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Anthony, for future reference the GM Discussion forum is considered to have a spoiler warning aura, so you do not need to use spoiler tags if you do not want to. :) Thanks for the reassurance, TOZ. I figured my answer was going to get wordy so I spoiler text'd because of length as well as content.
Hi, I'm Anthony, and I wrote Returned to Sky. Thank you, Le Petite Mort, for both directing my attention to this and the feedback. I'm happy to hear that you and others are pleased with the adventure overall. That being said I can see how B2 might present some difficulties to GMs running it. So I hope I can clear up some of the confusion.
Spoiler:
Firstly, I envisioned the turrets deploying from the center of the ceiling. I thought I'd referenced it. But I just looked over the final draft that I turned over and there's no mention of their location. So it's my fault that that particular information is not in the adventure. So mea culpa.
The ceilings themselves are detailed on page 15, halfway down the right column. They're curved, 10ft high from the wall to 20ft high in the center. That being said I actually don't think that the exact number and location of the turrets is important to the mechanics of the encounter. This is an area trap after all, a triggered event and not a combat. The turrets aren't enemies that need killing (although that's certainly one way to deal with them). A lot of what goes into the mechanics of Trap Encounters is really just a series of d20 roll vs. Trap DC's. It's up to a collaboration between the players and the GM to narrate that out. But that's just my GMing philosophy :D To help simplify things (and because this is PFS), there are three turrets total, one located in the center of each room of area B2. The turret system as a whole can fire at up to three targets per round. So if the PCs are all in one room, the turret in that room will fire three times. But if the PCs are spread through out all three rooms, then it's up to the GM which turrets but there will never be more than 3 shots total. So that means that the PCs can render a room "safe" by destroying the turret in that room but the remaining turrets will still be able to shoot.
Spoiler:
The Disable Device DC as listed in the traps' stat blocks does not include the increased difficulty of the glaucite panelling. It's up to you as the GM to decide what might bypass the glaucite panels. Certainly a weapon, adamantine or not, dealing sufficient damage (15 points after hardness) is sufficient to negate the increased DC.
If the PC attempting the Disable Device doesn't have the Technologist feat, she take a -5 penalty to their attempt. By the rules, a check that requires the Technologist feat cannot be attempted by someone without it. This encounter is an exception because it would be rather harsh otherwise. Also because defeating a turret is not unlike defeating a magically automated crossbow. That being said, savvy players will remember that they were given a copy of A Thread of Silver by Venture Captain Smine at the end of the briefing which can grant the benefits of the Technologist feat for the duration of a single check.
Spoiler:
Yeah, the challenges of x,y,z-axes on a 2-dimensional battle mat are many. But it's really not much different than having flying participants in a combat encounter. My answer is to use your best judgment as a GM. This is one of those encounters where you can really earn your stars.
If a PC is standing adjacent to a wall and fall towards the ceiling, that's a 10ft drop. If they're not adjacent to a wall, it's 20ft. If they "fall" out a hole and outside of area B2, then yes, normal gravity takes effect. Yes they can stand on curvature of the walls but the glaucite walls themselves are smooth and featureless, so no, they cannot be climbed unless the PCs get creative. Spider-Climb, driving a weapon into the wall to create an anchor point, and so on. I'd probably make the DC anywhere from 25 to 30 based on what you think they've done to make climbing a smooth surface a more feasible possibility. Damage for falling is 1d6 per 10ft. So based on the map a PC should never really be taking more than 7d6 falling damage in a single round. The encounter can be bad enough so I wouldn't add additional damage for PCs dog piling one another. Although you should certainly narrate to your players how uncomfortable, awkward, and painful it is. You can treat the traps as having Initiative-Better-than-the-PCs. Because unless the PCs notice them, they're not going to have anything to react to otherwise. Give any PCs who succeeded at the Perception check to notice the traps an opportunity to do something, and then trigger the traps and have the remaining PCs roll for Initiative normally. The traps trigger again at the beginning of each round. Disabling a complex device takes 2d4 rounds (PRD). So yeah. The PCs will be eating lasers and drinking vertigo while this happens. I'd rule that being tossed around by gravity would interrupt progress but not reset the Disable back to zero. I should also note that the PCs might have looted scrolls of Levitate and/or Fly earlier in the adventure which might help them with the gravitational variance.
Hope this helps, Le Petite Mort. Good luck with running it for your group!
Doesn't APL fall in the middle of the two tiers? 11 + 7 + 8 + 11 + 8 = 45
So with 5 players isn't that high tier w/ 4 person adjustment?
