Argnos/Koramallis byplay was interesting. I appreciate how the author bent over backwards to avoid assuming that the PCs will befriend a particular NPC. I do have to wonder how Drecissa managed to get six levels of druid, in a city, before she's even moved out of her mother's house -- but hey, maybe she just likes camping out on the sea floor a lot. As I was reading I wished these subplots were slightly better integrated with the overarching plot of the book, but then at the end it became clear that they're mainly a setup for the major hook into the next book. So, fair enough. If I ever end up running this AP, I'll probably keep roughly the same cast of characters for book 4, but I'll be doing some heavy rewriting of the primary plot points.
I'm considering running a game set on Golarion in the Age of Serpents, and trying to figure out which PC races were present on the planet at the time. Dwarves: Generally no, they were down in the Darklands till the Age of Darkness (-4987 AR). Elves: Maybe? Their civilization apparently reached its peak in the Age of Legend, but I haven't been able to find out when they actually arrived from Sovyrian in the first place. The Age of Serpents could well pre-date elves. Gnomes: No. They were in the First World till the Age of Anguish (-4202 AR). Half-Elves: See Elves, above. If there are no Elves, there are no Half-Elves. Half-Orcs: No. The Orcs were pushed out of the Darklands by the Dwarves, so no surface examples till the Age of Darkness. Which means no Half-Orcs before then either. Halflings: are native surface-dwellers, but not recorded till the Age of Legend at the earliest. So ... maybe? Humans: Yes. It's a seriously different world. Half the races missing. No written language yet means no wizards or magi. In a world before domesticated horses, no cavaliers. Monks (and to a lesser degree Paladins) depend on elaborate philosophies and codes of conduct unlikely to have arisen in a hunter-gatherer society. No metalwork means even the weakest fey are a serious threat because nobody has cold iron. Ditto for the other metalline DRs. For that matter, I'm going back and forth on whether archery has been invented yet or if slings, darts and spears (with atlatl launchers) are the sole ranged options.
I'd like to try out play-by-post, and a PFS scenario seems like a good way to do that -- a comparatively short-term commitment compared to a full-length module or an AP. But I'm not part of PFS, and don't really have any interest in joining. So -- Is it acceptable to play in a PFS PbP without being in PFS? I'd be happy to just play an iconic, maybe with a fresh name and backstory.
Ultimate Campaign says the following about losing control of businesses built using the Downtime system: PRD wrote: Because adventuring is dangerous work, if you're away from a settlement for 30 days or more, you risk losing control of your businesses there as employees begin to wonder whether you're dead. Upon your return, you must attempt a leadership check (1d20 + your Leadership score) against a DC equal to the number of days since you last had contact with that businesses — 10 (so if you've been gone for 30 days, the DC is 20). Question: if the PC does not have the Leadership feat, what do they use as their Leadership score? Is it: A) Calculate the Leadership score as if they had Leadership? B) A Charisma check? C) A straight d20 roll? D) Automatic failure? E) Something else?
I just ran the Rushlight Festival. The boasting contest had some great stories in it, but I think it would be difficult to do justice to them speaking extemporaneously. So I took the time to write up first-person narratives for all of the boasters that I could just read aloud with suitably dramatic intonation. Here they are: Memon Esponde of Daggermark Spoiler:
Greetings, gentlemen, children, and especially ladies! I am Memon Esponde, a gad-about-town from Daggermark, where I am renowned for my keen wit, good looks, and humility. Gentlemen, keep a sharp eye on your wives and daughters when I am around! (Intimidate)
Do not think I warn you merely out of hubris, oh no! I warn you because I have been looking for a challenge. You see, a earlier this year when I was traveling about the River Kingdoms on a lark, a late afternoon rainstorm drove me to seek shelter. Casting about for someplace to spend the night, I came across a secluded temple on the outskirts of a town known for its arena. Knocking on the door, it was opened by a lovely young lady who asked me what I wanted. "O most lovely lady," I said, "I seek shelter from the storm. Might I trouble you for a night's ... lodging?" "Certainly, sir," she said. "We were just setting down to dinner. Come and I shall introduce you to my fellow priestesses." At the dinner table, she introduced me to her colleagues, whose names I as a gentleman shall forebear to mention. Each damsel my eye fell upon seemed more beautiful than the last! The last I laid eyes upon was the high priestess, an elven lady with hair like spun gold, eyes like emeralds, and ... lips as soft and welcoming as a warm spring afternoon. I made up my mind then and there that I must have not one, not two, but all seven of them. And since I had but one night in which to achieve this, well, let's just say that it was a good thing this particular temple was devoted to Calistria. Why, in any other establishment, I might only have managed four or five of the ladies! But under roof of Calistria, the Unquenchable Fire, I set about my task with fervor. One by one, I wooed the priestesses. One by one they opened their ... arms to me, starting with the lowest acolyte and finishing with the high priestess herself. Ah, it was a glorious night! But alas, it could not last. For the first of my conquests, the sweet acolyte, found herself wanting more and came seeking me -- only to learn from her sisters that I had been ... busy. As the ladies compared notes, my duplicity became evident, and the six of them burst into the high priestess's chamber at the top of the temple's spire to confront me. Leaping from her bed and noting the horizon outside lightening with the first hints of dawn, I uttered a prayer: "O Calistria, great lady whose passions rock the universe, if my deeds this night have pleased you, then grant me a way out!" And lo, at that very moment, the temple's sacred guardian wasp, fully the size of horse, appeared at the balcony. I snatched up the high priestess's corset, leaped aboard the wasp, and flew away into the sunrise, waving farewell at my erstwhile lovers with their high priestess's undergarments. (Bluff) (At this point allow a DC 20 Sense Motive check to notice that he's talking about Mialolessa.) And so, good gentlemen, heed my warning! For if you do not, I shall surely have far too easy a time seducing the lovely ladies of Pitax. (Diplomacy, Comedy) Ankus Depergode of Gralton Spoiler:
Ahoy there, land-lubbers. Aye, I called ye lubbers, for what else can you be in this land-locked nation? (Intimidate)
