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Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have suggestions for the best Maps or Tiles for use with the Against the Aeon Throne AP?

Thanks!

Hi Everyone,

This is just a quick thought.

I am finally getting around to run an Anniversary Edition of the Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign using Pathfinder 1st Edition rules.

I recently picked up the Core Rulebook for 2nd Edition. And I had a thought about converting my campaign, currently near the end of the Edge of Anarchy, to Second Edition.

But in looking, it was clear it would not work. Second Edition currently does not have the flexibility to convert the characters from the First Edition campaign. That made me think:

And this may have been addressed many times before, but is Paizo moving completely away from First Edition?

From what I can tell, they really are two very different game systems. Second Edition is much simpler. And though there are strengths to this, the complexity of First Edition has an audience too.

I am curious. And this may have been announced and I missed it, but will Paizo write any more APs for 1st Edition. Or at least, will they make their APs compatible for both?

Forgive me if this has been addressed.

Good Gaming,

Mazra

Hi Paizo,

Shouldn't this need its own sub-forum thread? It seems deep in the tree.

I bought this game off Steam last week.

WOW!!!!

First, I really liked the first Baldur's Gate. And this is Baldur's Gate on steroids. This is fantastic. This is the most fun I have had with a PC based RPG since Baldur's Gate. The ToEE was good, but this is better. AND IT IS PATHFINDER!

We need to support this game like crazy. We need to shout about it on the roof tops.

This game is more like playing the table top game than any PC game I have played to date. It has bugs. But nothing I have yet to find a good work around.

And I would love to see Pathfinder:Rise of the Runelords in the same format.

In my next campaign, I and thinking of using a silver standard. The gold standard has always bugged me. But, I want to keep it simple. So, everything printed as a gold piece will now be a silver piece. Every silver piece will be a copper. And every copper will be a new type of piece, the brass piece.

10 brass = 1 copper
10 copper = 1 silver
10 silver = 1 gold
10 gold = 1 platinum

A +1 dagger would cost 2000 silver, or 200 gold.

This makes gold more rare, and a platinum piece very rare.

My head wraps around this better than the current system.

What do you think?

I am curious. An Azata is a type of moth. Who came up with this class of beings from Elysium? Is there a mythology?

Simple Question: Does Spell Focus (Conjuration) affect the DC saves of Summoned creatures?

If not, why not?

Spell Focus: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for ALL saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.

"Time to go! I am locking it up. We need to get up to the Commons," the brash Halfling orders tall folk and short folk alike out of her Inn.

I am opening the Discussion thread to discuss issues out-of-character.

I am opening the Discussion thread to discuss issues out-of-character.

We are starting up a Giantslayer Campaign. Four players from our Burnt Offerings Campaign have created characters, but we are looking for a 5th.

So far we have the following:

Ulfgard Strongfist, Dwarf Ranger
Ragnir Brightaxe, Dwarf Warpriest
Haskyll Stonereaver, Dwarf Cleric
Kaos Axe Hand, Human Fighter

The party has Martial and Divine covered. So something else would be most welcome.

Base requirements:

No Evil Characters.
25 Point buy
Average starting gold for your Class

The GM will not picking the 5th member, the party will be. The GM will only act as a tie breaker.

The players may impose other restrictions.

Need help from a Developer. When I go to My Account, I am missing an Alias, "Mazra of Sandpoint" in my list. I still have this Alias in my Alias tab when I click on my main "Mazra" link. The main issues is that this has also caused My Campaigns for this Alias to disappear from my main profile. Bummer!

Thanks for any help.

It will not be long before you find yourself in a large but crowded open area. A massive shiny new stone Cathedral stands on its eastern side. It would singularly be the most impressive structure in the town, except for a towering edifice that dominates the skyline. You quickly find out from the locals that this massive mostly ruined structure is called “the Old Light.”

In the morning hours, an attractive middle age woman with short cropped hair, standing on a long raised platform begins to speak. Several of you had the pleasure to meet her as she worked the crowd.

"Welcome," she repeats several times before the crowd settles down. "Welcome to the annual Swallowtail Festival. I am Kendra Deverin. I am the Mayor of this humble little town," her friendly attitude and excitement proves contagious as she welcomes visitors and locals alike. She then offers a jokes about how even Larz Rovanky, managed to tear himself away from the tannery to attend. Many in the crowd laughed. Others looked bewildered. Mayor Deverin continued, “Before we begin the fun, food and games, several of our town’s most esteemed citizens would like to say a few word.”

I am going ahead and opening up the discussion thread.

