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EDIT: BTW, since the time you had played that pbp the forum got added private message system so you can contact your co-players directly. What really? Wow, thanks a lot Drejk I'll look them up now. I feel so slow and out of touch with the boards these days. Darn these newfangled technologies and such.
So the other day I had one of those lazy days and wanted to reminisce about old games I'd been in and remembered I had this awesome one on these boards in the L5R setting. Of course since it was online it would be archived and sure enough it was still on the site here so I read through it again. What a great time that game was, it still got me excited reading through it the second (perhaps even third) time around. Just wanted to see if any of you guys were still haunting these boards? I disappeared for a long while after our second mod kind of died out and yesterday was the first time in a long while that I'd really visited these boards. So any of you fellow samurai still around? I've a little personal note for you all. Personal Note:
Just wanted to say a personal thank you again to you guys for the incredibly fun game. It was amazing back then to be in it and last night it really helped me out a lot. I had been feeling blue for a long while before then and couldn't shake it off. Just re-reading that gaming thread and remembering our fun escapades in Tsuma really cheered me up. So here's my personal thank you to everyone involved:
Thank you Shisumo, Mishi, Xaaon of Xen'Drick, TerraNova, Dark Arioch, Ferret, and Ubermench (you weren't in it long but you still had that awesome prediction right at the beginning of the game). Your participation in this game really kept me busy and happy back when we were playing but it also helped me on a personal level. So thank you to everyone. I'm not sure that anyone from that game will see this post but I'm happier knowing it's a possibility now.
Just wanted to update you guys in thanks for all your help since we ran the game last night. I ended up running 2 archery contests, one for elves and one for non-elves. There was a footrace and caber toss as well, the dwarves were mighty proud of those events. There was a pig let loose but no one managed to catch it. There are two events still remaining, the ongoing one is the best minstrel. Think of it as a competition where performers and the like travel about trying to win the crowd's favour to become the new champion with the one holding the title at the end of the fair being the winner. The other event is a joust, which almost no one seems interested in so that's when the svirfneblin will pop up. We went a bit later than I would have liked but most people were having fun. The dwarven barbarian was awesome in the competitions, he won the footrace (barely) and the traditional dwarven caber toss (convincingly). The elven fighter won an archery contest against her bitter rival then defeated him in the war of words after. The halfling rogue won points for participating in everything so far but he hasn't placed favourably in any contest, though he has made friends with some roguish types in the city and made some good chili. Finally the human rogue spent most of his time currying favour or searching for the "champion" minstrel. The orc paladin was pretty content just watching and reporting back to his people on the results, though he was strapped for cash and eventually was shamed by some dwarves. I've heard good reports for the fair so far so thanks again for all the help everyone. You helped me out quite a bit, I couldn't have done the festival without your ideas.
@Vorpal_Bunny "Coolest Use of a Cantrip" sounds really fun but unfortunately for the time being there's no PC spellcasters. One of them plans to multiclass into a wizard but that's not for another level. Maybe my next fair! @Kevin Andrew Murphy If it's a time for merchants to gather and rake in profits then I'm thinking it's also a good time for some social intrigue/thievery. Should give my more politically minded PC something to think about other than just hob-nobbing with the elite. Or maybe the other rogue on the team, we'll see. I'm also definitely going to use fair rings and that song. Making a note of it now so I don't forget! @MultiClassClown I was thinking around 4 days for the "exciting", PC-related contests so a few days of the fair will have already passed before the game begins. A problem arises when you say that fairs are traditionally held in the Fall since this fair is being held at the start of Spring. Maybe I'll fix that discrepancy by having fewer agrarian peoples and more artisan persons. The fair will also be celebrating the passing of Winter and anniversary of the founding of the city. Also, I did not know that farmers still use one annual payment for loans and mortgages. Neat!
Thanks for posting all these great ideas Set, you had me hooked on the Rime Knight. Can't wait to use some of them on my players and have them utterly confused! I recall seeing a discussion you had earlier about publishing your ideas and while I love getting free material you should consider trying to get these published. They're filled with oh-so-delicious flavour and to me that's the most important part of any gaming material!