Ye poor sods don't have any idea what yer missin, with no ocean about. Why, down by the Shackles is the real place to live. Ships goin' in an out full of treasure and wealth of all kinds! But none could ever match the ship that I sailed on, for I stowed away on and later served aboard the Seawraith. Now ye all may not have heard of the Seawraith, but it's a ship of legend: captained by none other than Besmara, the Queen Goddess of Pirates herself. It sails not just the Shackles, but the seas of the very planes, making port in whole other worlds. Ever heard of Sigil? How about the City of Seven Seraphs? No? Well, I've made port in both! (At this point, allow DC 20 Sense Motive, or Detect Magic + Spellcraft DC 15 to notice Ankus' bard friend stirring the crowd's emotions.) When Besmara found me stowed away in her ship she was all set to have me walk the plank -- but I had on me a necklace full of fireballs, and threatened to blow a hole in her hull so large her ship would sink straight to the Abyss, and never be heard from again. That made her laugh, and so she decided to make me a deckhand instead. Many were our adventures, but I think me fondest memory of those days be the game of poker I played with Dalindra, a deva from Nirvana, and Palinax, a bearded devil from the Nine Hells. We were holdin' both of 'em fer ransom ye see, and it fell to me to keep 'em from killing each other, so I proposed that we play poker. Such would let them compete with each other without causin' a ruckus. It were a tight hand -- them devas may not be any good at bluffin, but by all the gods they can see their way past even such a liar as that bearded devil were. Fortunately fer me, they was so focused on competin' with each other, they paid too scant attention t' little ol' me. They wagered high, they paid me no mind -- and in the end, I won the deva's wings and the devil's beard on a single hand of cards! (Bluff) I've got a million more where that came from, but one's enough for now, I'm thinkin', and there're plenty more tales to come from me honored opponents, even if none can hold a candle to sailing the seas under Cap'n Besmara. (Diplomacy, Oratory) Ceala Ravenbrow of Mivon Spoiler:
Good day! My name is Ceala Ravenbrow. Having a good time, everyone? I see lots of mugs in the audience -- ah, I like my drink, and I look forward to drinking many of you under the table at the drinking competition later. (Intimidate)
You surely wouldn't want to interrupt me when I'm drinking, that's for sure. Why, one time in a town in northern Galt, I had just set down to a fine glass of elven absinthe when the town came under assault by a demonic chimera. It had three heads: a goat on the left, a lion's head on the right, and a green dragon in the middle. Some foolish adventurers rousted it from its lair, after which it slaughtered them and came rampaging into the village. Unconcerned, I drew my sword and stepped into its path. We fought back and forth along the road, surrounded by screaming, fleeing townsfolk. The dragon head I lopped off with a single stroke! It reared back and roared with its other two heads, crashing into a building as it did so. Looking up, I saw a huge rock that had been built into the chimney come loose -- I hurled my sword and the drink that I still held in my hand up into the air, did three backflips forward and kicked the goat's head into the path of the falling rock, which crushed it, and then caught my sword and my drink. That left only the lion's head, which proved the easiest of all: I sheathed my sword, ripped off that chimera's tail with my bare hand, leaped onto its back, and strangled the lion's head with its own tail as I rode it bucking and twisting through the streets of the town. The grateful townsfolk cheered my name, and the innkeeper offered me a fresh glass of absinthe. "No need," I told him -- for in all of that, I had not spilled so much as a single drop of absinthe. That would have been such a waste over a trifle like a demonic chimera! (Bluff) Yes, I like my drinks. It's a failing. But one that I share with all of you! I'll see you all later for a proper bout -- and don't worry about any demonic chimeras interrupting us. (Diplomacy, Sing) Mialolessa of Tymon Spoiler:
The day is hot - but not so hot as I am. For I am Mialolessa, a priestess of Calistria, and my charms are indeed legendary! (Intimidate)
There are many tales I could tell, but the one that comes to mind just now happened, oh, about nine months ago. I was visiting Kyonin to see my cousin Larielle where she lives in the southern reaches of that realm. She greeted me as I arrived, along with her friend, an elven woman named Penna. As Larielle introduced Penna to me, I thought something seemed odd in her manner, and resolved to ask her about it later. Alas, later never came! For that evening, Penna came to my room and invited me for a walk in the forest. Sensing that something was up, I said "Oh, I am too tired from travel to go for a walk just now. But we could ... talk ... here, if you like." She agreed, and I poured us drinks. Well, I shall spare you the details, but one thing led to another. And just as things were getting to the peak, I noticed that she appeared to have grown wings and a tail! Now, this was somewhat unexpected, and so I refused to proceed with what I was doing unless she accounted for herself. And so very much did she want me to finish that she confessed: her real name was Pennavix, and she was a succubus who had been sent by Treerazer, the nascent demon lord who has been contained in the southern reaches of Kyonin for many years now. Her mission was to abduct me and bring me to him, for I had caught his eye, and he intended to make me his consort. So she dominated my cousin, had her invite me, and had intended to lure me into an ambush so I could be taken prisoner. But on seeing me, she could not contain herself, and wanted me for her own instead. "You're such a naughty girl," I told her. In exchange for a week of passion, she agreed to free my cousin from her magic charms and let me go again. To this day she sends me regular gifts of strange fungal potions and wines in the hopes of luring me back to her side in the Tanglebriar. (Bluff) Sadly, Pennavix gave me one other gift before I left -- a rather nasty rash. It took a little while to develop, and proved annoyingly contagious and difficult to remove. I did finally clear that up, but I hope none of the other lovers I took in the meantime find it too unpleasant. (DC 20 Sense Motive check to figure out she's directed this bit at Memon Esponde.) But worry not! I doubt there are any of my lovers in the audience. Yet. (Diplomacy, Oratory) Notes: 1) I used Perform (Comedy) for Memon Esponde because I had difficulty figuring out how Perform (Dance) would help his boast. 2) Because Ceala Ravenbrow's boast was all about how much she loves to drink, I put her in the drinking competition later instead of the usual contestant from Mivon. 3) I wrote one for Annamede Belavarah, but of course it was customized to my own PC's exploits and wouldn't work for any other group. You'll have to write your own for her.
