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Hoarfrost Throat-Tearer, Shapeshifting Huntsman

Portrait: 11
Description: Fierce bloodshot eyes leer out from the ghostly painted face of Hoarfrost Throat-Tearer, a feral half-orc whose clawed fingers and overdeveloped tusks scream, "I am a predator!"
Motivations/Goals: Hoarfrost commands a warband of rage worgs (NPC Guide 39) that join him in pillaging Irrisen's borders slaking their bloodthirst by hunting the greatest of prey: Adventurers! This Huntsman gleefully makes trophies of heroes.
Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks: Hoarfrost lures adventurers into the wilds by raiding frontier hamlets and thorps taking children and maidens hostage. Baiting pursuers into his prepared hunting grounds, the shapeshifter stalks them learning their tactics before striking. It's rumored the huntsman keeps treasures looted from slain adventurers in a yurt made of Storval auroch hide deep in the Hoarwood Forest.

Hoarfrost Throat-Tearer CR 7
Male half-orc barbarian 2, ranger (shapeshifter, APG 126) 6
CE Medium humanoid (orc, shapeshifter)
Init+6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +12
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===== Defense =====
AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 15; (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +2 natural, -2 rage)
hp 78 (2d12+6d10+32)
Fort +13, Ref +8, Will +6
Defensive Abilities shifter's blessing (form of the dragon, 7 rounds/day), uncanny dodge
===== Offense =====
Spd 40 ft.
Melee bite +15 (1d6+7), 2 claws +15 (1d4+7)
Ranged mwk composite longbow +11/+6 (1d8+4/x3)
Special Attacks cause fear (war paint of the terrible visage 1/day, DC 11), favored enemy (human +4, dwarf +2), rage (8 rounds/day), rage powers (scent), rend +1d6
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 3rd, concentration +4)
1st--feather step, keen senses
===== Tactics =====
Before Combat Hoarfrost paints his face before a hunt with war paint of the terrible visage...

The Black Mirror

==========
Amidst the barren sands of the Mana Wastes, there lies an inky stain: the Black Mirror, a lake of tar a mile wide. Everything is still here. No bird calls; no errant wind disturbs reflections on the lake’s oily skin. Only the carcasses of the giant golems that fell here puncture the lake’s surface, their desiccated limbs and faces forming islands in a dark sea. Voracek (R3), herald of the dark lord of Elemental Earth, has built his stronghold amidst this desolation. If his plans are not stopped, the power that felled the vast golems will return to smother all Golarion.

During his interminable war with the archmage Nex, the necromancer Geb constructed two enormous golems from the bones of giants and the skin of angels. Geb named them Bane Titans, and at his command the golems destroyed all that Nex could send against them. Fearful of their might, Nex compacted with an extraplanar power: dread Ayrzul, lord of Elemental Earth. Nex promised countless slaves and relics to the Fossilized King in return for his aid against the Bane Titans. Draining his vaults of skymetal, Nex constructed an artifact called the Conduit, through which Ayrzul could manifest his power on the material plane. On the battlefield, Nex’s servants activated the Conduit. Ayrzul’s wrath poured through as a sea of living tar, dragging the Bane Titans to the ground and destroying them.

But Ayrzul betrayed Nex. The Conduit did not close when the battle was won. More and more writhing tar gushed forth from the Conduit, accompanied by Ayrzul’s elemental host. Realizing that the endless tar would soon consume both their kingdoms, Nex and Geb briefly put aside their hostilities to fight the Fossilized King. The two wizard-kings drove Ayrzul’s forces back to the Conduit, and destroyed it. This done, they returned to their endless feud.

Although the tar became inanimate when the Conduit was destroyed, a vast quantity of it still remains, forming the Black Mirror. The lake...

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Grasping at Shadows

Night itself has been banished from the valley of Karpad, by edict of its baron. Mystic flames keep out the darkness, but fear remains. For a decade, neither man nor monster troubled Karpad’s peace. Now, a broken promise and an unspeakable debt have turned the very shadows against the valley and its lord. With townsfolk disappearing one by one, can the heroes protect the people of Karpad from otherworldly vengeance?

Grasping at Shadows is a horror-tinged Pathfinder adventure for 4th-level characters, which will bring them to 5th level. This urban- and dungeon-based adventure will see the heroes pursue an insidious kidnapper, uncover the secret of a noble family, and confront the horrors of the mysterious Shadow Plane.

Adventure Background

Stepan Boroi , the ambitious third son of a minor baron in Ustalav, was not content to see his eldest brother inherit the family lands. Amidst the detritus of generations that fill the crumbling Boroi manor, Stepan discovered an ancient looking glass, acquired centuries ago by an ancestor of sinister repute. Instead of reflecting the Boroi manor, the glass revealed the Other Manor, the house as it exists on the Shadow Plane. And where Stepan’s reflection should have been, there was instead a dark figure, taller than a man, with eyes like distant stars. This was Nicasor, baron of the Other Manor, a hand of night.

Hand of Night:
** spoiler omitted **[/ooc]

Stepan and...

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Among the Gears of Madness

Among the Gears of Madness is an adventure for 4th level characters who should advance to 5th level by the adventure’s end. It is set near Korvosa, but can be placed near any city without issue.

Adventure Background
Twenty years ago, two cities joined hands across continents, hoping to awe the world. The Grand Duchy of Alkenstar sought to open its markets by displaying the possibilities of its engineering prowess to nations everywhere. The Mana Wastes being an uninviting location, however, they wished to stage this display somewhere accessible to the rest of the world. Korvosa, hungry for recognition and long wishing to promote its own standing on the international field, offered to host. Not as grand a locale as Alkenstar had hoped for, but many major cities were unwilling to provide land or funding. Acres of arid land a day’s ride from the city were cleared, fairground construction done, and the Exposition of Progressive Wonders was born.

