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Nunkeymutts wrote:

Some advice please...

Is it possible to run sleep as a mechanism to effectively heal a party? My issue is that 8 hrs = 1hp, which is enough to bring PCs back from the brink, but little else. Also - during this time - would you run a dice roll for a random monster encounter? (To balance the mechanic). In which case - sleep might actually aggravate the dire need for healing.

Further still - what do you do if the party is only half way through a dungeon crawl (for example), and it's clear that they need to heal/replenish stocks etc.

Would you let them leave to replenish supplies, and partially restock the dungeon or alter the scenario in some way to re-balance the game?

Just looking for suggestions to avoid TPK if it starts to look like a certainty without nerfing the rest of the encounters. At least if the party have to leave and heal/replenish supplies I can impose a financial penalty.

Any suggestions?

It might be easier to make smaller dungeons.

To be honest - it's a pretty small module (Fallen Fortress) - but because the characters are all level 1 (and inexperienced) things can get a bit volatile.

I want the party to run the very real risk of dying. I'm getting back into RPG after loosing touch with them in the mid 80's - and in 1st Edition Basic, death was a constant and regular part of the game. In some respects this was great - and levelling up was a real achievement. The drawback was the constant disruption to game flow/narrative.

I'm trying to keep the threat real (and separate the experience from Skyrim style reload) - but offer a few safety nets for the cautious/inexperience low level players.

Fantastic. Thanks everyone - gotta love the Pathfinder Community!

Ok - so to amalgamate all the advice - here's what I'm going to run:

Advise to establish a base camp nr. Dungeon for total extraction in case of an emergency.

Have a mod at the ready that will include the odd posted sentry/trap to compensate for an 'alert' status in the dungeon. (Perhaps with an ambush at the entrance)

Ditto a bespoke random encounter table based on survival/stealth skills on making a hidden camp.

Forgot that sleep would likely re-gen magic/Devine abilities - so that helps.

Heal long term care is also helpful.

Great!

I wanted to run a fairly gritty scenario - so this strikes the right balance for me. Lots of other great advice here (re. Larger campaigns and dungeons etc).

Apologies if this is posted in the wrong section.

I'm new here :)

Thanks again to all of you that posted.

Some advice please...

Is it possible to run sleep as a mechanism to effectively heal a party? My issue is that 8 hrs = 1hp, which is enough to bring PCs back from the brink, but little else. Also - during this time - would you run a dice roll for a random monster encounter? (To balance the mechanic). In which case - sleep might actually aggravate the dire need for healing.

Further still - what do you do if the party is only half way through a dungeon crawl (for example), and it's clear that they need to heal/replenish stocks etc.

Would you let them leave to replenish supplies, and partially restock the dungeon or alter the scenario in some way to re-balance the game?

Just looking for suggestions to avoid TPK if it starts to look like a certainty without nerfing the rest of the encounters. At least if the party have to leave and heal/replenish supplies I can impose a financial penalty.

Any suggestions?

It bites into negative Hp. Once they go below 0 they begin dying, losing 1 point of Hp every time they fail their save to stabilize. If they stabilize, they stop bleeding out, stop at whatever Hp they are at, and are just unconscious.

Thanks for clarifying this for me. This makes sense.

Hi all - just a just a quick one... (apologies in advance if the answer is obvious).

When PCs take damage (from combat for example), does this damage bite into negative hp, or is there a ceiling at 0, and the process of dying starts from this point? For example: if the player character has 4hp and is dealt 8 damage, are they now on -4? This seems to make more sense to me, but I can't find any clarity in PF rules, which all seem to focus on HP reaching 0 before dying starts and they face possibly hitting negative integers.

Thanks

Just a quick word of thanks to all contributors to this thread. I have established a club (Ten 14/15 year olds) at an academy (state school) in the UK. The advice posted here has been really useful. Just a few things to add to the mix (apologies if some have already been mentioned - but this will make it a bit more comprehensive).

1) Inform: I put together a little literature with FAQs etc. about the hobby in general and Pathfinder specifically (as much for the parents as anyone). This also pointed out the educational value of RPG gaming. The pack also came with a parental approval slip that had to be returned before anyone was allowed to join. Senior Leadership Team were also informed.

2) Beginners Box is a fantastic (and relatively cheap resource). Having not thrown dice since the mid 80's - it was also an easy way for me to get up to speed with the core rules. The pre-gens and tutorial scenario were also a great way for the whole group to quickly access the game.

3)You might need to throw a few quid at setting up resources - but if you spend wisely it will go a long way. A large battle mat (£25) can be reused for multiple scenarios. Google images and a bit of photoshop has provided all the tokens needed that are not in the beginners box (running scenarios other than the tutorial one).Free pregen PDF's are also available from Paizo.

4)Herolab was a tad pricy - but really takes the sting out of character creation. We plug a laptop into a OHP, beam it up on a large screen, and work on building characters together. Much more engaging. Everyone has an opinion as to where ability/skill points should go for example. You can also print out character specific skills/spells etc that the kids can refer to in game (and take home to get acquainted with)

5)I have a copy of the core book - but spend most of my time reading it at home for fun. There's a mobile app called PFRPG which covers almost all the core books (rules, bestiary's, spells etc)and costs about £3. Its a superfast database - and works brilliantly for in game clarification without loosing pace. No illustrations - so doesn't really replace the books wholesale (not that I'd want to) - but works great as an in game resource.

The kids love it. It's amazing to see them starting to get drawn into the game and start working together as a team. There was a moment when we first stated - when a lad showed me a dice rolling app - that my heart sank. Part of the fun is the tactile nature of pen/paper gaming. However - without any prompting, he ditched it in favour of the real thing as soon as he threw a few real dice. Brilliant!

Again - thanks to all contributors to this post. Really helpful. For anyone in two minds as to whether to bother - with a little sensible planning - I thoroughly recommend it!