A major chunk of Book 5 is about King Irovetti invading the PC's kingdom. Invading the kingdom would be a heck of a lot easier if all of the PCs were A) dead, or B) imprisoned in Pitax. So given that Irovetti has successfully lured the PCs to his kingdom to participate in the Rushlight Festival, why does he let them leave?
In June of 2010, I started playing in a Kingmaker campaign. This past Saturday, September 2nd 2017, we finally finished. Elapsed time: seven years, two months, and an indeterminate number of days (I'm not sure of the precise date we began). Around June of 2011, I started GM'ing Rise of the Runelords with a different group. That campaign is currently about a third of the way through Book 5, six years later. I would like to say that I'm jazzed at finishing Kingmaker. My character Cara even got in the killing blow on the BBEG. But honestly, all I really feel is relief that that's finally over and done with, and I can get on with my life. I'm going to finish GM'ing Runelords. We have invested so much time and effort in it at this point that none of us can bear the thought of not finishing. But after that, I seriously doubt that I am ever going to play in or run another adventure path. As written they are just too long. I respect groups that have the commitment to run these things. But, at least with my current groups, it's just not realistically compatible with the demands of an adult life.
Mostly I let forum threads age out naturally and just stop checking them after a while. But recently I've posted a couple where I'd really like to know when new responses come in, even if it happens months or years from now. So, is there some way to "follow" a thread so that I can get an email notification when a new response comes in?
I wrote a one-shot adventure set in Osirion which may make a suitable side-quest for a Mummy's Mask campaign. Here's a link to the full write-up. Note several things: 1) The treasure values are decidedly monty-haul because it was a one-shot. In a longer campaign the rewards will need to be reduced. 2) I haven't actually read or played Mummy's Mask, so I have no idea how well it will or won't mesh with the events of that AP. So .. caveat emptor. Here's hoping someone finds this fun and useful.
I give you: A one-shot adventure set in Osirion for 9th level PCs. Retrieve the lost Scrolls of Thoth for the Ruby Prince -- and perhaps discover the ultimate fate of the Song Pharaoh! The adventure includes the following: - handouts
One of my gaming groups managed a reunion after several years absence, and I created this one-shot for the occasion. They enjoyed it sufficiently -- and I had put enough effort in making all the maps, coding things in Hero Lab and statting out NPCs -- that I thought I would go the extra mile and code it up as a web site for the community to play. It may make a good side-quest for a Mummy's Mask campaign, but note that the treasure values will need to be adjusted in this case, as they were not balanced for a longer campaign. Also, while I have tried to keep it in line with Golarion world lore, I am not omniscient, and things change. This is not canon in any way, shape, or form. So just bear that in mind. The web site should work tolerably well on both mobile devices, but it works best on full size desktop browsers. I have also included a print style sheet, so it should print reasonably cleanly. I am eager to hear any feedback you may have. In particular, I am interested in hearing feedback on: 1) The Song Pharaoh. Golarion world lore called for her to be an exceptionally powerful NPC, and the basic plotline of the adventure involves her fighting alongside the party for a while. That puts it dangerously close to Mary Sue territory. I have tried to build in checks and balances to prevent her from stealing the limelight from the players. If anyone has any suggestions on that point, by all means sing out. 2) The Heads of Apep encounter may not be balanced correctly. My players felt it was too easy considering it was advertised as a fight with manifestations of the will of an ancient god of chaos and evil. So after the session I revised their stats to make them more difficult. The version presented on the web site as of this writing has not been play-tested. So if you have suggestions or feedback, please let me know! Custom monsters are difficult, and a weak area in my design skills. I've poured months of effort into this adventure. It's a labor of love. So I hope you and your groups enjoy it!
I'm running the Rushlight Festival soon, and wanted to add a couple of events that would be more caster-friendly. Here's what I've come up with. Feel free to steal these; I hope your group enjoys them. Any feedback is welcome. The Caster's Ball Held on the first evening of the Rushlight festival, the Caster's Ball is an opportunity for the spellcasters to strut their stuff. It traditionally starts with a profligate use of magic by Master Phillipe Ortois, Pitax's court wizard, to create a dancing area. The full details of creating the dancing area:
First, Control Weather to cause torrential rain while the attendees watch from under cover of the pavilions in the area. Once the parade grounds have been soaked, he changes the weather back to clear.
