RPG Superstar 7 Season Star Voter. Organized Play Member. 79 posts (82 including aliases). 4 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 12 Organized Play characters.
I've submitted my attempt to join the Golarion cannon. Its awesome that Paizo does these sort of contests (like this and RPG Superstar) to give us normal people a shot at being among the rock stars of our hobby. =)
I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I love Jim Groves' work and I want him to not burn out his creative spark by taking on too many projects at once. On the other hand, I'm not against giving him a coffee IV to make him produce as much as possible. =)
The Goblinblood Dead is a short scenario. I've heard of tables of it being completed in under two hours at my local group. And we're not talking min-maxed characters, it's just really short.
Stat damage sounds and feels scary. And for high level PCs, it is scary.
One thing I did with the Visitant to make him a little less scary was, since he could choose what stat damage he did, I rolled randomly for what stat he damaged. Early on, he didn't know what each character could do. And it was a lot less scary to the fighters to loose some mental stats than for them to loose some physical stats. It hurt when he would randomly choose strength when he hit the barbarian, but they weren't as worried when he did int damage the next round.
I finished running the first three floors of Thornkeep this week. My post on the accursed halls is above, and I had the same party through the next two floors. They didn't have any issues with the Forgotten Laboratory, but they almost died in the Enigma Vaults. They moved through everything with little problem except for the Visitant. He almost one-shot one player when he popped out of invisibility after he used the scrolls, and it just went downhill from there. Has anyone else had issues with him being brutal?
Also, thank you CRobledo! Those are going to help a lot when I eventually finish off the set and run the last two levels.
I finished running The Accursed Halls today for a group of 5 (lvl 2 melee ranger, lvl 2 ranged ranger, lvl 2 cleric, lvl 1/1 barbarian/oracle, and a lvl 1 inquisitor) and they managed to complete it in a little over 3 hours. After reading this thread, I know they must have been either lucky or skilled (or both =) ) since I didn't pull any punches. And they weren't powergamers or anything, this happened to be for a group of kids at a event at my LGS.
The shadow was scary at first, since I knew no one had a magic weapon. But once the inquisitor identified it, the cleric, ranger, and barboracle pulled out wands of CLW and swarm healed it down. The stirge room would have been tough, since no one was using a torch. But once I mentioned the barrel of pitch from the block text, the barbarian wanted to be a pyro and just set it on fire because he could, and that made the stirges flee. They managed to talk their way past the gambling goblin guards, and even got them to leave after some creative roleplaying and taking all their stuff by cheating at cards. Murgmo was knocked down in no time with some creative spell slinging before she even got a turn. Finally, the Seven Star Door didn't shock them at all after they looked at the games they had and said "It's a rainbow! We try that on the holes in the door!"
I run The Forgotten Laboratory for the same group soon, so I get to see if the first floor was just a fluke or if they're going to dominate the whole dungeon.
You are correct. The increased price per shot is to balance the fact that as long as you are within close range (20-40 feet, depending on gun used) you are hitting touch AC vs normal AC.
What, mechanically, is someone supposed to accomplish with a +4 diplomacy? (assuming a 10cha and 4 ranks)
A lot more than one can accomplish with a -2. At the very least, it makes it easier for you to assist someone with their check so the group as a whole succeeds.
I think the no dump stat thing should only be an issue if the character doesn't take steps to counter the dump in some way, like a low charisma character having a few points in diplomacy or a low strength character having muleback cords and a trusty buddy. If a player gives themselves a dump stat for flavor, they shouldn't be punished for doing that. It's only if a player sees dumping a stat as a way to minmax a bit more elsewhere is when they shouldn't be a Lamplighter.
As for items, I support them being included. Paizo just released a whole book about equipment (the number of things in there borders on ultimate =) ) and characters are expected to use them. I would say you're not being a Lamplighter if you're NOT prepared for your mission. A player should be rewarded for thinking ahead and getting a masterwork thieves tool to help open locks better or a magical item to help themselves and their party.