It ran for months, a miniature city showcasing Alkenstari design, displays glorifying Korvosan history, and arrayed entertainments. Ultimately, in spite of fairgoers traveling from across Golarion, it was a tepid success, at best. Visitors considered the clockwork and steam displays only amusements, and left without thinking Korvosa more than a backwater with cosmopolitan delusions. Profits barely recouped construction expenses; in the end, dismantling and transporting all exhibits back to Alkenstar was deemed cost inefficient. The place was abandoned whole, with numerous displays left intact within.

It still stands, a crumbling ghost town not thirty miles from civilization. Built on rocky ground, farmers and settlers never bothered to reclaim it, but it is far from deserted. On the outskirts of Varisian soil, any abandoned structure is a beacon for monstrous squatters, and given the size of the fairgrounds, various tribes of humanoids and other beings have come to reside here. While these uninvited...

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Bump.

We've already had to remove one post from a contestant whose comments in his own thread were suspect.

DON'T PUT YOURSELVES IN DQ TERRITORY AT ALL.

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I wanted to take a moment to express my personal thanks to all members of the Paizo community who have shown their support and trust by setting up an ongoing Planet Stories subscription.

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You've already taken the biggest step in setting up a subscription, but there are a few more things you can do to help establish a solid footing for the line:

1. Review, review, review! After you have read your Planet Stories book, please take a moment to post your thoughts in a review here at Paizo.com, on Amazon.com, and elsewhere. Please be honest in your opinions. If you didn't like the book, say so! The more customer feedback on a product page here or elsewhere, the more information a consumer has to make a decision one way or the other. Your feedback counts!

2. Spread the word! If you have a blog or post regularly to science-fiction and fantasy-related communities, take a moment to share your thoughts about the latest release or about the Planet Stories mission to republish classic works of fantasy and science fiction. I'm convinced there are a lot of folks out there who would be interested in our mission, but who haven't heard about it yet. Please help us give them a chance to get involved early!

3. Get in the game! Paizo got its start in the...

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RonarsCorruption wrote:

Sure, I'll start us off with one or two of my self-rejected items from this year. Maybe someone will come up with something awesome from their remains. No formatting, and minimal polish though.

Aurora cape
Aura moderate evocation; CL 6th
Slot: Shoulders; Price: 7,000 gp; Weight : 4lbs

This cape is typically made of fine silk, and glistens in the light with all the colors of the rainbow. In presence of dim light or better it sheds light as a torch, amplifying the light that falls across it into a shimmering spectrum of colors.

As a standard action, the wearer of the cape can transform it from a simple piece of fabric into interwoven beams of light. The cape may maintain this form for up to ten minutes each day, and extinguishing the cape is a swift action. This blazing light causes a distraction effect to all creatures in adjacent squares, and also prevents targets from looking directly at the wearer – preventing them from being flanked, and granting a +6 bonus to all saves versus gaze attacks while the cape is active. While the cape is active, it also sheds bright light in a 60ft radius.

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Daylight; Cost 3,500gp
(170 words)

Formatting. Typically made of silk, this cape glistens... (suggestion to correct active voice). simple torch effect, nice. Ten minutes a day is much more than most parties will spend in combat, meaning this is under-priced at 7k. If it functions only once per day, and that happens to be ten minutes, that is different, but it is unclear on time being consecutive. Simple piece of fabric or fine silk? define 'distraction' mechanically (dazed? blinded? fatigued? AC bonus? other?) what type of save bonus? can't be flanked is general, but you might be able to say adjacent enemies do not threaten a square except on their action, but that might be making it more complicated too. Last line should be sooner, and could be shortened to strengthen it :) My internal...

1

Forgive my inexperience with these things but...

Doesn't it seem like at higher levels, as the gunslinger stands right now in the playtest, even with rapid reload, that the gunslinger won't be able to take advantage of the high BAB progression.

The thing with reloading the guns w/rapid reload seems to be that u need a move action to reload... at 20th lvl you still only get 1 move action but u have more than 3 attacks

lets say you dual wield pistols:
Attack/attack-5/move action to reload/attack-10/out of bullets in the chamber but u still have more attacks if u are using a full round.

this needs to change in my opinion.

Not sure how you can say YUCK to guns in relation to medieval fantasy when u have ninja's and samurai. I think Feudal times had gunpowder, and if you go with Feudal + Medieval u get your samurai, ninja, and guns. It really melds nicely.

I have just finished reading the gunslinger, and I must say my gut reaction is YUCK.

I have just as visceral reaction to finding guns in my “quasi- medieval fantasy game” as many others have to having Psionics in their “quasi- medieval fantasy game”.

....

So my initial reaction to the gunslinger is YUCK.

....

Onto the Ninja and Samurai.

Flames of the Faithful
School transmutation [fire]; Level inquisitor 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V
Range touch
Target weapon touched
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Fortitude negates (object, harmless); Spell
Resistance yes (object, harmless)
With a touch, you cause a glowing rune to appear on a single weapon, granting that weapon the flaming property (and allowing it to cause an extra 1d6 points of fire damage on a successful hit). If you are using the judgment class feature and ALL OF YOUR JUDGMENTS ARE GRANTING THE MAXIMUM BONUS, YOUR WEAPON GAINS THE FLAMING BURST PROPERTY INSTEAD. The spell functions only for weapons that you wield. If the weapon leaves your hand for any reason, the spell effect ends. The effects of this spell do not stack with any existing flaming or flaming burst weapon property that the target weapon may already possess.

Should this read: "if you are using the judgement class feature, your weapon gains the flaming burst property instead."?