Second, Move Earth to make the mud in the coliseum as smooth as possible. Third, Transmute Mud to Rock to turn the grounds to stone. Fourth, Stone Shape to smooth out any tiny imperfections in the sandstone surface, leaving a perfectly smooth, shiny dancing floor. (Cubic feet can cover quite a wide area if you're only smoothing tiny imperfections.) Finally, multiple castings of Dancing Lights and Permanency to provide light for the evening. All of this is made even more decadent by the fact that the entire thing will be undone afterwards, via Dispel Magic and Transmute Rock to Mud. During the Ball, the attendees all wear their finest evening wear. Pitax's finest tailors are on hand with a stock of extravagant clothing to assist anyone who neglected to bring their own. Then they spend the evening dancing to music supplied by musicians from Pitax's Academy of Grand Arts and snacking on a dazzling array of hor d'oeuvres. King Irovetti presides over the revelry from a throne at one side. Periodically, Irovetti calls for a pause in the dancing for a demonstration. This is when the delegations get to show off their magical skill. The people crowd away from the center, leaving it open for a representative from one of the kingdoms to do their thing. Any kind of magical display goes, the showier the better! The only rules are 1) you cannot cause harm to the viewers, 2) the effect must be temporary or dismissible, so that dancing can resume afterwards, and 3) you cannot use magic items (scrolls, wands, potions, staves, etc). This is meant to be a display of the caster's own skill, not their budget. Any participants make a Spellcraft check to judge how impressive their result was -- divide by 10 and round down to get their points. Casters may attempt one other skill check to enhance their results, subject to GM approval; the DC is 15, and a success grants 1 bonus point. Here are contestants from each delegation: Ponfar Sutaine, CN male halfling cleric of calistria 7, Pitax:
Uses Firewalker's Meditation to walk across a bed of hot coals (brought in on a floating disk courtesy of a colleague). The spell was pre-cast due to its one-hour casting time, which makes for a less impressive display, and so Ponfar attempts a Sleight of Hand check to juggle live coals to add some panache. Spellcraft +11, Sleight of Hand +10. Erasmus Quidalion, NG male human bard 16, Touvette:
He plans to use Entice Fey to conjure a lady of the fey, and ask her to dance before the crowd, hoping for a bonus point based on his superb dancing. Unfortunately, the spell requires a Perform (Sing) check, and while he is a passable singer, it's not a guaranteed success. He casts the spell in front of the assembled crowd, taking 10 minutes to mark out arcane diagrams on the dance floor and singing of his longing for an eldritch dance partner. He opts not to use a magic circle to enclose the conjured fey, deeming it rude. The fey he gets depends on the result of a Perform (Sing) check made with a +15 modifier:
32+, the nereid Evindra, who agrees to dance but spends the whole time pleading for release without being able to give directions to her prison. 28-31, a nymph named Galatea, who dwells in the Emberbough Forest to the southeast and is pleased to dance but scandalizes half the crowd with her blithe disregard for cultural norms regarding nudity. 26-27, the dryad Tiressia, who is immediately sickened and refuses to dance, begging to be sent back to her tree. 21-26, the nixie Melianse, who is extremely pleased to accept, but looks slightly ridiculous dancing with a man twice her height. If his result is a 20 or lower, no one answers his call, and he is heartily embarrassed. If he rolls a natural 20 on his Perform (Sing) check, you could really throw things for a loop and have Nyrissa show up, even though she exceeds the usual hit dice limit of the spell considerably. This would cause great consternation for King Irovetti. Nyrissa would agree to dance, and then dance Erasmus straight out of the world and back to Thousandbreaths -- there to make a pet of him for as long as he can hold her interest. Erasmus offers a spectacular necklace of red gold set with emeralds as his payment (3,000 gp). He makes his Spellcraft check at +19, and makes a Perform (Dance) check at +32 for an extra point. Solira Penrose, CN female half-elf sorcess 14, Tymon:
Solira turns into a large bronze dragon using Form of the Dragon II and swoops over the crowd spouting bolts of electricity into the air well above their heads. Spellcraft +17, and a Fly check for dazzling aerobatics at +19. Yegina Varudu, female human sorceress 12, Daggermark:
Yegina uses Major Image to create an illusion of planting a seed. It grows rapidly into an enormous rose bush, each of whose many blossoms open to release pixies of all the colors in the rainbow. The pixies launch themselves through the sky in elaborate synchronized patterns singing glorious choral works, until finally they all collide simultaneously at one point in the center. The resulting explosion transforms into a single enormous angel who pronounces benedictions of peace and fruitfulness on all present before launching herself skyward and dwindling into the distance. (As it approaches the outer range of the spell, Yegina simulates the angel's dwindling by making the image shrink in size until it winks out.)
Her Spellcraft check is made at +15, and lacking any particularly relevant Perform skill, she makes a Charisma check at +6 to make the illusion especially convincing. Hyram Velociter, LN male human wizard 7, Mivon:
An older gentleman with a calm, fairly dry demeanor, Hyram wheels out a chalkboard and spends ten minutes pretending to explain a fairly dry arcane concept, complete with diagrams. In actuality, he is casting Symbol of Laughter. A DC 27 Knowledge (Arcana) check is enough to figure out what he's doing, which imparts a +2 bonus on the save once he's done. A few of the crowd figure it out and start laughing early. Assume that most of the crowd fails their DC 19 save and spends 7 minutes howling uproariously. Hyram has a Spellcraft modifier of +20 (seven ranks, 3 class skill, 2 Magical Aptitude, 3 Skill Focus, 5 INT), but does not make any other checks.
The Boulder Challenge The gamesmaster places a small, spherical stone on a short plinth in the coliseum. It is smooth granite, weighs 30 pounds, and is 11 inches in diameter. Towards the other end of the coliseum are three holes: a large one (5' diameter, 30 feet away), a medium one (3' diameter, 50 feet away), and a small one (1' diameter, 70 feet away). The three holes are in a straight line. Contestants have 2 rounds to get the boulder into one of the holes. The big hole is worth 2 points, the medium is 3, and the small is 5. Contestants may make one skill check for a bonus point; this is DC 15 unless otherwise noted. If the contestant fails to get the sphere into one of the holes, no points are awarded. The catch is that they are not allowed to touch the boulder with any portion of their bodies. Any other method is fair game. Contestants: Chantal Urena, female human ranger 10/barbarian 2, Daggermark:
Chantal is not a fancy caster-ish type, but she is great at hitting things, and so that's what she's going to do: pot it straight into one of the holes. She takes a +1 greatclub and spends her first round lining up her shot, for a +2 bonus on the attack. On the second round, she rages and uses Vital Strike to smack that sphere as hard as she can. She makes an attack roll at +19. The large hole has an AC of 25; the medium has an AC of 30; the small one has an AC of 35. Ironically, if she rolls a natural 20, the greatclub shatters and the sphere rolls off its plinth and comes to a stop 10 feet away.
