I think #3, #4, #1, and then #2 would be ideal.
Murder on the Silken Caravan (#2) is going to be tough for a party that isn't 2nd level, and melee oriented.
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What is the minimum number of players required at a table for PFS play? What is the maximum? How does one calculate the "APL" or level of play for the table? I believe the minimum is 4 and the max 7, however 4 would be hard-pressed to survive the amount of combat in the scenarios in my opinion. The Scenarios are Tiered with two tiers so far. Tier 1&2 and Tier 4&5. It was explained to me at the event that if you were level 3 (the party that is) you would be permitted to choose which Tier you would like to run through.
As far as I can tell there is nothing to prevent you from running this with pre-generated characters. I just think the appeal of running a pre-gen through a "Living World" is less than the appeal of running your own character through a "Living World". Quite frankly, people would not need to be a part of the Pathfinder Society to enjoy being run through these scenarios. It just helps a lot. I know first hand that changes were made to one of the scenarios at GenCon on the fly. I was told it was due to time constraints, and they removed an encounter. This also happened to be in the scenario that was considered by most to have been the most dangerous (frankly, I'm not sure how a 1st level party would get everyone through it with 6 people, we played it with 4 2nd level PCs, and it was much more manageable, though one of the 1st level PCs had to be brought back from the brink of death even then.) I am not sure how Paizo is handling changes on-the-fly, but it would appear that when they are at the Con they do whatever they need to do to ensure people are able to enjoy themselves. This was certainly the best organized event (GenCon) that I've ever attended. When we arrived for our round at 8 AM Eastern Time on Friday morning all of the judges were already seated at their tables awaiting their PCs. I've never seen that in 12 years of Con gaming.
We had a GM that was trying to kill us in the first round, so that was a bit stressful. We absolutely loved the other three sessions we played, though I did feel that two of them were very short even with as much goofy roleplaying as we inject into the otherwise combat-oriented scenarios. I have huge concerns about the "loot" system. For example in one scenario we took a Masterwork Greatsword from one of the NPCs as loot. However, at the end of the adventure this loot was not on the sheet. Our GM explained that this was because we could buy a Masterwork Greatsword whenever we wanted. That's all fine and good, but we found one... (Seems like we should have gotten a discount or something.) However, that wasn't the issue. On a later session Spoiler: which you can ALSO buy at any time... So I found this somewhat confusing.
Murder on the Silken Caravan I noted that in the Tier 4 and 5 loot it listed a Half-Plate +1 I'd also like some clarity on the acceptable manner in which we can exchange items and gold. For instance I have a party member who is a Cleric, and I'm a Barbarian, can I buy Scrolls of Cure Light Wounds and give them to him to cast upon me? Can I give him 100 gold for his Scroll Purchasing? Can I give him 1500 gold to buy a suit of Field Plate? Overall we had a great time, and are looking forward to continuing on in the battle for Absalom. And thanks, Paizo, for supporting NASCRAG!!
There's imbalance in faction feats, in faction rewards, etc, etc, etc... I happened to think that Stay Death's Embrace was the most important feat provided by a faction. That's the great thing about so many different people playing, everyone has different ideas about what is the "best" for their circumstances. Stay Death's Embrace is why my Level 1 Barbarian is a Level 2 Barbarian after GenCon. None of the other feats listed above would have allowed me to survive. Considering the limits imposed by our being restricted to the PHB and the Pathfinder Campaign Setting Hardcover (which sold out at GenCon, congrats, Paizo!!) I'm not sure how you are "breaking" Diplomacy, Intimidation, etc... Especially considering the nature of the scenarios.
In my experience at GenCon no pre-generated characters were provided, however everyone had plenty of time to make a 1st level character per the guidelines provided.
Play the scenario first, then run it. Almost every team I saw at GenCon ran with 6 PCs, however in the last event I played our GM offered to sit a seventh if they showed up. I would suggest that at least one of these scenarios would be totally unsurviveable with a party fewer than 6 PCs, and the others would be incredibly difficult for 4. They may be possible for 4-7 players, but I would definitely suggest they might not be fun for fewer than 6. (Note this is not a challenge to anyone, just my experience at GenCon. YMMV)
Is there a Faction for us poor GMs who will probably never play? I believe that's called the Paizo Faction.