Last input I have for this post is faction. Personally, I like the idea of the factions when everything is played well. They add a bit of flavor to each mission, and keep players on the lookout for something beyond the next combat. I don't like them when it comes down to "I enter the room. IS MY PAINTING HERE? No? Okay, next room. ANY PAINTINGS???". Is that a problem with the author or with the player? I don't know. But I know I'm going to keep doing the missions given to me, like them or not. It's all a part of the game. =)
I'm all for this group. With my main being a bard, I was starting to get a bit tired of showing up at tables and having everyone basically looking to me to do their faction missions (some didn't even bother reading the thing). I've also lost a character to a wizard acting more like a barbarian than a thinking class. And I disagree with the idea that "a jack-of-all-trades is a master of none". If you build the character right, they can excel at many things and suffer very little.
As a side note, and a bit of a complaint, I think that Survival should be allowed on the list of 'one of these skills'. It just makes sense that a Pathfinder and a Lamplighter can be able to track through and survive in the wilderness. Many of the locales we travel to are in the middle of no where.
I plan on running a few floors of Thornkeep later this month, and I'm planning on keeping the town interaction lower too. While I love the flavor of the town and all the people in it, I'm just not going to have enough time to let the players know the dwarven blacksmith has a crush on the dwarven mason in town among other plots given. I know after the first floor, unless they specifically ask to go back to town for something, I'm planning on having the session pick up right after the last one left off (with the allotted undefined time period between scenarios to buy stuff). It at least makes sense to me in that way, since after the town its a standard hack-n-slash dungeon crawl like Saint Caleth pointed out.
But looking at the release of past holiday boons, the Galorian holidays usually coincide with earth holidays (Jestercap is around holloween, Night of the Pale and the new year, etc)
Although, it also says in their physical description that some tengu bleach feathers or paint/dye their beaks to make themselves more easily identifiable to other humanoids. He could just say his tengu wanted to REALLY stand out, so he dyed all his feathers yellow. Nobody forgets a yellow tengu.
Since Seth mentioned it, I probably should post it here. So....
Challenge Accepted!
My Choices are:
0-14: Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch (because I have a love-hate relationship with Torch, so I'll gm him once for a change of view)
1-38: No Plunder, No Pay (never ran nor played it, but just the name makes it sound fun =) )
2-25: You Only Die Twice (played it, had a blast, and now I want to share the fun with others)
3-01: The Frostfur Captives (because I love Jim Groves's work, and this is his only one I haven't run yet)
4-01: Rise of the Goblin Guild (because goblins are always fun)
I want to add a module to this list, like many others of you have, but I know so little about them that I feel it warrants a bit of research before I just grab one. Although I will admit that I am probably leaning towards a higher level one for a chance of pace.
As a side note, did Mike Brock just let the name of an unreleased season 4 out? =)
I can see the price Rings of Feather Fall going up....
(there has to be a joke in there somewhere, but it's sorta-monday, and my brain is not fully futional yet...)
Well, you can certainly not expect the prices to crash anytime soon. ;)
Perhaps we should "drop everything" and "suspend" trading in them?
We have to be careful with that since while the market is slow right now, it could pick up speed at any time. I'd say keep your resources on hand to protect yourself from the gravity of the situation.
Chris, I think the best respond to that is what kinevon said. I know that you shouldn't plan who plays a scenario depending on the loot. But on the same hand, if the reward is a PrC you really want to play, you're going to play the class for it you want. For example, if the Winter Witch PrC becomes a reward and I want to play it, I'm not going to play a fighter through that scenario. But if I don't care about Winter Witch and I do play a fighter or a rogue, I'd feel like I'm getting left out of the special rewards. Maybe giving an option would alleviate some of this.
Also, lets be honest, when there's something really awesome and/or special as a reward, word spreads about it fast. I personally don't know anything about scenarios I haven't played or ran, and I don't want to. But when there's something cool on the chronicle sheet (like Quest for Perfection, for example), its hard to NOT hear what it is, either from the forums or from fellow players.
