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I was playing in an AD&D 5th lvl campaign where the DM had a dwarf fighter character who was grossly overpowered, compared to rest of us. I had a fighter/assassin PC, and during some roleplay, another player's cavalier was arrogant, demanding and threatening toward me and another PC(thief).
Through some social engineering, I got a barroom brawl going between the Cavalier and the DM's character (ah, the egos!) and the dwarf (of course) beat him badly.
Here's where we get to the "funny" rules.

The cavalier was recovering in the basement. The thief and I decided to sneak down in the night to extract some payback. We made our move silent roles, but another PC (cleric) "had a feeling" and awoke in time to wander down and interrupt us. Combat ensued. The DM's dwarf shows up (at the top of the basement stairs) and decides to throw a javelin of lightning at us. Being Rogue-types, we made our save to avoid, and since the distance was about 30 feet, I asked him about the back blast (IIRC, less than 60' required it). He wasn't aware of it at first, so after a long argument in which he tried to have a do over), he finally agreed to do it. We saved again, and the dwarf & cleric failed, frying them completely. The DM then announced that the dwarf wasn't really affected, because "he was so short the bolt of lightning would have gone over him".
The thief PC and I ran from the inn, and blue bolts from the heavens killed us. Neither of us returned to that game.

Steel_Wind wrote:

**VERY IMPORTANT!!**

Secondly, and just as importantly: We need you to stop sending things now. Now, you need to stop sending books. We have all we can manage. Thank-you so much.
We will be auctioning off a spare copy I have of Pathfinder #1 Burnt Offerings which will go up on eBay this weekend in anticipation of its announcement on Episode #010. We will post the link to it here on the forums when it is up for sale. We hope to receive about $100 or so for that copy.

...

Sorry guys, I sent another box on Monday before I read this. Just auction off whatever you need to pay for shipping.

Perhaps Pitax/Mivon/Brevoy sees him as nice friendly replacement for the PCs; they give him more people/money to increase his influence and build a true rebellion.

Perhaps he moves to a border town, lulling the PCs into thinking the problem is going away, and he later has the town invite in invaders.

Perhaps he starts advocating for democracy, forcing the creation of local town councils in each city. Perhaps he's a true believer, not just a stooge....

The French Revolution has some good examples of how things can get out of hand, and with Galt nearby, all the required agitators are a few short weeks away.

I think #2 is a valid option, and fair to the PCs, if you give them some subtle warnings (or none, if they truly are not paying attention). I would escalate more slowly, and then have a precipitating event, that causes it to jump from 1-6 unrest to 1-6+4 in one month (for example), and if they don't deal with the problem, just add 2-4 more base points. this can also get them to start to build an army, which they may need later. ;)

They could also get warning from the River Kingdom next to Galt, headed by the refugee from there, to give them more diplomatic contacts with the various RKs.

One of my favorite (and most useful) NPCs was a cleric of the "party" deity. He was drunk, or seemed so most of the time, and always introduced himself as "Saint Justice of Bacchus" (or whoever it was).

The party never knew what level he was, or how useful he would be from one encounter to the next. He did save their bacon occasionally with healing, but would often flee in terror from random creatures, had strange phobias (bathing, crossing running water) and would occasionally say something out of place (boorish and crass to a high lady, or use a mincing voice with very large words when talking to a half-ogre bandit leader). He also usually was pretty oblivious and would blurt out things that while true, weren't always the best thing to say at the moment.

I made sure he was useful enough they wanted him around frequently, but they knew they couldn't depend on him, and would often try to get rid of him when something delicate was going on (leading to the awesome looks of terror on the players' faces when he would turn up at the "wrong" time).

In short, I could use him to save them from bad luck, hint they should run away or go in a different direction, or when things were going too well, just throw a nice wrench into the works.

I'm thinking that Howitt Gurney is a reference to Thufir Hawat and Gurney Halleck from Dune, but perhaps I am overly imaginative (or overly fond of that book!)

James, Erik & Co.,

I have been thinking about this, and reading these posts, and I believe there is a 0% chance that I would buy anything 4e for a long while. Just like software (wait for the first service pack!), I remember the first few OGL products were a little rough until everyone got into the groove.

Quite frankly, I am concerned about the quality of a 4e AP, especially if it is rushed. I think Paizo will do the best of anyone (WOTC included) at 4e adventures, but rushing something out does not seem to be in your or our best interest long term. If anything, a single module could be used to determine demand, and work out the rough patches.

I may never go to 4e, because I haven't played in a while, but I absolutely will not buy any 4e products for at least 6 months after release.

Thanks for your time, and the products and passion that you put into D&D.

In this case, I'd hand out XP after the initial goblin raid, after the glassworks, after the catacombs of wrath (even if the PCs don't shut down the runewell), after they defeat Chief Ripnugget, and after they defeat Nualia.

I would REALLY like these suggestions throughout each adventure, perhaps even in the foreword or adventure synopsis. It would add a small amount to the word count, but would be great for those (like me) that never bother to track XP.

The time for US subscribers to request a replacement has come. As for the subscribers in Europe, hang in there!

Sadly, I must report that I too have not gotten #148. Your help is much appreciated.

Stat blocks where they are in the magazine, and having them in the PDF would satisfy most people, IMHO.

I really would like them in the PDF, please.

James wrote:

"One of my philosophies regarding high-level adventures is that it's good now and then to let the players FEEL high level. If every encounter is designed to test them to their limits, to deny them the use of their tricks, and to make them feel that they can only barely survive, then what's the point of becoming high level in the first place?
Isn't it better for the game that you are able to effectively use etherealness once you're high enough level to cast it, rather than being told, effectively, "Congratulations on reaching this experience level and gaining these new tricks, but all the dungeons you're going on now render them irrelevent!" That might be fun for the DM, but it's certainly no fun for the players."

Man, preach it. I had a DM that spent most of his time taking things away from us. I was a 20th+ cleric, and what did I get? "Sorry, gate doesn't work. Oh yeah, and neither does teleport, or plane shift (unless you go to another plane, then cast another plane shift, and then you come back someplace within 500 miles of where you want to be)."
And the monsters? all way powerful, no easy meat. I want to feel powerful, now and then, please.

Any idea on when this will show up at Amazon? (If ever?)

One thing I would appreciate in AP3 is less undead. In fact, almost none would be an exciting change of pace. Seems like every other module or adventure has the BBEG an undead of some sort.

Is there anyone else that feels this way?

I would like to see the Slavers and G/D/Q converted to 3.5. It could be woven into an adventure path, or just as a series within themselves.

I have no interest in Eberron, and don't really want to see it in Dungeon, but I don't begrudge a couple times a year.

I really would like to see some adventures set in Kalamar, or Midnight, maybe 1x year or something, just to be exposed to a completely different setting. (I play Midnight, and the second edition looks like it will be awesome.)