I understand this an old post but I felt inclined to chip in. The White Necromancer class, 2 archetypes, spells and feats which accompany it that Marc Radle designed is awesome! It's incredibly flavorful and well-balanced. One of the most enjoyable classes I've played in 30 years. Great job!
Kaer Maga?
I still want to do a campaign based on the Book of Erotic Fantasy. ;) My wife and I play that campaign too!!!
We have one that my gaming group talks about all the time. The "Unlikely Heroes". So far, we have a thrash metal troll bard, a goblin dog riding female goblin cavalier, and a flumph oath against corruption paladin as solid choices. Once the other three players have solidified their choices we are going to give it a whirl...
To begin with, I'm sorry about the poor grammar to begin with in the earlier submission. I was a bit rushed. What I should of asked was, as the creative director, what is your opinion of the archetype? Am I alone? Have you heard any other negative feedback yet? In my poorly worded question earlier, I meant to say does an archetype ever get changed up a bit if there is a good bit of legitimate feedback that pushes for it? With that class and archetype in mind, what would you do to make it like what it appears to be modeled after? I completely understand. That is an excellent policy to have. Thank you for your response. I'll homebrew that myself for my player who wants to play it as a more "Hulk" class as a barbarian archetype as you suggested.
It's in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as an absolutely necessary tool, which also has "DON'T PANIC" on the cover. So, I think that makes it absolutely necessary.
You are the storyteller. Your undead in question has intelligence. Make it happen.
In Blood of the Night it reads, "Most vampires are evil, but like any race that doesn't have the evil subtype, there is always a slim chance for redemption. Neutral vampires are rare, but not unheard of. Most commonly they are freed spawn, creatures now balking in horror at acts they perpetrated while dominated by their masters, with living memories fresh in their minds. Some vampires shift alignment to neutral over many hundreds of years as they tire of hunting and being hunted, moderating their evil by curtailing their behavior rather than making a philosophical choice. A good vampire is so rare as to be almost nonexistent. Its very nature draws it to feast on living intelligent creatures. The impossibly rare good vampire is trusted by no one and persecuted by all-mortal and vampire alike. Other vampires despise it out of jealousy or fear. No mortal will ever be convinced of its goodness, always sleeping behind locked chamber doors and with holy symbols in hand. Both within an adventuring party and out in the world, playing a good vampire character is fraught with trials. Vampires of all types may be lawful, neutral, or chaotic. As they are essentially immortal and can reinvent their identities over the centuries, a vampire is rarely bound to one alignment all its life." That should help with one set of undead...
I think you should take a long look at 3rd edition Forgotten Realms Faiths and Pantheons. They break down the gods, give example avatar stats, and show how to build them. I've used it a few times myself and it's logical and balanced...for gods. I ran a few epic level 3rd and 3.5 edition campaigns where the pcs could hold their ground against demi-gods and lesser deities' avatars. Which brings up a good point that I think should be addressed, if it hasn't been already. This gave players and gms alike the idea of the scope of those entities. At first glance, "stating the gods" would give everyone the idea that this would lead to deicide and general world chaos. However, to my recollection, these statistics given were for only the AVATARS of said deities. Physical manifestations. Truly killing a god was impossible for mortal and, typically, fellow deity alike unless under special circumstances, a.k.a plot devices. You may be able to defeat the avatar, but that didn't kill the deity. It just pissed it off. In addition, deities are loathe to take a heavy handed direct manifestation in the lives of mortals lest their rival deities do the same to "even the score" so to speak. Therefore, avatar appearances are rare indeed. Finally, entering the godly home plane of a deity is impossible unless the god allowed such an action, barring even other deities if he or she wishes. That all being said, I think using that kind of framework presented in Faiths and Pantheons and using what I mentioned as an understanding of sublime politics/physiology should work nicely. I wish I had the time. Sorry I don't.
Great question Big Lemon! Very good answer Dudemeister! I have to say that mystery/crime-solving adventures can be both difficult to write and to play out correctly. I agree wholeheartedly with Dudemeister's formula for crime creation. Keep it simple to start. What is the crime? Who committed it? When? Where? How? Why? What evidence was left behind on the scene? Are there witnesses? What did they see? Also, as the GM, keep in mind that no good mystery is complete with one or two solid good herrings to throw everyone off course. Make sure to detail the hell out of the crime scene. Have an idea how your criminal, the red herring suspects, the witnesses if any, the local law enforcement, and anyone else associated with the case will react to questioning of any kind. Outrage, misplaced guilt, nervousness and, of course, well-placed guilt are all very likely emotions that will drive their role-play. A nervous npc can drive hours of role-play when the guy is totally innocent but scared nonetheless. And finally, don't let magic solve everything. A speak with dead spell or raise dead spell can solve every murder. Be careful to set up each crime where those methods become less useful. Badly mangled corpses, the murderer struck from behind, etc.. I'm currently running a Pathfinder converted Eberron campaign setting set in the city of Sharn based solely around crime-solving and mystery. The above mentioned techniques have worked beautifully. And if the players don't solve it. Oh well. Sometimes the cops don't get their man. Only Sherlock Holmes got everyone...