I love the idea of earning extra special rewards and boons on chronicle sheets. Scenarios like Rats of Round Mountain and Quest for Perfection are fun, and then when you find out your extra work of playing the whole story is rewarded it makes it more worthwhile.
The only downside is now I need to do extra planning when I play scenarios so a melee PrC or named item doesn't get put on a wizard. =)
I foresee Mystery, Inc. style adventure coming soon, prepare to pepper it with "Jinkies!", "Jeepers!", and "My glasses! I can't see without my glasses!" Er, maybe not the last one... Maybe.
"Magical darkness! I can't see with magical darkness!" =P
But this thread should be about Haunts that aren't...
Does anyone else know any encounters that could look like a Haunt, and get the PCs to react as if they are encountering a Haunt, but are actually something else entirely?
Of the encounters currently existing in pathfinder scenarios and modules? I can't think of any that could be mistaken as a haunt. The closest I can think of is magical creatures that are kind of hauntish, but not enough to be taken for one.
For example, in Godsmouth Heresy
Spoiler:
there's a room where the writing jumps off the walls and attacks the party. If the party is expecting a haunt, they might see it as one, but otherwise it's just a magical trap to them.
For creating future non-haunt events, it could be done in the right situations when tied to a haunt. Like having a haunt happen, then shortly afterwards have a canyon or crack in the cave wall that wind literally wails through. With enough set-up, you could get a "Sweet Sarenrae, it's a haunt! Run!" event happening.
Our local Tengu contingent all speak in Crow, and have names like "Caw KaCAAAAW!" Funny, until you go insane...
That's nothing. Our local crew has two tengu gunslingers, Clint Beakwood and Birdard O'Reily. Now that's clever use of tengu naming. =)
I love the changes to the guide, especially the GMs getting boons. Now I'm not afraid of missing out on good stuff when I GM new scenarios (especially the season 3 and 4 stuff).
If it specifically states on the sheet that its a CL 5 potion, then yes you can buy it as a CL 5 potion. Otherwise, its just a potion of enlarge person that you're getting overcharged for.
The loot is still listed at the 3.5 prices because there hasn't really been any need to re-release the season 0 stuff. I know every so often talk about turning season 0 to PF from 3.5 pops up, but for the most part nothing happens.
If one 'worships' Cayden enough, they'll see many things of many colors, my friend! I doubt the Ruby Prince needs nor wants to hear about your valiant battle against pink goblins.
People constantly underestimate rock densities. If I take a common example (basalt) which shouldn't be hard to find, then you're looking for a fairly small rock, not some massive stone monolith.
If you do the same thing with pummice (0.25g/cm3) then yes, you're looking for a big boulder you might not easily find.
The funniest thing is when you apply this math to Stone Plate, which is explicitly made out of basalt, and realize that the entire suit of armor is about as thick as a piece of paper all around.
But, you're assuming that Golarion logic follow Earth logic. And considering that we're dealing with magic, dragons, and mystical environments, I doubt that it does.
+1 for teaching me something new, -1 for getting science in my magic. =P
With the release of the Advanced Race Guild, I noticed that there are no T-rexes available as a playable race. When will they be available? Also, would they make terrible wizards? I assume having tiny T-rex hands makes it hard to do somatic components.
Of the scenarios you mentioned, I have only run God's Market Gamble, so I don't know how much sway my voice may have. But I really enjoyed it.
Spoiler:
I like the free-form roleplaying present in the investigation part, with the players having to find several mcguffins instead of just one. The fact that players are rewarded for roleplaying well and finding enough of the mcguffins is a nice benefit as well. I also enjoy the chase mechanic and would like to see that pop up more often (but not too often so as to not ruin the uniqueness of it).