Wow! Awesome suggestions guys, I think I have more than enough ideas to flesh out the fair portion of the adventure. In fact most of these ideas might spill over into future fairs the city puts on, I'm really jazzed up about this now. One last question: how long in general would a fair last? A couple of days, weeks, or months? I have no good clues other than a fair that lasted months would have a good deal of expense tied to it, probably much more than the community could put together.
This weekend I'll be running my very first Pathfinder campaign (I've run games before just not Pathfinder) and could use a bit of help with my first adventure. I've come up with the second half of the adventure but the beginning eludes me, or at the very least the details of it. Here's what I have so far. Adventure schema:
There is a fair of sorts going on in town celebrating the 40th anniversary of the settlement's founding. There will be games the PCs can participate in, nobles to rub elbows with, and maybe some general fun before the "adventure" begins.
At some point in the fair some svirfneblin will crash the party and abduct some high ranking noble's daughter. I'm thinking a good time for this would be during a jousting competition or maybe a grand melee. The PCs follow the svirfneblin into the sewers in an attempt to rescue the noble's daughter. Eventually they make their way to some underground caverns the svirfneblin use as a home. However they go about it they eventually rescue the daughter and make it back to the city as minor heroes. The noble thanks them for their service and becomes a benefactor, possibly organizing them into a brand new "adventuring" guild. Things I need help with: Here's my problem. What kinds of games can be had at the fair portion of the adventure that the PCs can participate in? I've thought of jousting and a melee but what other things go on at a medieval fair? I'm specifically looking for skill challenges rather than combat stuffs.
There's another concern as well, at least one of the PCs is entirely skill-based and will probably be looking for political intrigues and social challenges. I've never really run a game where someone was looking for political power so how can this be handled in-game? The player of that character has also never gone for political intrigue before he's just been re-reading the A Song of Ice and Fire novels and wants to do a Petyr Baelish character up. Any tips to get him (or other players) more involved in the political intrigue, social challenge portions?
And what tends to happen, is once I look at the feat list or the spell list, I fall into the "hmm... what if I did.... " trap, where I can get lost for hours and hours.... Ha, I know that trap well. It's got to be a DC 5 to find, DC 45 to avoid. One day I'll see the 20 on die face but until then I am slave to the whims of the trap. About equipment again do you find your players gripe about the lack of magical gear on NPCs? It is pretty much the treasure gained from them and one of the best ways for PCs to gain decent gear.
The biggest struggle for me when building NPCs is usually around spell selection and feats. I can't seem to even begin to work on those without being sucked into totally statting out the whole character. If I had a way to quickly pick a few spells and quickly pick a few feats, my life as a DM would be much easier... How much work do you do on your NPCs? Do you equip the ones who are supposed to support or obstruct the PCs? That's usually where I get buried, equipment. Ugh. I think I've found a way to deal with it though so not a problem any longer. :) As for your problem with spells and feats, couldn't you just pick a list of generally useful ones for the everyman? I normally glance over the Pathfinder NPC feat lists for some quick selections, like a melee NPC will probably have Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Sunder or some such. Of course spells might take a little longer since you don't have these lists provided really but it shouldn't be hard to figure out what spells are generally useful to a caster. If you have extra time maybe checking out adventure modules for NPC spellcasters and seeing what spells are common? Still some amount of work to be done up front but it may help out in the long run!
@dingle: Thanks, I actually used your NPC generator to help design some NPCs in the last adventure I made. If I start up a regular game soon I might have to donate for the full product. :) @Spes Magna Mark: That is the single most useful table I've never seen before! Having never read the 4th DMG and being generally out of the 4th loop I never knew about this. Bookmarking that site, will print it out for my DM screen. That is one awesome chart, thanks a bunch! @Dreaming Psion: Awesome idea that re-skinning thing, I never would have hit upon it. Pretty clever too, who would suspect a giant quickling? No body, that's who! @Father Dale: If you aren't feeling the G's yet you haven't strapped yourself in properly. Thanks a lot for the suggestions so far guys, keep them coming if you have them!