I'm doing the same Ssalarn (home brewing with bits and pieces of it all I mean), but using the Pure Steam as my setting. My players wanted a change of settings.
First of all, Great thread. Secondly, BUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Man, do I know how you feel. I run three groups a week currently. One is all railroaders if left unchecked, one is all uncreative and horribly ignorant newbs, and the third is a mix. To answer your questions: 1)Bad group with no ideas: You must give them a clear, concise mission. If they can't handle decisions, don't give them. Be patient, generally this will change with time, some people take longer than others. If you insist on choices, write them down, hand them to the players and make them pick one if the can't come up with a different course of action, which if they suck, they won't have any fresh ideas anyway 2)A railroader: This takes a little more of a delicate hand. First of all, a railroader is a leader that thinks selfishly. I have experienced that a lot. Private discussions with the player requesting them to help the other player's role-play better works wonders. This typically makes your railroader start looking outside their experience and start assisting you with this pretend problem they now think you have that you don't makes them act as a party leader suddenly, not a railroader. However, you must really sell them on your need for their assistance. Confrontation with a railroader gets you nowhere. I promise. 3)A group of railroaders: So, you have a group of highly creative gamers with good game knowledge, lots of individual agendas, and opinions on how they want to play and what they should be doing? Good luck with that. I have that in group one. My group loves lots of options, the extreme feeling of free will, a well-prepped adventure that they can and very well may deviate far from at a moment's notice. They exhaust me. I can have many options with 4 different campaigns, 10 mini-adventures and a well-prepped continent for them to explore and they STILL manage to throw me a curveball. However, if you can learn to be very flexible the group of railroaders will create the best gaming sessions right before your very eyes and with little of your effort. 4)You are the railroader: If nothing gets done when you don't have input, then perhaps your gaming group needs that. However, interparty role-play initiated by you (i.e. "Hey Thok, I think we should get the lamp and save the princess, what do you think?") helps a lot, however don't expect may immediate results. Once again, be patient. And exercise self-control. Also, keep in mind we are our own worst judges. Do you think of the other players? The preparation of the GM and the direction of his game? Are you helping the progress of the game? If you answered yes to all of those, you're leading, not railroading.
Maybe a Troll with deltagrade move-by-wire rating 3, retractable duralloy spurs, and duralloy full-body exoskeleton and a panther cannon. Wait, that's my Shadowrun character...
Well Gentleman, this has spiraled into a great debate. All of you have made some very valid points. I think I'd like to make one of my own. As the wonderful hobby of ours has grown and changed over the years, we have watched what began as a loophole-ridden, clunky rules system with hundreds, nay thousands of potential arguments waiting to happen transform slowly over the decades into the (in my humble opinion) beautiful game system it has become. As to the subject of rule tinkering, I'd love to share a not so short personal story. My gaming group and I (I'm the primary GM but others run a campaign every once in a while, too rarely for my taste but I smile when they defensively claim that none does it better than I when I ask for them to GM) is an extended family to me. I run two to three groups at a time. The one I'm referring to is my primary group that game on Sundays. My longest running, most experienced group of gamers who rarely ever miss a session. We have argued over the past 2 decades over every rule that there is. And I don't say that lightly. Every rule. I thank my players constantly for keeping me abreast of the constantly changing rules. They are really a great help in that endeavor. Occasionally we have or have had house rules to deal with weird rulings or the lack thereof. However, these are well thought out and agreed upon by everyone since if it is agreed in my sessions then when others GM, it goes in theirs also. I was so surprised constantly by just how many tinkered-with house rules we had in 3rd and 3.5 that became written rules in Pathfinder. We laughed continuously about the Pathfinder design team having surveillance bugs placed in my game room at my house. I greatly enjoy Pathfinder. It greatly facilitates a good time at the gaming table. In my opinion, it does this better than any previous editions. However, my gaming groups have all had their troubles. Especially my primary one. It's had the longest time to have problems. However, we unanimously have arrived at one conclusion: the rules exist to handle nearly every conceivable thing that occurs in the Pathfinder game however everyone's enjoyment comes first. that's the key. Fun. Not rules lawyering, not story trumping rules, not egos overriding logic, not one person's interpretation of the rules, but fun. As a GM, I rarely find the need to trump written rules anymore in comparison to how often that occurred in, say, 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Wow, that brings back some bizarre memories. I'd have to say that the few times I have found it necessary is when we start dealing with things that haven't been covered yet in Pathfinder (Like the super-technology in Numeria, speaking of which my gaming group is salivating at the release of Iron Gods in August). However, my more advanced understanding of the rules now as well as how bad they were gives me the wisdom and knowledge to "tinker" at times without screwing the game up with overpowering and underpowering. And, since I'm human and therefore fallible (just ask my wife, she'll happily agree with that last statement), if I "tinker" and screw up, I've found the best thing to do is sit everyone down, admit I screwed up, and move forward. When a GM approaches his group humbly, I've found it rare that they want to hold it against him. In addition, I believe that a GM's job is to challenge his players, create a rich, immersive world to role-play in, and give them the tools where eventually they are role-playing proactively so much that they can accidentally forget I'm there. To facilitate this, I fudge the dice sometimes. After 21 years, no one has ever caught on. They love their sessions. I change adventures constantly to better fit their characters. They never know, but they suspect. They love our sessions all the more for the changes. I facilitate fun for them. I make it better. I take all that hard work that the Pathfinder design teams do and personalize it for my players and their individual characters. I NEVER change anything until I have read everything first. Nothing worse than having the campaign path's
Lack of preparation. As hard as it is to find the time, the lack of preparation is probably one of the worst session killers of all time. It leads to a legion of other errors.