Hi James, A few questions about Golarion's afterlife/the Great Beyond. 1) How much does the average Commoner know about what happens to his soul after death? 2) How much does the average diabolist/demoniac know? Would they be privy to any or all of the information in the Books of the Damned? It seems like like it'd be a poor choice to ally with the greater planar evils if you knew your ultimate fate in the lower planes. What good is all that power as a mortal if you know that your soul would wind up used for mortar in the walls of Dis or in the lunch pail of a daemon lord?
I have GM'd Rise of the Runelords where the the party didn't have full casters until level 7. After which they nearly TPK'd and rerolled with with a Cleric and a Wizard (Diviner). Similarly, I'm currently playing in Shattered Star and we haven't had a full caster until level 9. When our Summoner (me) had an identity crisis and came back as a Wizard (Enchanter). In both situations the games were rough before full casters. The party didn't have any good ways to deal with situations beyond what the martials had specialized in. The party had major versatility problems and had difficulty adapting to new challenges. Swarms were the BANE of the parties' existences. After adding full casters to the party (especially those of the Arcane persuasion) it was like we were playing a whole different game. Suddenly the PCs had the option of bypassing whole encounters. They gained the ability to control the battlefield so well that incredibly challenging encounters turned into cakewalks. Full casters give the party more OPTIONS. Which, in my opinion, makes the game more fun.
Would you consider a feat tree (like Crane Style > Crane Wing > Crane Riposte) one submission per feat or a single submission for the entire tree? Gotcha! Thanks for the clarification.
Would you consider a feat tree (like Crane Style > Crane Wing > Crane Riposte) one submission per feat or a single submission for the entire tree?
Your GM preemptively asks everyone's Flat-Footed Touch AC.
I think the trait you're looking for is "Student of Philosophy" from Quest and Campaigns. It allows you to use your Intelligence Modifier instead of Charisma when using Diplomacy to persuade others or when using Bluff to tell lies.
Hi all, I'm wondering if any one on the boards has had a similar idea. I've been prepping to run Kingmaker for a couple of months now. I've read Stolen Lands and Rivers Run Red cover to cover. Overall I'm excited by most of what I've seen, but I feel like the first third of the story arc deserves a better BBEG than a tribe of trolls. So what do people think about the feasibility of adding in the important plot elements of the Dragon's Demand into the books 1 & 2 of Kingmaker? Here's what I've come up with so far: Hunclay is Bokken's other brother who relocated to a tower in this area that he might further his research in quiet and solitude. Aeteperax lairs somewhere in the Greenbelt he is being courted by Nyrissa to be her lieutenant in the region. The dragon isn't yet convinced and is currently manipulating a tribe of kobolds (the Sootscales) through a surrogate (Tartuk). I think I might replace the Dark Tapestry theme found in Dragon's Demand with the First World and the Fey in the hopes of foreshadowing events later on in Sound of a Thousand Screams. So what do you think? Is this feasible? Thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.
Is this going to be play-by-post or live (via roll20 or similar)? I'm interested in submitting either an Oracle of Battle or a 2-handed melee Inquisitor. Either Champion or Guardian Mythic Path. 1st Level build to follow shortly.
So Wes, I was just going through the playlists you provided in Carrion Crown to download what I can for my Carrion Crown game. And while much of it is awesome, I notice a glaring omission. There was no Nox Arcana! Was there a reason for this?Nox Arcana does do creepy music! And I have many of their CDs. And many people like them and might use them in their RPGs. During a particularly spooky part of Rise of the Runelords I actually had my players request that I STOP playing Nox Arcana because it was creeping them out too much. Wes, do you have any favorite tracks/bands/albums you would use for general wandering about music? Have you tried Syrinscape? I'd be curious to know your thoughts on it, especially with a burgeoning relationship between them and Paizo.
Dear Magnanimous Tyrant Lizard King, What advice would you give to a GM struggling to keep his players from exploiting the 15 minute work day? We've run through an Adventure Path (Rise of the Runelords) and a few of the Modules and my players have fallen into a monotonous cycle. 1) Kick down the door
My gaming group consists of intelligent and highly rules competent players who enjoy "scry and die" type tactics. What can I do to discourage this kind of play, as I find it tedious after a while? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
If I submit an application for a Wizard, should I take Scribe Scroll or Spell Focus as a level 1 bonus feat?You may take Scribe Scroll, unless you plan to play this character in PFS when done, then take Spell Focus instead. Yes and no. I saw that Crafting feats are allowed. But given that this is in the PFS boards I was wondering what should be the default, Scribe Scroll or Spell Focus. Or is it my choice? If it makes a difference, I would plan to apply the credit for this to a PFS Wizard. The application was submitted last night, so I guess it's up for overall approval or denial now.