Oh, I like that Purplefixer! Nice and concise, should fit on a notepad easily. I'll try that out the next time I have some NPCs to make. A couple of questions though, does it work as easily for multi-class characters as it does for single class? Also would you just kind of wing the skills, if so what's a good rule of thumb for it? Finally any tips for spells? Sorry for all the questions I'm just fishing for options here. :)
Wow, quick suggestions already thanks! I've been statting out only the important guys for ages now. That's not the problem. The problem I have is that there are usually a handful of "important" NPCs. For example, I might have a pool of three or so characters the PCs could take along with them on the adventure (it was a small party the other day). Of course the PCs might not ask any NPCs to join them either, I leave it totally up to them if they want to take one along. But since I can't make stats on the fly for these NPCs I have to prep them beforehand. Should I drop this habit, maybe make a skeleton for these guys and stat it out in-game as needed? Maybe I need to do just assume the NPC is average in things I don't stat out? I've used NPC generators before as well, in fact they helped me out with this adventure. Problem is the Pathfinder ones are kind of beta still and PFRPG is different enough from 3.5 that a 3.5 generator may miss out on lots of stuff. I don't want to build a ranger NPC and miss out on favoured terrains! Finally, using NPC galleries is something I've done. I have a hard time occasionally finding something appropriate but they sure are handy! I love all the NPC galleries out there online, some great ideas I never would have thought of. Do you guys have any other ideas or suggestions?
The other day I ran a short adventure for my group that involved the creation of a bunch of NPCs in a fairly short time frame (3 days in between school and work). The design for the adventure itself took almost no time at all but the NPCs devoured all of my faculties for close to 90% of my prep work. Now I'm one of those types of GMs who can't make up the stats for an NPC on the fly and need to have it done before the game. I love using NPCs in my games, in fact I think it's one of my strongest points as a GM to utilize really neat NPCs rather than some random beasties from a book. However I hate having to spend so much time prepping them! So I've come to the Paizo community for your tips and suggestions on creating NPCs really quickly. What advice can you offer, what corners might be cut? Or am I doomed to stat out all the NPCs I can think of with tedious amounts of prep work? Help please!
Almost everyone that has provided some feedback mentions the d8 HD, I didn't think it was a big difference. One reason for wanting to reduce it was to decrease the ranger's melee utility, at least in a straight-up fight. But maybe I'll revisit it and think about changing it back to a d10. That being said, I don't see a good reason to link BAB and HD together as it is in Pathfinder (especially when exceptions can be made, why not an exception for the ranger?). As for the talents, sorry for not including it but it should read at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter (8, 12, 16, 20). I thought about increasing it but it seemed like there were simply too many options then. And it kind of encroached upon other class abilities of the same kind (rogue talents).
Awesome! My subscription to KQ ran out but I might have to pick up that issue if only for the ranger talents. No doubt the kobolds will include other cool stuffs as well.
Hello everyone, for the past few days I've been working on yet another ranger variant. I've put some thought into it and figure it's about time to get some critique and feedback. I'll include a list of changes for those who only want to skim the important parts as well. Ranger Text:
Ranger
Whereas the fighter is a general, all-purpose warrior the ranger is a specialist. In a straight-up fight the ranger is a decent warrior but he really excels under specific situations and against certain foes. Through tactical appraisal and the use of his wits the ranger gains the advantage to win the fight. Alignment: Any. Hit Die: d8. Class Skills
Skill Ranks per Level: 6 + Int modifier Good BAB, Good Fort and Ref saves. Class Features
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A ranger is proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). Favoured Enemy (Ex): At 1st level, a ranger selects a creature type from the ranger favoured enemies table. He gains a +2 bonus on Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks against creatures of his selected type. Likewise, he gets a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them. A ranger may make Knowledge skill checks untrained when attempting to identify these creatures. At 5th level and every five levels thereafter (10th, 15th, and 20th level), the ranger may select an additional favoured enemy. In addition, at each such interval, the bonus against any one favoured enemy (including the one just selected, if so desired) increases by +2. If the ranger chooses humanoids or outsiders as a favoured enemy, he must also choose an associated subtype, as indicated on the table below. (Note that there are other types of humanoid to choose from—those called out specifically on the table below are merely the most