I assume that the monk multiclassing restriction still applies (once you take another class, you can't go back to monk). Since multiclassing is even further restricted in PFS, does this mean that a monk who takes a level in anything else must take it in their race's favored class? I figure that taking it in anything else would make it such that the character would simply not be allowed to take a level in anything after the general multiclassing penalty started to show itself. That seems self-evident to me from reading the Player's Guide. The easiest fix being to play a Human or Half-Elf Monk. Otherwise to plan on being a Dwarven Monk/Fighter, Elven Monk/Wizard, Halfling Monk/Rogue, 1/2 Orc Monk/Barbarian, or a Gnome Monk/Bard.
Only a little over a year to answer this question (assuming Thaumaturgist is even a viable, permitted option, that they don't restrict this element the same way they eliminated Leadership, and that any of this would carry over into the Pathfinder RPG they are switching to in 2009)!
What god has favored weapon of stake?I was about this close *holds fingers an inch apart* from dual wielding stakes.If they're in the equipment chapter of the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting book, then yes. (Chapter 5) The deity known as "Outback".
Awesome, assuming the SRD is available to us. I don't have access to the Campaign Setting Hardcover, so I appreciate you filling me in on the fact that they are in there. Are they identical to the ones posted in the SRD?
Considering they are going to convert to their version of 3.5 in 2009 I would suggest that PRCs are a bit premature at this point. They've said they'll add source materials at a later date, but for now all you can assume you'll have access to for your character is the PHB. That's my opinion anyway.
Out of curiosity I am asking about whether or not the Cleric Domains associated with certain Deities that are not covered in the PHB or SRD are available... Erastil - Community
If this were to happen I imagine two possible outcomes. One that characters items are unobtainable (just think about how you would feel if you got killed a couple of hours into a four hour convention slot, and now people are asking you to distribute your "hard-earned" gear to them for their benefit.) or they would rule that if you were willing to allow people to use your stuff that they could use it to the completion of the scenario just like any other "found" loot. I have never participated in a Living World where anyone has perished, so I have no genuine frame of reference, and I know I tread upon dangerous ground when I use what I think of as common sense, but I don't anticipate a GM wanting to grind salt into the wounds of someone who just died.
it was mentioned elswhere in the document that you can buy these types of things before or after the adventure, i think I do not see it, but would be glad to be proved wrong.
I'm not going to flat out say that this is completely out in left field that something like this could happen, because we haven't even started playing yet. I'll just say that Paizo understands people are putting their good money down by taking time off of work, travelling, buying a badge, and paying for their timeslot. A Living World is the ideal way to advertise and grow your game (especially with the decision to steer away from 4E), and you should expect that it would be INCREDIBLY unlikely for you to ever lose any of your persistent equipment (+1 dagger, ioun stone, armor, etc). Obviously you are going to burn through perishibles like Potions, Scrolls, and Wands. Investing heavily in perishibles has its own rewards due to the flexibility allowed and ability to recover quickly. From how I have read this I do expect there to be some differences between the loot a party of thugs without skills hauls in compared to a balanced group including people with very high knowledge and spot skill rankings. At the same time the skilled party is going to run the risk of death a lot more than a group of thugs are. I've read a couple of APs, and am currently playing in one as well, and my assessment is that the loot is sparse, and the combats are ferocious. Whether or not this will be different in the Living World I cannot say (I don't expect it will). I suspect there will be a baseline that everyone will have access to regardless of skills and that you'll never stray to far from that baseline either way. Giving them the benefit of the doubt would probably be the wisest course of action at this early stage.
Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc...Every character has access to +1 weapons/armor, level 0 or 1 potions/scrolls/oils, and silver/cold iron weapons (and possibly a couple of other things from the DMG I might be forgetting). I don't have the document in front of me, but it's listed before the prestige awards stuff. Ah, yes, but to be clear, this is not at character generation. This is post scenario. After the Scenario
In addition to items listed on your current or two
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing.No one's stopping you from buying a bunch of scrolls. Of course, that doesn't help characters with a couple of levels of ranger or paladin who can't use scrolls. Unless you are aware of something I am not, yes, yes they are stopping you from buying any magic item including scrolls, potions, etc... They even removed Scribe Scroll from Wizards. The following feats are not available in Pathfinder
Didn't mean this to sound as crass as it may have come out, but I'm still baffled by the inability to buy a wand of cure light wounds. It forces healer characters into always saving all their spells for healing. I cannot disagree with you strongly enough. Clerics are not obligated to dispense their spells in any particular fashion. That being said I look forward to seeing how Paizo plans to handle healing. Please keep in mind they understand they are running scenarios at a convention, and they want people who are paying to playtest their new game idea to have fun. Healing is unlikely to be very similar to how it may be handled in your home game in my opinion. And you're always going to be fully healed from one scenario to the next. It is always good to point out that the best defense is a good offense too. :)
I am sure that a Fax probably wouldn't cut it, but snail mail is a completely viable option. I too have questioned what the difference is. Really the question is quite moot, because you could PBEM or Online and Paizo would never know as long as you did all of the submissions of recorded information in the same way a "standard" face-to-face table-top game is run. At that point it would be completely transparent. Cheaters are going to get caught either way.
Every character in Pathfinder Society Organized Play begins the campaign with 150 gold pieces worth ofspending cash. All of the armor, weapons, and equipment in Chapter Seven of the PH are available for purchase as well as any of the items listed in the Equipment section of Chapter 5 in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover. You may not select items from outside of these lists during character creation.
Human - Favored Class: Any Dwarf - Favored Class: FighterElf - Favored Class: Wizard Gnome - Favored Class: Bard 1/2elf - Favored Class: Any 1/2orc - Favored Class: Barbarian 1/2ling - Favored Class: Rogue As long as you have a race that has your favored class it does not count against you for a multiclassing penalty. So a Dwarf can be a Fighter X/Any Class X and will never incur a penalty. Also as long as your class levels are within 1 of each other (e.g. 1/2, 4/3, etc) you do not incur a penalty. So even a Dwarven Rogue 2/Wizard 3 doesn't have a penalty, but when this character levels he has to level Rogue, because levelling Wizard would incur a penalty. The only time this character would choose which class to level is when they are even (1/1 or 3/3, etc). Where you run into penalties is when you've made a Dwarven Barbarian 3/Rogue 1 (this would incur a penalty and is not allowed in Paizo's game.) Clearly Humans and 1/2elves are far more versatile as they simply pick their highest class and discount it from the equation. So a human or 1/2elf is the way to go if you want three classes, or two classes that no one favors (for example a Paladin/Cleric or a Cleric/Sorcerer).
Correct, but you're never allowed to choose to take a class that would cause you to incur an EXP penalty.So, for example, I have a Dwarf Fighter 4/Cleric 1. I could level up after 3 senarios, but I cannot level up in Cleric levels? One of us misunderstands the Multiclass EXP penalty rules. I do not see how you are incurring an EXP penalty in your example because a Dwarf's favored class is Fighter, so you can increase either class level as much as you would like.
So, after 3 senarios, you level up? Period?I'm slightly confused about the multiclass penalty. After 3 senarios, you level up, except if you have a multiclass penalty, then you don't. Am I correct so far? If so, when does a multiclass character level up when dealing with that penalty?You're prohibited from ever having an XP penalty for multiclassing. It's not allowed. Correct, but you're never allowed to choose to take a class that would cause you to incur an EXP penalty.
Hogarth, I took it as a sign that they are aware of the dangers of mudflation, and are taking a cautious approach. My own sensibilities lead me to believe that you're always going to have access to better stuff from successful scenarios than the factions are going to be able to provide you. That being said, some of the faction loot is bizarre, and questionable in terms of value. No doubt changes will abound as everyone gains experience with this sort of thing.
