NicolasNix's page

I'm about to start this game up and try and make it mythic, and the largest change I will probably be making is to make Ameiko 14 years old - she is the adopted daughter of Koya (who runs the Rusty Dragon instead of her) and Sandru is like a brother to her, which means there's a lot of hate between him and Tsuto (who is alive and well and I plan to feature as a recurring villain). I just figure that as written, it's going to be far too easy for her to steal the show from the PCs. I believe that escorting a child empress across the top of the world to reclaim a birthright also has more of a mythic feel to it. She's going to be a 1st level summoner, with her eidelon being a kami guardian of the Ametutsu family, but she won't actually acquire it until the PCs open the warding box (at which point they are anointed as scions of the family and imbued with mythic power). She's going to lag about 3 or 4 levels behind the PCs at all times as well.

martinaj, I love this idea! I wish the Mythic stuff would have been out when I ran this campaign. I did something on my own, giving the Scions special powers and whatnot throughout the campaign. They basically powered up each time they defeated a major Oni villain, so whenever Suishen got an ability they got another "gift" as well.

I also like the child empress idea a lot. If you don't do that, I strongly suggest having someone play Ameiko as a PC, or make one of your PCs the heir instead. I think things would have been gone much smoother that way.

Of course, your post is month's old, so you're probably past this point by now...

Don't they cast Druid spells? I think your caster levels would stack. That might be nice to have.

Otherwise, Bard or Oracle would be good. Use that charisma!

Our second shipment from WizKids, which has the cases we will be opening for singles, hasn't shown up yet. It was supposed to be here around GenCon timeframe, so it is late. We are trying to figure out where the heck it is. Once it arrives, we will open up the cases ASAP and get them up and blogged. Sorry for the delay!

-Lisa

Thanks for the quick reply, Lisa!

We were one mini short of the full set in our case, as well.

As HangarFlying asked, do we have any idea when the singles will be available?

Thanks!

Nick

My players tend to horde their last two hero points to avoid death, true, but they spend the rest on the other allowed uses, and they spend them frequently. I really like them. They let the PCs get an extra "bail out" action, get another chance to save themselves from a potentially fatal saving throw failure, or other exciting uses.

I highly recommend them.

I try to stick to a couple or three specific character traits with each NPC, so I don't get overwhelmed trying to keep their personalities straight. Emphasize those. Then, fill in the blanks as I go.

Koya seems to be the most popular NPC for players to interact with. She knows the most about magic, and my players seem to have a constant stream of questions for her, since none of the PCs are primary casters. I play her as a motherly type with a slightly naughty sense of humor - she is a constant flirt, even though everyone is half her age (or less). She also loves to haggle, and her eyes light up when someone is looking to spend money.

My party also has a younger sibling of Ameiko. Her little sister, Kimi, thinks her sister is an overbearing tyrant whose sole purpose in life is to make Kimi miserable, and so I play on that frequently. There is also some good-natured sibling teasing going on, although Ameiko is very protective of her sister (she doesn't want to lose another person close to her). So far, her interactions with her sister have dominated her personality, but her concerns over being the heir to a throne and being responsible for the party are starting to come to the fore. Her love of stories is also a big thing.

I love the ideas with Sandru that I am reading above. So far, Ameiko's younger sister is really the only person pursuing interactions with him (she is hopelessly in love), so his personality is coming out slowly. Mostly he has faded to the background as the lead driver and purveyor. I need to work him to the front a bit more, and picturing him as Han Solo might help me out.

Shalelu has been the challenge. She is quiet and watchful, and even though one of the PCs was raised and trained by her, no one has reached out yet. One of the PCs has a crush, but he is playing it as super shy around her. The PC who is her trainee is one of our more quiet players, and so Shalelu has been solely a background fixture. I'm still trying to get a great example personality for her in my mind that meshes with what I've done so far. Come on, brain! You can do it!

BTW - I am loving this campaign!

@ Knight Magenta - I believe they recommend a 25% increase in the CRs for encounters to make up for Gestalt. That seems to work pretty well.

However, I like Spiral_Ninja's idea. We use Gestalt all the time, and I had not thought about it that way. I may have to consider that for my next campaign.

Yes, there are some other threads around that JJ commented in to answer your questions. He suggested some ways around that high DC roll.

Also, it is always possible that one of the PC's friends notices (i.e. makes the Sense Motive check) for them and gives them the hint.

"So, what's going on with you and Ameiko? What? Don't tell me you haven't noticed the way she has been looking at you!"

Here, I saved you the trouble -

From Jade Regent Player's Guide - for rogues

Recommendations: Rogues of all varieties will be of
great use to a caravan of adventurers, and those seeking
wealth need no better reason to join an expedition than
the promise of untold riches. Common rogue archetypes
that would be particularly helpful in the trek out of
Varisia are the acrobat, burglar, and scout, while useful
skills to place ranks in include Knowledge (local), Sense
Motive, and Stealth.

Barator, you or your player might quickly glance at the Jade Regent Player's Guide as well, and see what it suggests for rogues. They usual have good advice.