common.) If a specific creature falls into more than one category of favoured enemy, the ranger's bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher. Track (Ex): A ranger adds half his level (minimum 1) to Survival skill checks made to follow or identify tracks. Wild Empathy (Ex): A ranger can improve the initial attitude of an animal. This ability functions just like a Diplomacy check to improve the attitude of a person (see Using Skills). The ranger rolls 1d20 and adds his ranger level and his Charisma bonus to determine the wild empathy check result. The typical domestic animal has a starting attitude of indifferent, while wild animals are usually unfriendly. To use wild empathy, the ranger and the animal must be within 30 feet of one another under normal visibility conditions. Generally, influencing an animal in this way takes 1 minute, but, as with influencing people, it might take more or less time. The ranger can also use this ability to influence a magical beast with an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, but he takes a –4 penalty on the check. Combat Style (Ex): At 2nd level, a ranger must select one combat style to pursue: archery, two-handed weapons, or two-weapon combat. The ranger's expertise manifests in the form of bonus feats at 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level. He can choose feats from his selected combat style, even if he does not have the normal prerequisites. If the ranger selects archery, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Far Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, and Rapid Reload. At 6th level, he adds Improved Precise Shot and Manyshot to the list. At 10th level, he adds Pinpoint Targeting and Shot on the Run to the list. If the ranger selects two-handed weapon style, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Cleave, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Weapon Focus (must be two-handed weapon). At 6th level, he adds Great Cleave and Improved Sunder to the list. At 10th level, he adds Dreadful Carnage and Dazing Assault to the list. If the ranger selects two-weapon combat, he can choose from the following list whenever he gains a combat style feat: Double Slice, Improved Shield Bash, Shield Focus, Quick Draw, and Two-Weapon Fighting. At 6th level, he adds Shield Slam and Two-Weapon Defense to the list. At 10th level, he adds Shield Master and Two-Weapon Rend to the list. The benefits of the ranger's chosen style feats apply only when he wears light, medium, or no armor. He loses all benefits of his combat style feats when wearing heavy armor. Once a ranger selects a combat style, it cannot be changed. Endurance: A ranger gains Endurance as a bonus feat at 3rd level. Favoured Terrain (Ex): At 3rd level, a ranger may select a type of terrain from the Favoured Terrains table. The ranger gains a +2 bonus on initiative checks and Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks when he is in this terrain. A ranger traveling through his favoured terrain normally leaves no trail and cannot be tracked (though he may leave a trail if he so chooses). At 8th level and every five levels thereafter, the ranger may select an additional favoured terrain. In addition, at each such interval, the skill bonus and initiative bonus in any one favoured terrain (including the one just selected, if so desired), increases by +2. If a specific terrain falls into more than one category of favoured terrain, the ranger's bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher. Hunter’s Strike (Ex): The ranger excels when he can observe his prey, taking his time to plan and execute an attack. By studying the appearance, bearing, and mannerisms of his target the ranger picks out weaknesses that others overlook, and by the time his victims have shown their faults the damage has already been done. At 2nd level a ranger who spends a full-round action studying a foe adds his Wisdom bonus (if positive) to his next attack and weapon damage roll against that target. The attack must be made within one round after the ranger stops studying. To make a hunter’s strike with a ranged weapon, the target must be no more than 60 feet or 1 range increment away (whichever is greater). If the weapon attack roll is a critical hit the Wisdom bonus to damage is not multiplied. A ranger may continue to study the target for consecutive rounds in order to maintain the hunter's strike however he does not gain additional bonuses for doing so. At 6th level, a ranger need only spend a standard action studying to execute a hunter's strike. In addition if the ranger scores a critical hit he increases the Wisdom bonus to weapon damage by the critical multiplier of the weapon used.3 At 10th level, a ranger need only spend a move action studying to execute a hunter's strike. Against his favoured enemies the ranger may use two different ranger talents linked to the hunter's strike. At 14th level, if the hunter's strike is a hit the attack is automatically considered a critical hit. At 18th level, the ranger may use up to three different ranger talents against his favoured enemies. Against all other foes the ranger may use two different ranger talents. Ranger Talent (Ex): As a ranger gains experience, he learns a number of talents that aid him in combat and help him survive in the wilds. At 4th level, a ranger gains one ranger talent. He gains