RotR Spoiler: The final BBEG of Burnt Offerings is a CE female Aasimar Cleric 4/Fighter 2. The party I was GMing for was a bit strong for their level, in my estimation, so I rewrote the BBEG to be an Antipaldin 6. It was definitely a power up. The fact that the Antipaladin can smite good struck real fear into the hearts of my players. And I feel like the character as written plays well to the "evil fanatic" archetype. Overall I think the Antipaladin made the encounter much more memorable.
If I submit an application for a Wizard, should I take Scribe Scroll or Spell Focus as a level 1 bonus feat?
Dear Magnanimous Tyrant Lizard King, Any chance we're going to see a Mecha King Mogaru in the Iron Gods AP (or associated supplement)?
I'd like to see a story about an enigmatic Hermean Exile who makes a dangerous journey back to the island of his birth in order to expose a deadly secret. Also, Mengkare's stat block replaces the product placement normally found in the back of the book. His alignment is included. :p
Dear Magnanimous Tyrant Lizard King, If the October releases don't go out soon can we use Cosmo as a piñata ? Can you explain the office wide distaste for Cosmo? I get the impression it's all tongue-in-cheek, but why Cosmo?
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, 1) How would you characterize attitudes towards slavery on Golarion? 2) If you were running a game, would you require that a slave-owning PC be of an evil alignment?
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, Based mostly on your enthusiasm, I picked up Dark Souls. I'm about 20 hours in and I love it. It's probably the single most frustratingly beautiful game that I've played in a very long time. It's reawakened my love of dungeon crawls again. It's a shame about all that free time I had though... Out of curiosity, what type of character did you play? Class/Gift/Combat Style? What was your favorite thing about the game?
Conversely, how does it work if say, a the Eidolon has grabbed a creature and is grappling it. Then the Fighter Bull Rushes the creature out of the Eidolon's reach. Is the grapple broken? Would the Fighter need to bypass the Eidolon's CMD (to break the grapple) as well?
Okay everyone, my group and I need your help. Rules sleuths to the rescue! The Situation: Party's Fighter: Shield Bash/Spiked Destroyer Build. Feats: Shield Bash, Improved/Greater Bull Rush, Spiked Destroyer. Basically he can attack with his Shield, which grants him Free Action Bull Rush
Party's Summoner: Humanoid Eidolon. Evolutions: Reach, Slam, Grab. Whenever the Eidolon successfully hits with his Slam he can attempt a Grapple as a Free Action if his target is his size or smaller. According to the Grapple rules, success means that his target is pulled adjacent to him. Both Fighter and Eidolon are adjacent to a medium sized enemy. Fighter Shield Bashes enemy does damage and Bull Rushes. Because of Greater Bull Rush this provokes an AoO from the Eidolon. Eidolon hits with his Slam and gets his free Grab attempt. It's successful. So my questions are thus: What happens to the poor enemy? Which forced movement occurs? Do both of them happen? If so, which happens first? What if the Fighter rolls well enough on his Bull Rush to force multiple squares of movement? Any insight would be much appreciated!
Shaman was described as being Oracle/Witch, not Cleric/Druid. My mistake, thanks for the catch. I guess that blows my original assumption of Core only out of the water.
Yeah. Lots of good synergy there. But I wonder if it's too niche a theme. Also, apparently, Jason Bulmahn leaked the Blood Rager (Barbarian/Sorcerer) during the Rules Q&A Seminar. So that's 5 out of 10 accounted for.
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, I have two questions. The first is silly and probably doesn't deserve a serious answer. The second is something that's bothered me as a GM for a long time. 1) A question you probably didn't hear at Gen Con/Paizo Con. How DIDN'T Aroden die? What's your best theory? 2) How do you (as a GM) deal with PC death in terms of wealth? What happens to that character's gear? Do you make the party pay to have that character raised? I tend to run fairly lethal games and my players enjoy it. But when their characters die they feel like rerolling is the optimal choice because paying for a Raise Dead would leave them behind according to the Wealth-By-Level guidelines. Worse they argue that a player whose character just died should come back with wealth-by-level so that they're on-par with the rest of the party, despite the fact that the party tends to hawk the dead character's equipment to bolster themselves. Are they wrong? Are we thinking too much? Should we just shut up and enjoy the game? Thanks!
The seminar ran out of time before I could ask if there were any 3 way combinations. In my mind I immediately started lecturing all the old edition demihuman choices Oh! Three-way combos! I didn't even think of that!
dotting for awesome discussion. Also, I half expected this thread to be about the financial numbers behind THIS But I'm not disappointed.