Speaking from experience with other "Living World" games. You are never going to stop and pull out a ration, drink from a waterskin, or visit your landlord to make rent as part of a scenario. I wouldn't lose too much time/weight etc about this level of detail. Certainly anything that goes on in this first year will be retroactively acceptable should major changes be introduced by Paizo at some later point where rations/rent become a factor. Generally speaking (again from past experience with other living worlds) they will steer clear of the mundane stuff and we just get the cream at the top :)
One idea I have mulled over: Uklah Thunderspaw Barbarian
STR +2 18 (17) 20 +5 (Rage: 24 +7)
Feats: Exotic Weapon (Spiked Chain); Stay Death's Embrace Trip Attack @ +6 vs Touch AC (+5 STR check vs STR or DEX check of opp) (Rage: +8 vs Touch AC (+7 STR check vs STR or DEX of opp)) HP: 11 (Rage: 13) AC: 13 (Rage: 11)
Skills (8)
Fort: 1 (Rage: 3)
Grapple: 6 Born of an unlikely union, his father an Orc, his mother Osirion, he has all the traits his father (oddly) never did, swift reflexes coupled with brute strength, and great foolishness compounded by poor critical thinking. He has been trained in the martial arts of Osirion, but remains wild, dedicating himself to the teachings of Pharasma as best he can, but only able to apply them to the one thing he truly excels at, fighting to stay alive in a hostile world. His training has allowed him, and those like him, to strike even from what must surely be somewhere beyond the grave. He sees a clear role for himself in the return of the Pharoahs as an iron-fisted warrior once the reign of the true rulers of Absalom are returned to their rightful place. He is an instrument of their return, and no doubt a recipient of great rewards once he has ensured their success. His own selection of methodologies not being ideal for the current desires of the leadership of his Faction he relies upon the fact that few would suspect a Half-Orc Barbarian Ox would ever be permitted to involve himself in the subtle machinations of Osirion. Hiding in plain sight as it were. He has no doubt they will come to understand the benefits of a direct approach once the time is right. And that time is surely come.
I had hoped that the final chapter of the AP would outline the succession to the throne assuming Ileosa were removed, so you might consider that there are already wheels in motion that would contradict with that aspect of your proposed alternatives. Otherwise it is a good way to link the Red Mantis Assassins to Queen Ileosa further, though depending upon how quickly the party learns that Endris is a potential heir to the throne this has its own potential issues. What will you do with Eran once he is rescued by the PCs? Why would the Queen be more interested in Sabor than in Eran? I hope this is a fun alternative for your group.
I associated Rolth to one of my PCs as well. He was an orphan and Rolth eventually sold him to Gaedran Lamm when he wouldn't help him kidnap other kids. I plan to use Rolth as the way to get the PCs to Scarwall should they fail the trials. I'll leave a few clues that Rolth is looking for a very powerful place of necromantic magic early on, and if the PCs can't get the Quahs to help them then they'll have Rolth to track down as a secondary objective and he'll lead them into Scarwall. Otherwise depending upon whether the final book allows it he'll either be plugged in to replace another guardian of the Queen or he'll just be someone living beneath Korvosa waiting for the PCs to get just a little bit complacent. :)
I also must pass along my appreciation. Thank you!
I, too, have a player who is in the Sable Company and aiming toward a hippogriff companion. ** spoiler omitted ** I suspect the final book will give us a "State of Korvosa" including how the underground is progressing. I imagine a lot of the resistance will be ex-Sable Company Marines.
And when the first big Emberstorm comes up he can assure his comrades that he will see to it that their charred and blackened remains get a proper burial as he outflies the storm. :) hehe
That could be quite fun, the multiple Blackjacks, he's gone from infrequently seen to being everywhere at once, and everyone has their own opinion about how tall, fat, short, skinny he or she is! Fun roleplaying opportunity for the PCs listen to two NPCs argue about which one of them saw the REAL Blackjack.
TMI! :)
I missed this bit of info if it's in there somewhere? The party is compensated on a contractual basis. Spoiler: To start the PCs get room and board, and if they bring Verik back they get 1000 GP, 500 GP if he's dead. For Eel's End she can be talked into giving the PCs as much as 1500 GP, and they can keep whatever they don't use to bribe Devargo. They also get an additional 500 GP for delivering the letters. If they do in the King of Spiders they each get an additional 400 GP in the form of a medal that (if they don't sell it) gives the PCs a +2 modifier on Diplomacy with Korvosans. They get an additional 1000 GP for assisting with the missing Shoanti corpse. After that they aren't so much working for the Korvosan Guard as they are one of the few things left trying to save the city. If you consider things like getting to keep whatever loot you confiscate and having the authority to behave as needed to execute the mission as reward as well, well, tehy get that too!