additional ranger talents as he increases in level. A ranger cannot select an individual talent more than once. Additional Favoured Enemy: The ranger may choose an additional, new favoured enemy. Bonuses to skills, weapon attack and damage rolls start at +2 but may be increased as normal through the favoured enemy ability as the ranger gains experience. Additional Favoured Terrain: The ranger may choose an additional, new favoured terrain. Bonuses to initiative and skills start at +2 but may be increased as normal through the favoured terrain ability as the ranger gains experience. Crippling Attack (Ex): The ranger may use this ability in conjunction with a hunter's strike. If the attack hits, the target takes a –2 penalty on all attack rolls for a number of rounds equal to the Wisdom modifier of the ranger (at least 1). Distracting Attack (Ex): The ranger may use this ability in conjunction with a hunter's strike. A number of allies equal to the ranger's Wisdom bonus gain a +2 circumstance bonus on all attack rolls for 1 round. Hobbling Attack (Ex): The ranger may use this ability in conjunction with a hunter's strike. The target of the hunter's strike has their land speed reduced by 1/2 for a number of rounds equal to the ranger's Wisdom modifier (at least 1). Nature’s Healing (Ex): The ranger gains a +2 bonus to Heal skill checks when administering first aid or treating a poison. When providing long-term care the ranger heals an additional number of hit points equal to half his ranger level plus his Wisdom modifier (if positive). Nature’s healing can only be used when the ranger is in one of his favoured terrains. A ranger does not require a Healer’s Kit in order to use this ability. Quick Healing (Ex): The ranger heals double the normal amount of hit points for a night's rest. In addition, if the ranger is given long-term care by another he recovers more hit points than normal: 3 hit points per level for a full 8 hours of rest in a day, 5 hit points per level for each full day of complete rest. The ranger does not recover any additional ability score loss than is normal for long-term care. Upending Strike (Ex): The ranger may use this ability in conjunction with a hunter's strike. If the attack hits, he may make a free trip attempt against the target using his attack roll in place of the combat manoeuvre. Woodland Stride (Ex): Starting at 7th level, a ranger may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at his normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. Thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are enchanted or magically manipulated to impede motion, however, still affect him. Swift Tracker (Ex): Beginning at 8th level, a ranger can move at his normal speed while using Survival to follow tracks without taking the normal –5 penalty. He takes only a –10 penalty (instead of the normal –20) when moving at up to twice normal speed while tracking. Evasion (Ex): When he reaches 9th level, a ranger can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If he makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, he instead takes no damage. Evasion can be used only if the ranger is wearing light armor, medium armor, or no armor. A helpless ranger does not gain the benefit of evasion. Camouflage (Ex): A ranger of 12th level or higher can use the Stealth skill to hide in any of his favoured terrains, even if the terrain doesn't grant cover or concealment. Hide in Plain Sight (Ex): While in any of his favoured terrains, a ranger of 17th level or higher can use the Stealth skill even while being observed. List of changes:
d8 hit die.
Added Sleight of Hand to class skills, removed Spellcraft from skill list. Added some feats to the combat styles: added rapid reload to archery tree; added a two-handed combat style tree; folded sword and board combat style feats into two-weapon fighting. Added new ability, hunter's strike. Heavily inspired by Hydro's cut-throat ranger I first read of on these boards. Thanks Hydro, hope you don't mind. :) Added new ability tree, ranger talents. Inspired loosely on rogue talents with abilities drawn from the APG ranger variant skirmisher and from Kobold Quarterly 11's spell-less ranger by Marc Radle. Thanks Marc, hope you don't mind. Removed hunter's bond special ability. Removed quarry special ability. Removed improved evasion special ability. Removed improved quarry special ability. Removed master hunter special ability. Removed all spell casting capability. Notes: Move to d8 hit die: I understand Paizo's reasoning for moving it to a d10 but I feel the d8 fits the ranger a bit better. He's durable but not quite as hardy as a fighter or barbarian. Further, the d8 will push the ranger to think with his wits more than his brawn (hopefully).
I could really use a huge amount of feedback on hunter's strike and the ranger talents. Those are the most original parts of my ranger and a lot of the utility of the class rides on those abilities. If you have suggestions for a ranger talent I'd appreciate that as well, the list seems a bit spartan at the moment. Dead levels @ 11, 19: I'm not terribly worried about them, it seems to me at first glance that the ranger isn't missing a whole lot. I might have drawn inspiration from other sources as well. If I've forgotten to include your name here let me know. Can't think of anything else so thanks for checking it out.