Killer DMs. You all know them. Or, I hope you don't. The one that relishes in annihilating parties in vastly outmatched encounters and maniacally laughs as he tears apart your character sheets.
DON'T ROLEPLAY HIM AS A KID. PERIOD.
And next, while it’s possible, most of us mere mortals have just so much brain power. If you’re spending all your time calculating DPR and the best chess-like move for your character, it’s just human to spend less time on role-playing. Ditto the Nth power
I must agree with you Ipslore. Role-playing in and of itself is you playing a "role". A non-talkative grim barbarian with extremely violent tendencies is a "role". Therefore you are "role-playing". Your take of YOUR character is typically ALWAYS right. It sounds like your GM or fellow gamers are pushing you to participate at the table more verbally. Do yourself a favor. Do what they want. Be verbal. Very verbal. Don't be spiteful but show them that there is NOTHING worse than a big dumb tough guy that doesn't know when to just shut up. My wife had a Minotaur barbarian named Moo-tak. (Yep, Moo-tak, she mooed all the time)My wife typically plays a face or support character. However, her favorite role is the big, really dumb tank. Particularly paladins with 6 Int. Anyway, the other players were so used to her playing such an active part in role-play that they kept forcing her role-play her character to more involved. So, she did. A few sessions later they begged her to never talk again. It was beautiful.
If you are going to play a bard as a support character, good for you. It is difficult for many players to play that role in the party. Many players want the "spotlight". With your highest stat being 14, but your lowest being average, your stats are more reminiscent of a slightly above-average NPC. Still, that's definitely "hero" material. Your stats aren't so poor as to make the character unplayable. They just aren't as great as your buddy's. And who said all PC's are created equal? No one, that's who. Your lower stats could be the role-playing reason you are a support role character. The gods didn't favor you as well as your buddy in the party. Let him hog the spotlight with his plethora of 16's and 18's. To really answer your question, Charisma is the prime attribute of bards. I would highly suggest you put it there. As to the placement of your other stats, that depends on the style of bard you intend on playing. Mainly ranged or melee? Mobile or heavier armored? Is this a heavy role-play or more heavy combat style campaign? I would award stats based on that. Btw, congrats on deciding to play Pathfinder. I've played D&D every week for 28 years. Gary Gygax probably rolled over in his grave when 4e hit the printing press. No offense to anyone out there that enjoys 4e. I've read it. That isn't the D&D I grew up playing.
I have begun a Rappan Athuk campaign with my five gamers in Golarion. I looked into all of the nations of the Inner Sea. I finally decided to place it in Geb on the continent of Garund. Quite honestly, I felt that it made the most sense. It started with a strong desire to match up the Rappan Athuk regional map with an existing map of Golarion. I found that the regional map fit the the coastline of Geb near the Axan Wood (a.k.a. The Forest of Hope, very closely. In addition, with the presence of a kraken in the surrounding wilderness section, I felt an ocean must be used, not the Inner Sea, a lake, or a very large pond. I felt that the Army of Light was kept so vague that many nations could be a good candidate as their point of origin. Also, I felt with the presence of SOOOO many undead in the nation of Geb, the presence of a massive temple-city complex dedicated to the demon prince of undeath located in Southern Geb may have been the original cause or a good help. Geb himself, being a ghost and practitioner of the dark arts, would have no problem with such a vile presence as Rappan Athuk. In addition, if you look at the wandering monster tables, they match what one might expect if traveling the countryside of Geb. Also, I felt that since that placing the adventure in Geb, which is dangerous to travel through by itself, would explain how Rappan Athuk was able to remain relatively unmolested for so long. And, it really makes the adventure all the more severe when you don't have a truly safe base to go to. This has made Zhelkor's Ferry the only safe place they trust. However, to all DMs out there, your players care a lot less than the specific background of an adventure than you do. It only becomes a big deal if you make it so. So far, the party has progressed to 12th level. They haven't even gone into the main dungeon yet. They've contented themselves with clearing out the surrounding wilderness and the Mouth of Doom dungeon nearby. There has already been eight character deaths! This adventure is no joke. We're loving it! |