Along the same lines I was wondering if anyone was going to try to recreate any of Salvator Scream's works... I'd love to have some handouts for those!! :)
I really appreciate the work you've done here. Thanks! Any plan to do South or East Shore as well?
Haha, that's classic!
That teleporting toilet trick gives me a great idea for an adventure hook when the PCs have to figure out what is at the other end of the floating, glowy disk that just deposited some unsavory substance upon their person as they walked beneath it unaware as they are while adventuring deep beneath the surface where "no one" would dare tread, nor mind if someone placed the other end of their toilet there.
I have no doubt, that the above is the case in truth, however it specifically indicates that the coin that Mandraivus dropped is valued by collectors of antiquities (20 GP for this 1 PP), and that anyone aware of its historical significance would pay ten times the price (200 GP for this 1 PP) the antiquities collector would pay. So ruling out the historically significant part as I can see how that might be unique to this coin, as opposed to those within Kavazon's hoard the text suggests that antiquities collectors (who do exist despite the relative newness of the concept in the real world, real world comparisons hold little value I would suggest) do value the 700 year old Ustalav coin at twice the value of the going rate for a platinum piece. The Guide to Korvosa alone gives the Gilded Orrery, Jeggare Museum, Sagitar Tiguan in the Gold Market, the Green Market and Exemplary Execrables Spoiler: all as places likely to be interested in either the antiquity or historical value (or both) of the coin.
(assuming new ownership and an interest in an item from Scarwall, perhaps tainted by the haunting or link to Zon Kuthon) There are relatively simple ways to handle this in game with which I am comfortable. I simply wished to know from the writers/editors if this was an oversight, or if there is something more to Mandraivus' coin than the coins in Kazavon's hoard (for example). In addition I'd still like to know what value the PCs should be managing at the end of each AP in terms of their gear/wealth.
The coin that Madraivus dropped on the trail is valued at considerably more than its printed amount as it is an old coin that collectors would be interested in... Surely most of the coins within Scarwall are the same age or older, particularly all those in Kazavon's hoard for example. Perhaps some are new due to the slain orcs that wander in from time to time or some of the other new arrivals that no doubt contribute some small portion of the loot available in Scarwall, but many of these hoardes are surely as old if not older than Madraivus' lone coin... Correct? I have always had a problem with how genericly most sources treat "coinage" considering the vast differences likely to be found between quality of the coins minted in different places at different times. Would it be possible for you to summarize how much wealth an individual PC should have attained at the end of each book of the AP? I believe you did something similar for the Experience Level each character should have attained after finishing each part of the AP. Thanks in advance!
It is remarkable to me how well my party has opted for characters that will truly be rewarded by this AP in terms of personal engagment in the story. I have a Cleric of Iomedae that is taking the War domain and is perfect for Serithtial. I am looking forward to how his role will develop in the final installment of the AP. I have a Cleric of Gozreh that plans to become a Stormlord that I am going to put on the path of potentially becoming as respected as a Sun Shaman (I believe I will adapt the Totems of the Quahs to reflect facets of the same deities that the Chelaxians worship, therefore one of Gozreh's faces will be the Sun Totem). He will gain access to the Stormlord PRC via encountering the Emberstorm rather than through a strike of lightning, and his powers will be tweaked to match the fury of the Emberstorm rather than a more traditional storm. This will also give him (and hopefully by extention the rest of the PCs!) a vested interest in avoiding conflict between the Quahs and Korvosa. I have a gambling rogue that wants to open a (honest) casino in Korvosa to rival Eel's End, and will be an absolutely perfect Blackjack (even if he is a halfling!) And then I have a character (unique class that mixes elements of the Dread Necromancer and the Favored Soul) that will face many challenges and many rewards in Scarwall due to their unique relations he has with the Grey, Pharasma, and the Undead (this character was originally raised by Rolth who sold him to Lamm. Rolth then returned and asked Lamm to rent him, took him on a crypt raid in the Grey, and left him for dead after a ghoul paralyzed him, and a wight was moving in for the kill. Some Clerics of Pharasma saved him, but he's got a conflicted past as he's tainted by the Undead and his access to necromantic magic from Rolth's teachings yet owes everything to Pharasma.) And I have an Elven or Half-Elven (hasn't decided yet) Wizard that I haven't actually been able to tie to the story much yet. Elves being so rare it may just be enough that he's got a link to the Mierani in South Shore and to the diplomats there to keep him engaged in Korvosa's future.