I'm starting to think LazarX is too clever for our simple conversation here :P Always bringing up good points, being that helpful voice to remind us of good people, giving us thoughtful quotes to run with, etc :) Seriously though, thanks for all the thoughtful posts in this thread. It's been a joy to read through and hopefully it will continue on :)
Thanks for dropping by ArgoForg, it's nice hearing a bit more about C&C. I've personally done some recon work and became really interested in it, almost came to the point of ordering the Player's Handbook. It really does seem like an elegant, simple system with lots of neat features. The fact that most of my players would probably agree to play it boosts my interest a bit but it will have to wait for now. OSRIC, on the other hand, my interest in OSRIC has peaked and I finally gave in and ordered a dead tree version from Lulu. They did a very nice job printing it all out, I'm very happy with it. Currently on hiatus from GMing (due to many issues) but my next game may be completely OSRIC :) I say "may" because I've become extremely interested in other game systems and haven't decided fully yet. PS. Thanks for the screen tips Pax! Hopefully you can get some diagrams or something up soon though since I can't make heads or tails of some descriptions.
A few weeks ago I found a 1st edition DMG at my FLGS and browsed through it while waiting for our Pathfinder Society game to start. Why don't we have books like that now!? Just reading through the charts had me conjuring up hundreds of fun adventures to be had. Then there was a great discussion on old school D&D at the store because of it, good times :) Anyway I was wondering if you guys have any experience with Lulu. Re-reading through this thread (good to see it's still around) rekindled my desire for some old school gaming. Ordering OSRIC through Lulu seems like a good option but I have no experience with them. Are the books they make high quality? Double-sided? Other relevant questions I can't think of? :P C&C is also tempting me, especially since it will be much easier to foist upon my unsuspecting players. Not quite sold on it yet having only read the quick start rules, it sounds cool but one can only glean so much without the actual books in hand (which are expensive-ish for me at the moment). PS. Pax when are you sharing your technique for creating DM screens with the Paizo mailer? We hunger for your craftiness :)
Thanks a lot! I've been wanting to include an oppressive deity in the Sun since it crossed my mind a few months ago. I can't wait until the PCs arrive on the surface (they're currently in a dungeon) and traverse a desert in the afternoon heat :P Thanks for your idea as well, going to add it to my world as soon as they reach town (they started in the above mentioned dungeon).
Whoa! So many great suggestions (and here I thought the topic died, whoops). Thanks a lot guys, I've settled for a binary star system with a massive, natural sun and a smaller, magically created sun. The smaller one will orbit the larger and the planet the game takes place on orbits both at a fair distance. There will also be a fairly large moon in the picture somehow. The cosmic dance is going to be complex, I think. I'll post some spoilers of info I have of each celestial body in case anybody cares below. SAAj, that is one beautifully detailed setting! (Link) I hope you don't mind if I steal some good ideas for my own game :) I'll also try to get some helpful critique up in the near future for you. Spoiler:
This is the more dominant of the two suns and as such controls much of the gravitational pull. It also controls a good portion of the weather on the planets. Locals know this sun as Sharaea (Sha-ray-a), a vengeful goddess who constantly brings hardship to the people. Currently unknown to most people Sharaea is absorbing the smaller sun which will inevitably bring about some terrible things. I don't know exactly what yet but I'm thinking that it's going to be something the PCs will have to do something about. Spoiler:
It is unknown exactly when this artificial sun (perhaps a mortal who ascended to godhood) was created and most people just assume it always existed. It is called Xanatha (Zan-a-tha; hope these are helping with pronunciation) and most view the smaller sun as a balance between Sharaea and the darkness of the night. Xanatha doesn't have many myths about him and is, in fact, quite mysterious being relatively new. He does often ally with the moon to inhibit the destruction of Sharaea but sometimes these alliances come to an abrupt halt due to Xanatha's fickle nature. Spoiler:
The moon is a constant opponent of Sharaea and many people consider him a saviour. Night time is normally very holy since the dominant Sharaea has set, if only for a time. The "man on the moon" :P is known as Conil (Cone-ill), who despite having a very sparsely organised religion is immensely popular. He often plays a real role in the planet's well-being often taking individuals under his wing to spread happiness and joy in an otherwise laboured world.