Chantal makes an Intimidate check at +13 for a bonus point, looking really buff and scary when whacking the boulder. Average result: 3 points. Kilbaskian Ord, male human ranger 10, Touvette:
Kilbaskian uses Summon Nature's Ally III to call an ape to carry the stone to the hole for him. Casting the spell requires a full round action, and this is not a natural activity for the puzzled ape, so Kilbaskian must make a DC 25 Handle Animal check with a +12 bonus to push the animal into performing this trick for him. This is another full-round action, so he only gets one shot at it. If he gets 30 or higher, the ape snatches the boulder and runs to the smallest hole, smashing it into place and hooting with its arms in the air. On a 25-29, the ape walks over and puts it into the largest hole, then scratches itself while pondering the follies of humanity.
If he fails the Handle Animal check, the confused ape picks up the sphere and tries to hand it to Kilbaskian, much to the amusement of the crowd. Kilbaskian's Handle Animal check counts for a bonus point if he passes it. Average result: 0 points. Hyram Velociter, LN male human wizard 7, Mivon:
Hyram casts Summon Monster IV, calling a Hound Archon, and asks it to put the boulder in the smallest hole. The Hound Archon, however, was expecting to be summoned to fight the good fight against the forces of evil, not lug boulders around for the amusement of some mortals. He refuses to undertake the task unless Hyram makes a successful DC 25 Diplomacy check (+8 modifier). If he passes the Diplomacy check it counts for a bonus point.
Average result: 0 points. Lars Ulven, NG young male half-elf wizard 1, Pitax:
The apprentice wizard Lars Ulven was never intended to represent Pitax in this competition. That job fell to his teacher, Master Phillipe Ortois, Pitax's court wizard. Sadly, his master overindulged in shellfish at the Caster's Ball which had been left out too long, and is being tended for a horrific case of the trots. Rather than let Pitax go without an entrant, Lars gamely volunteered to take his master's place.
Lars spent the last night ransacking his brain, and has come up with a strategy: he is going to cast Carve Passage from a scroll he found in his master's gear, using it to carve a channel in the earth so that the sphere will tip over into it and roll into the first, largest hole. He has deciphered the scroll using Read Magic, but must make a DC 10 caster level check (with a +1 bonus) to successfully activate it. If he passes, he successfully gets the ball into the largest hole, or what's left of it, and the next contestant has to wait a good 15 minutes while the gamesmaster and his assistants repair the field with shovels. If he fails to activate his scroll, give him a DC 5 Wisdom check at -1. If he passes, he can retry the activation on his second round, but takes a -2 penalty on his caster level check due to nerves. If he fails the Wisdom check, he suffers a mishap. The scroll bursts into flames, singeing his face, and the ground underneath him suddenly turns into a ten foot diameter pit, into which he falls, taking 1d6 damage. Lars is too nervous to try anything fancy for bonus points. However, he gains a bonus point if he successfully activates the scroll on his first attempt. Average result: 3 points. Timsina Siraj, female human cleric of Gorum 12, Tymon:
Timsina casts Animate Objects on the boulder, making it a Tiny Object and spending its 1 construction point on the "faster" property. This gives it a move speed of 25 feet. Ordinarily this would be ample for the purpose if it "runs", but the soft dirt of the coliseum counts as difficult terrain for the heavy, perfectly smooth sphere. It spins up lots of dirt as it rolls erratically towards its goal. Timsina needs to make a Spellcraft check (DC 25, at +15). If she passes, she makes it to the 1' hole. Otherwise she is forced to take the 3' hole instead.
Timsina makes a Profession (Soldier) check at +12 to shout orders at her hoplessly stupid minion for a bonus point. Average result: 4 points. Other possible solutions include Telekinesis, and Reach Spell with a suitable teleportation spell, or really whatever your players can dream up. Note that it is too heavy for Mage Hand or an Unseen Servant to move.
Forest is available as a favored terrain. And we have tons of terrain-based domains (Aquatic, Arctic, Cave, Desert, Jungle, Mountain, Plains, and Swamp from Ultimate Magic alone). Druids have a ton of tree-based spells (Tree Shape, Plant Growth, Arboreal Hammer, Grove of Respite, Tree Stride, Transport via Plants, Siege of Trees, just to name a few). So, given all that, why is there no Forest domain for druids? It's arguably the most iconic terrain for a druid. The iconic druid, Lini, met her animal companion Droogami in a forest. Certainly forest is a more obvious one than some of the others that have been issued. (Ruins? Really?) Can anyone enlighten me as to why this fairly obvious option has never been made available?