Our group agrees with there being too many categories to require a feat for each one. We have house ruled that there is only one feat required for crafting - the Craft Magical Items feat. This feat lets you craft items from any category, so long as you meet the level requirements.

One of the bigger problems you might face with this is the time it takes the Cleric players to decide on their actions. Having access to all cleric spells from all books means they have a ton of choices. It can really drag out if the players are flipping through every book each round in order to pick just the right spell for the situation.

Something to consider.

Since you are doing Jade Regent, I would definitely add a couple of the NPCs to your party. You may even modify their original classes a bit to help fill holes in the group. That adventure is basically pre-made for a small party.

Having them join the party more frequently will make them feel more like part of the story, as opposed to "those folks we have to keep dragging along." Just try to make sure you give the player the chance to make the decisions and shine in the role-playing scenarios. Don't overshadow them with the NPCs, if you can help it.

I like Gestalt as well.

We also designed a system to use a Spellcraft check to replace the spell level increase. Until we did that, no one used the metamagic feats.

@ Bane
Excellent ideas!

I may do the group split-up thing as well. I would like the NPCs to contribute something more than they have so far. I may even split the PCs into two groups, with some NPCs accompanying each. I don't like to split the PCs very much (too much waiting around while the other group adventures) but it might be kind of fun that way.

Good call on Too Many Dead Ends. I am getting ready to run NoFS for my party, and I was thinking exactly the same thing. I was debating where to have them hook up with Helgarval, and I think Asvig's farm is a perfect.

I may have to leave all the bad guys in Ravenscraeg. I have a pretty big party, and I may have been too nice with the goodies early on. Having them all packed in together should make for a nice, challenging encounter.

As a GM, I have run completely through Age of Worms (we had 6 players in the group). We have another GM who made it completely through AoW as well with the other half of our bigger gaming group (5 players). We had around 13 players in our available pool, so we have been splitting things up a bit so everyone gets a chance to play.

I am currently running Jade Regent (5 players) - we just entered book 2.

We have two other GMs running Curse of the Crimson Throne (3 players) and Serpent's Skull (3 players), respectively. We are in book 4 of CT and book 5 of SS.

We have abandoned three APs - Shackled City (5 players), Rise of the Runelords (4 players), and Council of Thieves (6 players), all due to the same couple of players moving away. We attempted to continue CoT via webcast, but it just didn't have the same feel as us all being in the same room. We are restarting Runelords this fall with a different GM and player group, using the new Anniversary edition materials.

We have some home brew games going on as well, but that is not relevant to this thread.

PS - we try and play once a week, and switch off APs every couple of books.

As a GM, I push all players for a backstory as well. If you leave me good hooks, like some villain or event from your past that could come back to haunt you, I will almost always integrate it into the campaign. Once the event resolves itself in the campaign, it usually ends up giving some sort of unique boon to the character, like an item, a free feat or something along those lines.

I like to reward my players for being creative.

I agree with Gorbacz.

I think Paizo does a lot to be GM friendly. Just the adventure paths themselves make my life as a GM 100x easier. I love coming up with my own campaigns, but as I get older and life gets more and more busy, I find I have less and less time to do so. The APs give me the majority of a story, as well as the main encounters, with little to no effort on my part. All I have to do is mix in my own flavor!

The GameMastery Guide has also been very helpful. The NPC Gallery is so handy when you need a quick stat block. It also offers lots of advice for many issue that come up as a GM. The messageboards on this website are filled with advice from other GMs.

I have played a lot of other RPGs in the past, and occasionally I go back to a few favorites just for variety. However, I always wind up wandering back to Pathfinder because it is just so much more convenient (and fun).

@ Gluttony and Peanuts - Yeah, James clarified that on another post (Jade Regent Relationships, I think). I was under the same impression when I read the Player's Guide - that the XP was individual. Definitely confusing.

@James - Thanks, James! You just clarified/solved my biggest issue with the relationship system.

@Irnk - I like it!

Is the XP really divided amongst the whole group? I guess I'm not seeing that in the rules. The way it is written in the Player's Guide seems to indicate the XP for attaining a new relationship level is awarded to that specific PC.

Kimiko: CG Female Tian Gunslinger (Musket Master)/ Rogue (Sniper), Ameiko's little sister, has a crush on Sandru.
Lita: CG Female Elven Inquisitor (Calistria)/ Ranger, student of Shalelu.
Zhi-Xun: LN Male Tian Monk/ Ranger (Trapper), best friends with Ameiko, hero worships Shalelu.
Ka'Lei: NG Female Gnome Cavalier (Dragon Order)/ Summoner (Master Summoner), caravan guard.
Rael: ?? Male Half-elf Oracle (Fire, wasting curse)/ Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager), has a crush on Ameiko.

We like playing Gestalt....makes for interesting character concepts. ;-)

If your players have horses or mounts, they do not take up a space on a wagon and it will continue to move forward. The horse/mount will take up 1 more consumption, but you will be able to move.