Conil is opposed to Sharaea but the two have a unique relationship. Sharaea sees the moon as her "motivator", so to speak. Something to push her on to a new day else she may grow bored with the constant setting and rising. Conil sees Sharaea as a goddess who lost her original purpose and constantly strives to return her to that lost glory. It's still kind of rough so mind any mistakes/bad ideas in there :)
Thanks a lot for all your hard work on the site jreyst! I've been using it to make NPCs lately and noticed a little mistake. On your creating NPCs page the NPC gear chart seems off. For example, pg 454 of the PFRPG core has a 4th basic/3rd heroic NPC at 1 650gp total wealth but your site only shows 1 200gp. It's odd because the next level is correct (2 400gp) but the one after is off again (should be 3 450gp). Maybe it's just some holdovers from the Beta.
Glancing around my book, the PRD, errata, and a forum search turned up no results so I'm hoping the community can shed some light on this. In Pathfinder when a character gains a level they gain X amount of skill points. Now what happens if a character wishes to put some of those points into a skill they have no ranks in? Can it even be done? My guess is that the character can go ahead with it at the cost of 1 rank for 1 point and they are then trained gaining the +3 if it's a class skill. P.S. My apologies if I'm just dense and missed something obvious.
I would say post more cutting room floor stuff. Just maybe make a note that it is what it is. So when something like this happens everyone knows to take it with a grain of salt. Things like that added to the blog makes me want to buy more stuff. So please keep doing it. I agree! After reading that blog I was about ten times more excited to get my copy of Pathfinder #26. More cutting room floor stuffs in the blog please!
Speaking of number of suns and such. Anyone know a good resource that would include random charts for world and solar system generating? My group is working on building a new world for our campaign. We're going to use Dawn of Worlds, but there are some aspects that aren't covered that we'd like to be able to spead up by just rolling dice for. That sounds like a great resource! I'll be watching the thread hopeful someone knows of something!
dm4hire that is an awesome idea! Totally stealing the magically made sun and making that a large impact on the campaign. How? I'm not entirely certain yet but it's happening. Laurefindel I'm really appreciating your discussion on the colours and theming the campaign around them. It's really going to help me out when the PCs find themselves in the metropolis I have planned and are flooded with colours. Fanguad, I'm not entirely certain giving my PCs (especially since they suffer from elf-love) in-game penalties due to the sun's brightness. While it would make for some unique circumstances I'm certain I would hear griping a lot for it. Maybe another campaign but not for this one. Thanks for the suggestion though.
These are all awesome ideas guys! Keep them coming. Laurefindel I especially like your idea about three suns corresponding to the cardinal directions. Introducing dominant colour themes is going to have to come into the game as well. Chaotic while I really enjoy your suggestions I think I'm going to reverse it. I'm hoping to give my moon a theme of peace and order while the sun (the main one) is seen as chaotic and destructive. Storms would be attributed to it and some people would fear it. Hopefully it will work out for me, should be a striking for my players who are so used to seeing the sun as a life-giver. Having a moon for a world could really shake things up as well! Once I heard that some moons may be able to support life I knew I wanted to set a game there eventually. It's not likely to be this game but one day. Thanks for all the suggestions guys, keep em coming! This discussion is really getting the ideas flowing for me. P.S. Krome Spoiler: I'm sending you an email, very curious to see how your pantheon of one turned out
I've been reading up on the effects a binary star system could have on planets. Typically whenever I ask for help on something I tend to look a bit deeper myself, kind of a "if I'm not willing to do some leg work why should the people I ask do it for me?" Anyway, I read up on the effects a smaller star might have and it's not what I'm looking for really. I wanted something larger and more substantial, not a two sun influence but a bit more than the Jupiter star. Something that really interested me was the eclipsing binary after reading it. It would work nicely in that it provides something unique that my players haven't seen before and when light intensity is up I can have religious observances. I'm also interested in your "pantheon" of one deity Krome, but perhaps that's a tale best served another time. Thanks for your input! Must look into binary star systems more later, giving me good ideas!