I'm going to be playing in a one-shot on Friday. The GM told us to build level 20 PCs with one mythic tier. All paizo books are fair game, we get standard gold for level 20 PCs (880K). Plus we're supposed to each pick one artifact that we get for free, as long as we can come up with backstory justifying it. So I came up with this guy. Stat block for Kveldulf Rognisson:
Kveldulf Rognisson
Male human (Ulfen) fighter 20/Champion 1 N Medium humanoid (human) Init +9; Senses Perception +26 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 55, touch 22, flat-footed 49 (+14 armor, +5 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 insight, +19 natural) hp 319 (20d10+185) Fort +21, Ref +25, Will +25 (+5 vs. fear); +1 trait bonus vs. curses and [curse] spells, or +3 trait bonus if from linnorm Defensive Abilities evasion, fortification 75%, hard to kill; DR 5/— -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee +5 vorpal adamantine falchion +42 (8d4+248/15-20/×3) Ranged +1 adaptive composite longbow +29 (4d8+84/×3) Special Attacks mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6), weapon mastery (falchion), weapon trainings (armed bravery, fighter's reflexes, heavy blades +4, bows +3) -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 32, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 19, Wis 16, Cha 9 Base Atk +20; CMB +31; CMD 53 Feats Cosmopolitan[APG], Devastating Strike[UC], Dodge, Endurance, Fast Learner[ARG], Greater Penetrating Strike, Greater Vital Strike, Greater Weapon Focus (falchion), Greater Weapon Specialization (falchion), Improved Critical (falchion), Improved Initiative, Improved Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Penetrating Strike, Power Attack[M], Toughness, Vital Strike[M], Weapon Focus (falchion), Weapon Specialization (falchion) Traits king in waiting, spirit guide Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +19, Knowledge (arcana) +27, Knowledge (nature) +24, Knowledge (planes) +24, Knowledge (religion) +29, Perception +26, Ride +10, Stealth +40, Swim +19 Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Hallit, Skald, Sylvan SQ armor mastery, armor training 4, extra mythic feat[MA], fleet charge[MA] Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds (10), potion of cure serious wounds (3), potion of fly (6), potion of resist acid 30, potion of resist cold 30, potion of resist electricity 30, potion of resist fire 30, scent blocker (2); Other Gear +5 greater shadow mithral full plate of heavy fortification, +1 adaptive composite longbow, +5 vorpal adamantine falchion, amulet of natural armor +5, belt of physical perfection +6, cape of free will +5/+6[MA], clear spindle ioun stone, dusty rose prism ioun stone, headband of mental prowess +6 (Int, Wis), linnorm orb of dragonkin, manual of gainful exercise +4, ring of evasion, ring of protection +5, backpack, bandolier[UE], bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), mess kit[UE], pot, soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 1,955 gp, 5 sp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Armed Bravery (+5/+10) (Ex) Add bravery bonus to will save, Intim. DC to demoralize you increases by amount shown. Armor Mastery (Ex) Gain DR while wearing armor or using a shield. Armor Training 4 (Ex) Worn armor -4 check penalty, +4 max DEX. Damage Reduction (5/-) You have Damage Reduction against all attacks. Devastating Strike Deal extra damage when using Vital Strike bonus Endurance +4 to a variety of fort saves, skill and ability checks. Sleep in L/M armor with no fatigue. Evasion (Ex) If succeed on Reflex save for half dam, take none instead. Fighter's Reflexes (Weapon Training [Blades, Heavy] +4) (Ex) While not denied Dex bonus to AC, add training bonus to Reflex saves. Fleet Charge (Ex) As a swift action, use 1 power to move speed & attack (+1 bonus, bypass all DR). Fortification 75% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks. Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2. Improved Iron Will (1/day) Can re-roll a Will save, but must take the second result. Penetrating Strike (Ignore DR 10/Any or DR 5/-) Ignore up to 5 points of DR/?. Power Attack [Mythic] Use 1 power to eliminate attack penalties of Power attack for 1 min. Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount. Vital Strike [Mythic] Vital Strike multiplies dam bonus by number of extra weapon dice rolled. Weapon Mastery (Falchion) (Ex) Chosen weapon always confirms critical threats, and cannot be disarmed. Weapon Training (Blades, Heavy) +4 (Ex) +4 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades Weapon Training (Bows) +3 (Ex) +3 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Bows The stat block assumes that he is doing vital strike, and has spent a mythic power point to negate his power attack penalties. His artifact is the Linnorm Orb of Dragonkin, acquired (along with his mythic tier) for defeating the legendary linnorm Fafnheir in single combat. Backstory (long) in case anyone is interested:
The man Kveldulf Rognisson grew up in the frozen lands of the Linnorm Kings, in Southmoor. His father Rogni Baldursson was a poor tailor; his mother perished bearing him, and his mourning father refused even to tell Kveldulf her name. They were poor, but generally happy -- until a new king took the throne and instituted heavy new taxes. Rogni tried his best to support them, and Kveldulf took work as a stable boy to assist him.
But even with both working long hours, they could not keep up. In time, the tax collectors took their home, poor though it was, and left them homeless on the streets of Jol. That winter, Rogni contracted a wasting disease, and after a long, grim decline, coughed himself to death in an alley. Lacking the coin to see his father properly interred, Kveldulf brushed the frozen tears from his cheeks and took his father to the Temple of Pharasma, where he banged on the door and offered to serve them the rest of the winter if they would see his father buried come the spring thaw. The priest there, one Erik Gorlisson, took the boy in and tried to make a priest of Pharasma out of him. Alas, though Kveldulf was a good lad, he lacked any interest in serving the Lady of Graves in that manner. He respectfully acknowledged her power, and paid her honest homage. But it was not in his heart to become her priest. What he did have was a heart full of anger over his father's untimely demise. Some others might have channeled that into a hatred of the tax collectors, or the King. But not Kveldulf. Kveldulf set his sights higher. How had the king come to power? He killed a linnorm. That is all. Surely, that is a great and mighty deed, but what kind of test is it for a king? How shall a king rule, when all he knows is might of arms? How shall a king ensure the health and prosperity of his people, when he knows nothing of rule or governance? The whole system was flawed beyond repair. And so, one day, with these thoughts running dark circles through his head as he swept the shrine of Pharasma, Kveldulf made a decision. In a fit of adolescent passion, he decided to destroy the entire system. He would kill the linnorms. ALL of them. Every. Last. One. And when the last linnorm died, the system that killed his father would die with it. No more linnorm kings would arise. Nor would Kveldulf claim a throne for himself. That would make mockery of his father's death. Perhaps the lands would be ruled by fools; perhaps by wise men. But either way, strength of arms would no longer be the sole measure of a ruler among the Ulfen. In time, he hoped, better men might rise to take power. Thus Kveldulf devoted his life's course to a goal that most would consider madness. Killing just one linnorm is a feat beyond all but the hardiest warriors. Killing ALL of them? It was suicide, pure and simple. And so Kveldulf told no one of his plans. In the spring, with his father buried, he set out for distant Kalsgard. There he joined the guards, earned a place among them, and began his martial training. In the evenings he methodically pursued lore regarding linnorms -- learned their weaknesses, their strengths, the patterns of their thought and how to find their lairs. He made neither friends nor enemies. He earned respect for his abilities, and he was courteous, but his single-minded focus and his disinterest in sharing the common pastimes of his fellow guards won him no love. After a few years of service, he mustered out of the guards and set out to forge his own way. It was a long, ruinously difficult path, paved with blood and hardship. But in the end he gained the experience and equipment he needed, and began killing linnorms. First one. Then another. Another. Another. More. One by one he sought and killed linnorms in their lairs. Some he killed as they slept. Others in full combat. Whenever he found eggs or young, he slaughtered them without hesitation. He used the golden treasures he found in their lairs to have his wounds healed, and to get better gear. He told no one, but with each kill he scratched another notch on his bandolier full of potions, though he disdained to count eggs or young. Finally, he hit a dead end. He knew there were more linnorms out there -- his bandolier had only 23 notches, certainly not enough to be the whole breeding population. But he had no more leads. And so he sought out a trio of norns and asked for their wisdom. They took the form of three maidens of surpassing beauty -- one raven-haired, one blonde, one with hair white as the ash of a cold fire-pit. "Dread sisters," Kveldulf said. "I beg your guidance: I have made it my life's work to exterminate the linnorms, one and all, that the kings of the Ulfen might some day come to value wisdom over might. But I have lost the trail and can find no more of them. How may I continue my work?" Spake the first: "Seek you out the darkling lair ..."