I know there's already a "ACG" Wishlist Thread out there. But I haven't seen a Predictions thread. So here goes! We're about a year from the release of this book, so almost anything goes. What we do know is that there are going to be 10 new classes added to the game. These classes are going to be hybrid concepts of existing classes. Four of these classes have been revealed already: Shaman (Cleric/Druid)
So what are your predictions for the remaining six? What are your justifications? Here are my thoughts: Spoiler:
There are 55 possible hybrid combinations in the Core Classes alone. I don't think that they're going to open it up to Base Classes (much like the NPC Codex was Core only). Even in the Core there are plenty of options. The possibilities are: Barbarian/Bard
There are certain combinations that we can probably rule out. Barbarian/Paladin or Barbarian/Monk for example are too different to make a cohesive hybrid (IMHO). One cannot be a chaotic rager whilst also be dedicated to maintaining balance and order after all. Also, class concepts like the Bard/Sorcerer or the Cleric/Paladin overlap too much. Then there's also the class combinations whose niches have already been filled, like the Cleric/Sorcerer (Oracle) and the Fighter/Wizard (Magus). My predictions:
Spoiler:
In order of likelihood: 1) Swashbuckler - (Fighter/Rogue) - There's been a lot of talk on the forums lately about adding this class to the game. James Jacobs is a pretty avid supporter of the idea, and Jason Bulmahn has talked about it a time or five. So that's both the head of the campaign setting and the head of the core mechanics reaching an accord. I think that's a virtual guarantee that we'll see this class. 2) Beguiler - (Rogue/Wizard) - This is a pretty classic combination. I recall this sort of thing being popular throughout many of the editions of D&D. So why not have it exist in Pathfinder? 3) Mystic - (Monk/Sorcerer) - Paizo has talked about introducing psychic magic and Vudra for a long time now. While I don't think this is necessarily where they're going to do it, it would be cool. There's plenty of precedent for Mystics in fiction. Asian cinema is full of Kung-Fu warriors with supernatural powers and magic. There's even somewhat of a precedent in Golarion (certain characters in Dave Gross' Master of Devils). 4) Skald - (Barbarian/Bard) - Norse/Viking history and legend was passed on in an oral tradition thanks to poet warriors known as Skalds. I think it's a perfect historical precedent to blend two otherwise very different classes. 5) Warrior Poets - (Bard/Paladin) - Warrior Poets have long been a trope in fiction. From literature like Lord of the Rings and the Song of Ice and Fire to films like Braveheart and the Seven Samurai, we've seen righteous warriors who inspire both on the battlefield and off. 6) Rage Mage - (Barbarian/Sorcerer) - Honestly couldn't come up with a better name. So let's go with Rage Mage for now. Possible that this hybrid could set up well to go into Rage Prophet. It's a weak prediction for #6 but it's the best I could come up with.
What do you think? Note that this is intended to be a predictions thread, not a wishlist/want list. That already exists. Try and justify your predictions with something other than "it'd be really cool". Okay. Go!
After a month long hiatus, we're back! This time with a look at the stats of the characters in the stories we love.
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, As an acknowledged Lovecraftian expert on the Paizo boards, what are the top five stories that you would recommend to someone who had never read his work before?
What are you thoughts on a "druid" that cast spells using Intelligence instead of Wisdom? The flavor would be something like a studious naturalist with a magical gift or similar or an empirical researcher with a talent for magic. Would you skin a wizard to fit the theme? Or make a new druid archetype? Or would this warrant a new class entirely?
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, As a GM, what are your thoughts if your players collectively decided on their own to create an all ______ party? 1) the same race
Thanks!
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, Given the brief write up in the ISWG, would it be fair to assume that Razmir has Mythic Tiers? Or might that have been overblown rumors to enhance his reputation? Would it be more appropriate to aim these questions at Jason Bulmahn instead? Thanks!
I guess the best question is this: Can you legally do a kickstarter of a Sandpoint adventure? Would it have to be a Paizo kickstarter? It sounds like this is your own "Razor Coast". Kickstarter is the answer only if the problem can be resolved by throwing money at it. The problem seems to be that you have a limited amount of time. Ergo, we take the KS money to hire someone who can lighten your load for the time it takes to put out Shadows Under Sandpoint.
Thanks, Will. That's a great rundown and exactly what I was hoping for.
Hey all, I'm a veteran GM but have recently decided to take the plunge and start GMing for PFS. I've run a number of prewritten modules before (as well as a few AP's) and I always make sure I'm thoroughly familiar with the background story before I take my players through it. I'm afraid can't do that with PFS. There are so many scenarios across 5 seasons that I'm not quite sure what's going on. Could you help? I realize I'm jumping on the bandwagon a bit late so that's why I'm turning to all of you. I'm not looking for anything too in-depth. But a few sentences summarizing the overarching plot of each season would be delightful. Thanks!