As for the encounters within, I wish they were a bit more balanced. You have a simple fight against generic thugs and an interesting trap encounter that, while fun to play through, can be beaten by anyone with a decent perception or who are lucky enough to use the right path. The theft scene can be fun, but with neither sister really into the theft it can easily be ended with 1-2 actions. And then there's a really really mean BBEG, which happened to cause my first ever player death (whom I ironically joked about killing). I know BBEGs are suppose to be tough bosses, but the scenario is almost too easy before her. The first three encounters are ~3-4 on difficulty and the BBEG is ~8-9. If the fights were a little more balanced it would improve on the flow of the scenario.
All in all, I would certainly enjoy more non-standard (ie. hack-and-slash) scenarios. But not to any extremes. Sometimes its fun to just stab anything that moves and not worry about why we should stab them. =)
Adamantine armor is a pain to get, ignoring the enchants. Its cost usually makes it a high level item, and you have to fame to by almost anything by then. Mithril is more of an issue, but only really for the light armors. The cost for medium and heavy mithril again leans it towards a higher level purchase (with the fame/purchase limit being not much of a problem).
Keep in mind that while the eastern armors can be worn by anyone with the relevant proficiency (or without, if you don't mind the penalties), most of the eastern weapons are considered exotic. So you need the training or exotic weapon proficiency feat. Or, like with the armors, you can use them anyways and deal with the penalties. =)
Defenders is a great scenario, but my personal favorite is Haunting at Hinojai. The atmosphere is great and can be really spooky with a little bit of GM roleplay. Also, the encounters are very different from the standard "2-7 thugs show up and beat on you" that's seen in many scenarios, and can be really fun to play as a GM (again, with the spooky thing =) ).
My very charismatic bard has had some fun with stupid npcs. He once convinced a band of pirates that they didn't fill out the proper paperwork and need their ship inspected or we would impound it. He is also notorious for using fascinate/suggestion to get bands of thugs to support their local tavern by getting a drink and leave the party alone.
I have a gunslinger, and so far its a really fun class to play. I personally don't think there's too much bookkeeping to them. Honestly, I fins casters have much more bookkeeping with all the spells (and god forbid you summon something. So much extra work for 1-2 rounds =P ). Gunslingers are pretty much the same as any ranged character, just their ammo is a bit more costly and they have deeds (which works just like talents, domains, mysteries, etc.).
Kristoph, don't let this dissuade you. Gunslingers are fun. Especially when you crit with a musket and one-shot big baddies. =)
Edit: just barely ninja'd by Eric! Btw, I have a musket master also. They're quite awesome. =)
Good day to all. As the title says synDCon II is near. As always this is a convention for gamers, by gamers. Preregistration is now OPEN at the new registration site. Preregistration goes until March 15.
This year our events will be held from Friday to Sunday, April 1-3, 2011, at the Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Center in Rockville, Maryland. The Hilton is located only 3 miles from the National Capital Beltway (I-495) and one block from the Twinbrook Metro Center. To make hotel reservations please contact the hotel directly and request the synDCon II pricing.
We are continuing to add new events to the schedule on a daily basis, and it's shaping up nicely. As we did last year, we continue our support for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and we'll have several events geared to raise awareness, as well as raise funds for them.
PATHFINDER Society
In addition to all our regular Pathfinder society events, synDCon II will be host to the Pathfinder Society Exclusive 2011 Special -“The Midnight Mauler". This adventure may only be run by a select group of people, and that makes it difficult to find. In addition, the Pathfinder Society's "Year of the Shadow Lodge Battle Interactive" will also be available. Don't miss out on these opportunities to play these exclusives.
Savage Worlds Pinnacle Entertainment Group, publishers or Savage Worlds will be in full force at the convention. Our special guests from Beautiful Brains Books and Games have facilitated this for us and are taking the helm. They'll be running games, hosting seminars, and even an Artist and Author Call. Joel Kinstle, VP of Pinnacle Entertainment Group (PEG to you Savage Worlds fans), will be available to look through portfolios for those hoping to become an artist for PEG. He will also answer questions about becoming either an author for PEG or new Savage Worlds licensee.
Are you still on the fence on attending? To make that decision even easier, how about a free badge? Come participate in the Back Room Chat on March 3rd, hosted by Beautiful Brains Books and Games, and you will have a chance to get a free 3 Day badge to synDCon II.