Thanks for the suggestions Sock Puppet! Having the sun caressing the surface of the world every so often would provide for many excuses for spelunking indeed. It would also work well with my idea for the sun (in short form, looked upon as a deity of death). I'm thinking I'll have to use this idea for some "religious holidays" :P As for having the zodiac as deities, I'd thought about it briefly but I'm kind of hoping to greatly simplify my pantheon to be a few very powerful deities (perhaps 3-4). Although I might be able to use the zodiac as some avatars or something?
After watching a few shows on astronomy and having an interest in the universe I've been considering making a campaign with a larger celestial (not the angel type :P) influence than normal. Though I'm probably going to include loads of different things (if/when I think about them, or if you fine folks here wanted to suggest something) I was hoping to get some help with the effects multiple suns might have on a planet. Myself I would think most of the world would be desert and that the suns would likely be revered in some way but aside from that I'm unsure what kinds of things could happen. Could anybody lend a hand?
Has anyone experimented in leaving a spot on the screen blank to place notes on your PCs there? Things like AC, Perception, Stealth, etc. so that if needed you could make the rolls in private without stopping to ask for mods and the like. Seems very campaign specific but it could be extremely helpful in keeping play moving.
Haha, that fog was bane to all. Remember that you can use Void to minimise the lack of skills for Ume. Be like me, wantonly spend Void left and right until you find yourself in a situation where you really need it but are out :P
Sounds like a lot of fun Ferret, I'd be up for more modules once Treacherous Terrain ends. This game has got me hooked on L5R and I think without it I might go into withdrawal or worse!
I'm still planning on continuing this thread, I just hate that something like this had to pop up so early on. I apologize to all of you for the long break, I only can hope that the modern miracles of medicine will shorten the time you guys have to wait. Don't worry about it Kin, I just hope that modern medicine can perform some miracles for you and your mother. Taking care of her and yourself should be top priority right now.
Whoa! Sounds awesome, can I play? I've been meaning to get into a low-powered game forever!
This one is common for my games as well. It was funny to see the PCs continue to struggle against a sorcerer with stoneskin who was literally sitting in his chair laughing as the PCs tried to kill him. Then again I remember an old campaign where the game nearly revolved around the PCs surrendering or being incapacitated (due to bad rolls and close calls) only to come back a second time rejuvenated and ready to kick donkey and chew bubblegum.
My players share some of your old group's, err, taboos. Low Con isn't even considered by anyone but myself (and I'm often DMing), people die way too easily. This despite the one character I made with about 6 Con who outlasted about four or five other characters in the game showing that longevity isn't about HP alone. Offensive touch spells are used rarely, if ever. One person occasionally makes a cleric who may cast inflict spells in melee but that's about it. The greatness that is shocking graps eludes my group as well. I don't think it's something conciously avoided but it's definitely something people don't do. HD limit spells are used often, they're a fan-favourite in my games. As for specialists and heavy armour, my group is the opposite of yours. Specialist wizards are far more common than general wizards. In fact whenever someone in my group considers playing a wizard they normally ask "What kind of specialist should I make?" and most of the best wizards were specialists. Heavy armour is also loved in our games, no one cares that it restricts movement. Medium armour is the unloved child for us; it's light or heavy, that in-between stuff isn't worth our time! :P Some funny things my group engage in: - Low Dex isn't funny. Ever. Bad AC, bad Initiative, bad ranged attacks are not cool. Make sure to have at least a 10-11, consider improving that though.
Oh no! I hope things go well for you mother, surgery can be very trying.
Ditto. I think it's more fun for everyone that way, and all of you are in a PBP anyways. It's meant to be slow, haha. ;D When we signed on for a PBP we knew it would be slower, I don't mind the pace and have enjoyed things so far. I'm curious to find out who the culprit is and what the Paizo team has in store for us but I don't want to rush through everything with no chance to react (or act, whatever the case may be).
it looks like she'll make a full recovery soon enough. =] That's great news! I'm glad to hear it, keep us apprised of how things come along. By the way, thanks for the pictures they really help to imagine the NPCs. Dashki looks awesome! Almah seems very strong willed and Garavel appears stern. I like them!
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