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, I'd like to know how you would handle this as a GM. Regarding Rise of the Runelords: Spoiler:
My players are quickly approaching the showdown with Karzoug. They're all quite rules savvy and have built a party around supporting the Arcane Archer (DPR 250+). The Wizard (Diviner) in the party has struck upon the idea of True Seeing + Greater Invisibility + Mindblank on the entire party for the final fight. I'm pretty sure this turns the final showdown against one of the most powerful wizards of the age into shooting fish in a barrel. What would you do? Thanks!
Mass baleful polymorph. Make them play a redwall game until they make reparations. +1
Thanks everyone for chiming in. I wonder if there's a correlation here. In that people who are more likely to GM don't mind spoilers as much whereas people who would rather play a PC would rather no plot spoilers. Is that a generally true statement? Also, I agree with the sentiment that a well written adventure is engaging and fun to play through regardless of whether or not you know the plot. But metagame knowledge aside, knowing the plot twists beforehand robs me of that moment of surprise (or triumph - if I'd figured it out first) during the reveal.
Having the plot of an adventure spoiled for you (as a player) doesn't adversely affect the amount of fun you have at the table. Step 1) Do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Step 2) Read this post and the response comment. Did you change your mind? *While I am honestly interested to know how gamers feel about spoilers (whether it's in their game materials, movies, books, or whatever), I would be remiss if I didn't admit that I'm one of the co-authors of the linked blog and that this is part of an effort of shameless self-promotion.
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, Does Desna have Inquisitors? If so, what would she have them inquire about? Also, Harrow Decks have a decidedly Varisian feel to them. Varisians also tend to worship Desna. Aside from this circumstantial link, is there anything canonical that associates Harrow Decks with worshipers of Desna? Thank you!
A few quick updates for you guys. Puzzles!
One-Shotting the Boss
OYR #3
Enjoy!
Dear Magnanimous King Tyrant Lizard, The Worm That Walks Template specifies only that a creature be an evil spellcaster. As such you could potentially have a WTW-Bard or WTW-Antipaladin. What do you think is the most interesting class to make into a Worm That Walks and why? Thanks!
Dear Benevolent King Tyrant Lizard, Regarding Razmir(an)... What type of classes would be typical to see in service of the (False) Living God? Sorcerers and Wizards are the obvious two. Fighters, Rangers, Rogues would be easy to include. Alchemists, Barbarians, Cavaliers I can all picture as well. Witches not so much. Monks perhaps? Clerics and Paladins are the obvious exclusions. But what about Oracles and Inquisitors? Is it possible that an individual could believe in the idea of Razmir, the Living God, so much that they begin to manifest oracular powers? Also, while Inquisitors certainly have Divine connections, would it be possible to so fervently believe in the Living God that it would some how power Inquisitions?
Thanks for the feedback! We're trying to get a handle on text formatting. Can't quite make up our minds. Bumped up the font size a bit. Hope it helps. Do I need some special account to make comments, or is there a way to make them just passing-by (anonymously, I guess) ? I've just enabled anonymous commenting. But there's always the option of using Google account if you have one. Blogger has a helpful little FAQ here
I would normally bawk at blogs, but there is some decent content in there for people to read over. Feel free to post in this thread occasionally about updates. I'll look through em at least. Thanks! If you don't mind, what kind of things do you typically NOT like in blogs? And what would you want to see more of?
Just figured out how to add a banner logo and a Subscribe button... Can you tell I'm not overly tech savvy? Also, new content!
Thanks! Will look into a new color template. At the moment we're just using a prearranged template from blogger. I'll see what I can do to customize it so it's easier on the eyes.
Hey all, I've been a longtime lurker on these boards. It's only been in the last year or so that I've become more active and joined in the conversation. But the overall sense of community that these forums has fostered makes me want to do what I can to give back. I'd like to introduce Kill It With Dice, a pen and paper RPG blog authored by myself and a couple of friends from my local gaming group. We're fairly system agnostic right now but have a pretty strong background in Pathfinder/3.5 D&D which I think fits in pretty well around here. We're trying to publish content about twice a week and so far we've been doing pretty well. If there are any particular topics you'd like to see discussed please feel free to suggest them. We're absolutely open to ideas, especially in these early days of figuring out what exactly it is we're trying to do and say. You can check us out at Kill It With Dice or like us on Facebook. Comments, feedback, or other thoughts would be very much appreciated. Thanks everyone!
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