What else is going on?
Guests such as Hal Mangold of Green Ronin, and Atomic Overmind Presswill be running some Dragon Age games, and demoing the yet-to-be-released Dragon Age Set 2. While we are speaking of Green Ronin, did you know that they are one of the sponsors of the IRON GM Competition?
IRON GM Regional Semifinals IRON GM, what's that? Well simply put, do you have what it takes to be the last GM standing? Combine the given ingredients of an adventure into an event of epic proportions, and win it all. "There can be only One!"
This event has prizes for players and GMs alike. The Grand Prize Winner will get hotel accommodations, a free badge, and air fare to GENCON Indy 2011 and a chance to participate in the Iron GM finals with a grand prize worth up to $5,000.
Nevermet Press
Jonathan Jacobs of Nevermet Press will be participating in some seminars and selling their products. These include sourcebooks and adventures for 4th Edition D&D sourcebooks, as well as the premier of their new Savage Worlds campaign setting!
SPECIAL EVENTS
Ashes of Athas
Kicked off at DDXP 2011, this campaign takes you to Athas, the brutal and unforgiving world described in the Darksun Campaign Setting, where the crimson sun drenches a blasted desert landscape and savagery is a way of life.
Ashes of Athas is a continuing 4e D&D campaign by Baldman Games set in the Dark Sun campaign setting. Chapters of three linked adventures are offered at major gaming conventions. Each adventure continues the story, beginning with your character being asked to aid a secretive faction of the Veiled Alliance against an unknown assailant. PCs take up the mantle of heroism in a grim desert world where simple survival cannot be taken for granted. As a central character in the story, you have an opportunity to shape that future while you grow in power and prestige. Your choices might have effects broader than you can imagine. Characters provided, or create one using the campaign rules.
Return to the World of the Palace of the Frozen Skulls
Last year saw the release of "The Palace of the Frozen Skulls", a synDCon exclusive adventure for 4th Edition D&D. This event was such a great success that this year we return to that locale and now explore it as an Exclusive synDCon Campaign. Get an opportunity to play some of the introductory adventures that will kick this off.
The Camarilla
Returning this year, Story Tellers from our region will be running Live Action Role Play sessions of Vampire: the Requiem, Changeling: the Lost, and as well as an introductory World of Darkness LARP Social/ Character Creation and Integration, a meet and greet that combines out of character socializing with character creation, introductory scenes, and the opportunity for background ties so that your character can step right into the other games hosted throughout the weekend.
Heroes of Rokugan
Also returning this year we have Legend of the Five Rings, as part of the Heroes of Rokugan Campaign. Last year the players and gamemasters for this campaign raised the bar with their charitable contributions to our hosted charity, the JDRF. We are extremely pleased to have them with us again. There is also talk about having an Interactive as part of their games, but that is still in negotiation. More details to come.
Living Divine
This year marks the premiere of the new living campaign for 4th Edition D&D, Living Divine, and synDCon is one of the exclusive events for the campaign’s launch. Be a god among mortals, born with the spark of divinity within you. Gather followers, build an empire, start a legacy. Bring a new, legal 1st-level D&D 4th edition character, or pick up a pre-generated character on-site, and begin the adventure!
LIVING FORGOTTEN REALMS
Among our events we'll be running a host of Living Forgotten Realms adventures from heroic all the way to epic tier, including some adaptables, and specials. Matt James, freelance designer and co-author of Monument of the Ancients, Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale, and author of Soldiers of Fortune, has been feverishly working on exclusive material that will premiere at synDCon II.
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
Steve Jackson Games' Men in Black will be hosting the Munchkin Regional Tournament, as well as several other games throughout the convention.
Other Events Boardgames
We'll have an available library of games and volunteers to teach you how to play; no experience required. Play one of the games already selected, with your table of players decide on a different one, or bring your own game. No matter how you slice it there will be boardgaming galore.