With a name to research -- Fafnheir -- Kveldulf found his way deep into Grungir forest. There he anointed himself with a vile alchemical grease designed to kill his scent, and snuck into the lair. Luck was with him, and he found Fafnheir sleeping. The vast, ancient linnorm lay curled on his sprawling bed of gold. Without hesitation, Kveldulf crept close -- and struck. His blade struck true, but failed to kill Fafnheir. The wyrm reared up, jolted out of deep sleep by incredible searing pain, and reflexively breathed a gout of flame and lightning on his attacker. Kveldulf's quick reflexes spared him much of the damage, but the sheer force of the wind pushed him back and the sound of it deafened him so that he could not hear his own war cry as he charged forward at Fafnheir once again. Once more his blade struck true, and then the massive beast was upon him, biting, clawing, goring at him. Battered and bleeding, he spat blood and lined up his next shot. Once again, he hit, a gout of ichor splashing across his feet, and then the beast savaged him further. Dangerously wounded, the doughty warrior began singing a throaty song of death or victory, raised his sword one final time, and missed. His foot slipped on the gold heaped beneath him, and he fell to one knee. Just in time! Another gout of fire and lightning passed over him -- his stumble had saved him from a direct hit. Looking up at the linnorm, an icy calm descended upon Kveldulf. This was his purpose. He did not even hate Fafnheir. It was men who had decided that the test of kingship would be the slaying of such a beast. But he could not change the customs of men -- save by killing the linnorm. And so, drawing on reserves of determination he had never before reached, he stood and struck, once, twice, thrice, faster than he had ever lifted his blade before. The first hit, scoring deep into the beast's chest. The second swung wide as Fafnheir recoiled in pain. And with the third, Kveldulf plunged his sword directly into Fafnheir's chest, sinking not just the blade but his entire arm into the linnorm's body. A moment of stillness passed. And then Fafnheir collapsed sideways, crashing to the floor without making a sound. Kveldulf barely pulled his arm out in time to avoid breaking it, leaving his blade buried in Fafnheir's heart. Dazed and wounded nigh unto death, it took him a moment to realize that he couldn't hear anything at all. Briefly, he felt the wyrm's final breath cling to his face, but he waved it away. Later, when he pulled his sword from the cooling corpse, ichor gouted out of the wound, and as he watched, a small, golden orb formed out of the puddle. The Orb of Linnorm Dragonkin -- and his key to locate and kill all the remaining linnorms in the world. (Yes, I rolled out the fight with Fafnheir. He got his mythic tier right before the last two hits, which required two mythic power points for an extra standard action and a swift action attack via Fleet Charge.) Anyway! My question is this: How much damage does he do on a critical hit with mythic power attack and mythic vital strike? I've spent the last hour reading multiple threads on the topic, and I'm just as confused as I can possibly be about how it works. Plus there are other things to factor in like devastating strike. I think I've got a good handle on how to run him ordinarily. He's pretty straightforward for a level 20 PC, actually. I'm just not sure how to calculate his crit damage.
I'm prepping a one-shot, and my PCs are going to need to capture a ghost. Ghosts are incorporeal undead, which makes it tricky -- they can pass through physical restraints, and can't be rendered unconscious. I'm aware of the Force Net from Blood of the Night, which would fit the bill nicely. If necessary I'll arrange for them to gain access to one, but I'd also like to know what other options there are. Suggestions? Oh, and I have only a vague idea what the PCs are going to be like. Probably a time oracle, and a rogue, but no one has gotten definite choices back to me yet.
My PCs are facing the Ravenous Crypts tomorrow, and I need a quick sanity check to make sure I'm not going to accidentally murdilate my party. Spoiler:
For reasons I won't go into just now, I decided not to play this area as you-step-in-the-door-and-instantly-get-attacked. Instead, the six mummies in the lobby are hidden behind the doors surrounding the area. On entering, the party met Xyoddin, who said in slobbery partially decomposed voice "Welcome, honored guests! Please make yourselves comfortable and the master will be with you shortly."