I am still toying with what exactly to do, but so far I have decided to link some penalty to the PC that is partially undead and a worshipper of Pharasma. I am going to assign a penalty (probably a -2) to most of their checks/rolls per anchor that remains within Scarwall. Everytime an anchor is defeated they will reduce the penalty by 2, and in exchange for this I am going to provide them access to a great deal of the background story of the creatures they are facing, and some clues they will be able to provide the rest of the party to help them understand and deal with Scarwall. I am going to characterize this as a struggle by the Chain Spirit to engulf their soul, and their sudden inability to control or create undead should make for an interesting adaptation for this character while giving me a device to deliver information that would otherwise be unavailable to the players. I also hope to be able to reduce the lethality of the Spoiler: to some degree.
demilich Effectively they exchange combat/skill effectiveness for providing access to elements of the story that would otherwise be unattainable by the PCs. This will also allow me to provide them with confirmation that they are on the right track when they defeat an anchor, and warnings when they get in too deep against some of the more powerful opponents Spoiler: especially if they go after the chain spirit prior to eliminating all the anchors.
You might also foreshadow that Vimanda is not all that she seems. If you've seen the film Strange Days make Verik the character that is trying to get Lenny the tape of what happened under the overpass. In this forumla "what happened under the overpass" is what happened when Vimanda tracked down Verik to eliminate him. Vimanda is likely to careful to reveal that she is Melyia, but just knowing that Spoiler: are running around and somehow related to the Arkonas will help the PCs and actually reward them for their actions.
Rakshasas That or she can use him in the labyrinth to help bolster her story about being Vencarlo. This would require that Verik has been toyed with/tortured by her so long that he no longer thinks for himself. His very condition might be just the clue the PCs need to make the right call about the Vencarlo that is telling them about Sivik. Perhaps as a final redemption for Verik he breaks free of the savagely imposed brainwashing Vimanda applied and warns the PCs of her true nature at this delicate juncture just before absorbing one of those annoying symbols in the Labyrinth to save a PC! Otherwise I also really like what The Black Fox said above. :)
Well, y'know, gave it my best shot for you.Oh I wasn't saying it sucks. :) It's a good start. More than likely I'll use the first paragraph as a springboard. I think "Thank you." is what you are looking for.
Undead PCs are relatively rare, and PCs who summon undead or create undead minions are a bit more common but still not THAT common... ** spoiler omitted ** Spoiler: Well, I definitely wasn't going to eliminate anyone from the game. I had thought of making him listen to his MP3 player with nothing but Throat Singing at high volume to signify the incessant pounding presence of Scarwall trying to break him down, but I'm concerned about a genuine mental break hehe.
I agree that some level of penalty will apply for as long as the Chain Spirit is actively trying to swallow his soul. And I have not nailed this down as we've not even begun the campaign and he hasn't decided whether he's going to pursue the Dread Necromancer or not. So far my party is shaking out to be at least 2 Clerics, potentially 3, and I'm concerned that they are going to be able to Turn their way through Scarwall with some success. Insofar as Undead minions are concerned I'll likely do the same thing to them as is done to Zellara, but if anyone has any sound suggestions for the impact one might inflict upon a PC I'd be eager to read it.
It absolutely does, and the idea of drawing multiple cards to try to avoid the deaths, maiming, and permanent attribute loss is probably a great adaptation. For me I prefer to have more control over who gets decapitated by what. :) hehe.
We fought Freezmaw over the course of a three day span in two different locations, and it ate our Leadership feat (the party bard). We figured it drank most of the loot it would have had otherwise. If it weren't such a straightforward battle I probably would not have disliked it so much, but it really highlighted our general lack of success at dealing with BBEGs due to our paucity of high-quality loot.
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