Settlers of Catan Tournament
Compete in the Settlers of Catan Tournament. Two preliminary rounds lead to a semifinals, and finals round. Be the last one standing and win the Grand Prize. Other prizes are also available for participants.
Magic the Gathering
We have Draft Tournaments, Sealed Tournaments and a Special - Commander/Elder Dragon Highlander (EDH) Tournament. Don't miss out on these opportunities.
BTW, if you haven't looked at our events yet, there is much you might be missing. Did you know that we'll have demos of Eclipse Phase? How about a game of Gamma World? We could not have an April Fool's weekend event with out some Tales from the Floating Vagabond, Lee Garvin, the author, will be running some games. We'll have Savage Worlds games, Shadowrun, Traveller, and the list is simply too extensive to show it all here.
If you’re interested in getting published or just improving your gaming experience, we’ll have plenty of seminars scheduled. Our panelists include a distinguished list of published fiction authors, game designers, game publishers, and community leaders. Come and learn from the experts, including Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Mike McPhail Dave Chalker, Matt James & Erik Nowak, Mike Shea, Mike Surbrook, Sandy Antunes, and many others.
Thanks to all, and I hope to see many of you at our games.
-Vic Morales
Gamers' Syndicate
synDCon II Events Coordinator.
Good day, just taking some time to stop around the Pathfinder forums to let you know about our local (MD, DC, VA) convention synDCon 2010. Don't delay preregistration prices ending soon.
We have a lot of events on the calendar and we'll have availability for a lot of open gaming. In addition, some of our events will directly support the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
These will be four days of gaming, for gamers by gamers.
Of particular interest to this community will be our Pathfinder games. We'll have over a dozen Pathfinder Society adventures spanning all levels. For a comprehensive list of the adventures please visit our site and then go see our game listings here. Or select the site and navigate using the left hand side menu.
In addition to Pathfinder Society games, we'll be running well over 20 Legend of the Five Rings: Heroes of Rokugan (L5R) adventures, including an appearance and seminar by Rob Hobart to discuss the future of L5R.
Among our events we'll be running over 30 different Living Forgotten Realms adventures from heroic all the way to paragon tier, including some adaptables. Matt James, freelance designer and co-author of Monument of the Ancients, has been feverishly working with Erik Nowak & David Phillips on a synDCon exclusive D&D 4e Paragon Level mini-campaign called "The Palace of the Frozen Skulls", which will premiere at synDCon 2010.
Steve Jackson Games' Men in Black will be hosting the Munchkin Regional Tournament.
Lee Garvin, author of Tales from the Floating Vagabond, will be running a game for that system as well as a Kids Track adventure using his d20 rules The Noble Wild.
We'll have social LARP games using Camarilla rules for Vampire: the Requiem, Changeling: the Lost, Geist: the Sin-Eaters, and Werewolf: the Forsaken.
For the miniatures gaming crowd we'll be hosting a Warhammer 40K tournament, and several other miniatures games.
Mind Storm Labs will be running some games of their ENNIE Nominated Post-Apocalyptic Role Playing Game, Alpha Omega.
Our preregistration prices will be in effect until January 31st. To take advantage of those go and register at our Consupport Site - synDCon. Select one of the registration packages. Then go to the event summary page and select every event you'd like to register for and add them to your cart.
synDCon 2010 will be held from 12-15 February at the Rockville Hilton Hotel and Executive Business Center, 1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, United States 20852-1699. The hotel is steps away from the entrance to the Twinbrook Metro station (Red Line), which links the facility to downtown Washington in 15 minutes. The hotel is also just a few minutes from I-495 (the Washington Beltway) and I-270, with a wide variety of restaurants and shopping along the way, including White Flint Mall.
To make hotel reservations please contact the hotel directly and request the synDCon pricing.
Since this event is happening over the Valentine's weekend we'll have some events highlighting that holiday, and the hotel will be hosting a dinner at their restaurant for the event. Check with the hotel for reservations.
Thanks to all, and I hope to see many of you at our games.
-Vic Morales
Gamers' Syndicate