Azaven came out and engaged the party in conversation. On learning that they sought Inib wine, he offered them a bargain: get fresh research materials for him -- i.e. people, dead or alive -- and he'll happily trade them bottles of Inib wine at 10 bottles per head. The party discussed it, and even offered him the dead body of Ordikon (which they had stuck in a bag of holding hoping to recover the mithral later!). But he thought the mithral coating would interfere with his research, and so negotiations broke down and he decided to just kill them and use THEIR bodies for research. That's where we broke session. My thoughts are that at this point, Azaven spends a free action to call out to the mummies in the walls, who will burst out of their hiding places emitting despair auras. This is the sticky part. My party's Will saves are mostly not great: Micah: +16
I've just done some number crunching, and if I have them roll six Will saves at DC 19, chances are excellent that 4 out of the 6 will get paralyzed, five if they're unlucky. The ones who fail are likely to fail more than once, getting multiple 1d4 rolls for the duration. I'm assuming those don't stack, but more rolls means a better chance of rolling a 4 and being out of commission for a long, long time. 4 rounds is at least an hour of play time, I think, maybe more, which A) isn't fun, and B) makes it a lot harder for the rest of the party. So I'm thinking of combining the six Will saves into just one Will save at a higher DC -- maybe 24, 19 +1 for each additional mummy. I'm guessing there would still probably be 3 failures, but the duration would wind up being shorter, even if I gave them 1d4+1 rounds of paralysis. That's not even taking into account Azaven, who will be busy summoning a devourer into the mix, and possibly calling Xyoddin and/or more mummies into play. Any thoughts? I want this to be a challenging encounter, not a ha-ha-the-whole-party-dies-now encounter.
The rather arbitrary set of spells that can be made permanent always bothered me. Here's a stab at an expanded version. expanded Permanency:
Permanency
School universal; Level sorcerer/wizard 5 CASTING
EFFECT
Permanency increases the duration of other spells. You may use permanency on any spell, subject to the following restrictions: 1) The permanency spell must be cast at a caster level equal to 8 + the spell level of the target spell. 2) You must expend an amount of diamond dust equal to 2,500 * spell level of the target spell. 3) The target spell must have a duration expressed in discreet units of time (including rounds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, or years), or concentration. Permanency also works on any spell containing the word "Symbol" in the spell name, and on the spells Shrink Item, Stolen Light, and Phase Door. Permanency has no effect on spells with a duration of "see text", instantaneous, or permanent, except those allowed in the previous sentence. Cantrips count as a level 1 spell for both minimum caster level and cost requirements. SL Cost CL
The minimum caster levels and the costs work out identically to the original version. Limiting the viable target spells by their original duration is meant to reduce shenanigans. For example, True Strike does not work with this version of permanency, because it has a duration of "see text". However, it would work with Bungle, which would be a pretty nasty debuff. Any other shenanigans I'm missing? I didn't attempt to go down the entire list of all pathfinder spells from every book and splatbook. I've grandfathered in a few spells from the original list that had durations that would otherwise have disqualified them.
I would like to put in a request for the forums to support some way of handling pre-formatted whitespace, such as a [pre] tag, [code] tag or similar. This has been discussed since at least 2011, and the response to date has been "on the to-do list." Seven years later, anyone who wants to post a stat block or table is still stuck inserting gratuitous . characters to ensure the correct spacing, which is laborious, less legible, and most likely causes problems for screen-reading software for the blind. Implementing a [pre] tag should be pretty straightforward. It just needs to identify the chunk of text and give it the CSS property white-space: pre-wrap. Don't worry. I have faith. Some day. Some day.
My PCs will need to fight Daclau-Sar in the not too distant future. Here's a very rough draft of a stat block for him. I'm hoping for feedback. Daclau-Sar:
Daclau Sar CR 23
XP 819,200 CE Gargantuan outsider (demon, nascent demon lord) Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., scent, true seeing; Perception +38 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 40, touch 8, flat-footed 38 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge, +32 natural, -4 size) hp 465 (30d10+300) Fort +19, Ref +20, Will +24 DR 15/good or cold iron, 15/epic; Immune charm, compulsion, death effects, electricity, poison; Resist acid 30, cold 30, fire 30; SR 34 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 60 ft., fly 120 ft. (clumsy) Melee 2 bites +38 (6d8+12/19-20), 2 wings +33 (3d6+6/19-20) Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. Special Attacks carrion bite, rotting breath, wing buffet Spell-Like Abilities (CL 30th; concentration +33) . . Constant—detect good, detect law, freedom of movement, tongues, true seeing -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 34, Dex 13, Con 28, Int 19, Wis 20, Cha 17 Base Atk +30; CMB +46; CMD 58 (66 vs. trip) Feats Dodge, Flyby Attack, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (wing), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike Skills Acrobatics +34, Bluff +36, Climb +27, Fly +20, Intimidate +36, Knowledge (nature) +37, Knowledge (planes) +37, Perception +38, Sense Motive +38, Survival +38, Swim +27 Languages Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Ignan, Sylvan, tongues; telepathy 300 ft. -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Carrion Bite (DC 28) (Su) Daclau-Sar's bite attacks expose those he bites to a horrific wasting disease. Flesh rots and peels away from his teeth. Bite—injury; save Fort DC 28; onset immediate; frequency 1/round; effect 3d4 Con damage; cure 3 consecutive saves. The save DC is Charisma-based. Power Attack -8/+16 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage. Rotting Breath (DC 28) (Su) As a standard action, Daclau-Sar may spew forth a toxic miasma. When using this ability, he affects two sixty-foot cones, emanating from his two mouths. The two cones may be targeted independently. Creatures in areas of overlap only need to save against the effect once, but take a -4 penalty on their saving throw. Creatures in the area of effect are blinded and nauseated for 1d6+1 rounds. A successful Fortitude save (DC 28) negates the blindness and reduces the nausea to one round. This is a poison effect. Creatures that do not breathe are immune to the nausea, but may still be blinded. The save DC is Charisma based. Rotting Breath is usable once every 1d4 rounds. Wing Buffet (Ex) An opponent struck by one of Daclau-Sar's wings is subject to a free bull rush attempt. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity. He's not done by any means. He's missing three feats, and probably needs some spell-like abilities or spellcasting. His Rotting Breath and Carrion Bite abilities are poison and disease effects, but have save DCs based on Charisma. It would be more usual to base those off Constitution. But his CON is so high, it would put the DCs well past the target values for primary abilities in a CR 23 creature -- closer to CR 30. That seemed like an awfully big jump. I haven't designed a whole of monsters for high-level stuff. I've accounted for invisibility and flight. Are there any high-level shenanigans that a monster as powerful as Daclau-Sar should be prepared to deal with? |