Once the party has been selected, I would like to get everyone's thoughts on ways to move the campaign forward. I am in another PBP campaign and sometimes it takes several days just to play through one round of initiatives.

Now I know that life has this crazy way of getting in the way of our gaming. Shame on it. But it happens. Like this Saturday I am taking a plane trip to Brookfield, CT where my wife is now visiting her sister. Saturday may be a tough day to post, but I am hopeful to get something in before the end of the day. We will be traveling for a good part of next week; but again I hope to have windows of time for posting. There may be a full day, maybe into the next, that I will be unavailable. If it is longer than three days then I am likely in a coma or meeting the Maker. So thoughts on how to handle the party when someone doesn't post for several days would be appreciated. I have prepped for posting situations that will allow you to meet and greet, plus the first encounter or two.

My goal is not only for some good RP but for some fun action packed encounters too.

I look forward to this opportunity to meet and make new friends.

I am opening up recruitment for a Rise of the Runelord, Burnt Offerings campaign. I am looking for a party of five: Fighter type, Rogue type, Divine type, Arcane type and one other that could be just about anything. Classes only from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Player’s Guide and Ultimate Combat will be accepted. There are a few classes from the APG and Ultimate Combat that I have not had the pleasure to referee, so you could be the first. Spell books, feats, skills, etc. will be accepted from these same tomes. Please design a 25 point build for your character, after all you are heroes. Good or Neutral Characters only please. Please use the standard starting gold for class type to purchase armor, weapons, equipment, etc. I will be pulling from both the original publication and Anniversary edition with likely many mods along the way, maybe even a side adventure or two. The preference is for players that has not had the opportunity to play or GM in this wonderful adventure, so please let me know your status about this. I plan on posting the start of the Campaign around September 13th, so there is time to submit your characters and make any final modifications before starting.

Your character is in Sandpoint to either attend the Swallowtail Festival or rededicate the Sandpoint Cathedral, or maybe both. Please let me know what circumstances brought your PC to Sandpoint. None of the PCs should be familiar with Sandpoint, as a large part of this adventure is discovering this interesting little town.

I have been the Game Master of adventures in face-to-face sessions, but this will be my first attempt at a PBP campaign. Your suggestions and patience will be appreciated. I am looking for a fun time to meet new friends. No rules lawyers please. I will try to referee by the rules, but with so many rules, and so many possible situations, mistakes or on the fly rulings may come into play. I am open to go over things in the Discussion area or privately. Ultimately the goal is a fun time for all. I am looking for people that can commit to daily posts. However, I am well aware that life sometimes gets in the way. NPCs will often be a part of the party. They can also fill in should an unexpected prolonged absence occur for a player.

Finally, PBP campaigns can be a long process. When we finish Burnt Offerings, I plan to move forward with the Skinsaw Murders with some or all of the same group.

I have always played it that you can add one rank to a single skill per level. However the rules are not clear about this.

I have a player with a 13th level Ranger that decided he wanted to start crafting magic weapons, taking the Craft Magic Weapon feat. He had never put any ranks previously into Spellcraft. He wanted to put all his level ranks into just Spellcraft. I allowed it since the rules were silent on the subject, as far as I can tell.

Is there any clarity on he subject?

Another great Friday preview.

It is so cool to be able to get miniatures of things never before made in pre-painted plastic.

It is appreciated. BTW - Gross is a really good thing.

Took an image from Thursday, March 7, 2013 gaming session, and thought I would share.

Attack on Sandpoint

This image managed to catch the four PCs in their encounter with Teraktinus. What strikes me was the variety of things in the image. In addition to the two Rise of the Runelord Stone Giant miniatures, there is the DDM Lords of Madness Stone Giant being used for Teraktinus.

Then we have the Shattered Star Large Earth Elemental that was summoned to a collective oohs and aahs when put on the table. (Teraktinus critted the Large Earth Elemental; taking it out in one round to the consternation of the player.) There is the Bralani from the DDM set Bloodwar also summoned in by the summoning happy Cleric Emeril. The Bralani is flying around on a stand I ordered from Paizo. The PC Eleisa is flying away higher up on a clear card box.

There are the Face Cards for Teraktinus and Abstalar Zantus. He is peeking around the building to the left represented by the Village Priest mini from the DDM Angelfire set.

The there is the battle map, dungeon tiles and 3D buildings all mixed around the table.

Finally we are using the D&D pogs on a large plain dungeon tile to track initiative. When a monster falls we replace the miniature with its pog red (bloodied) side up. It works nicely.

The number of tools we have today really adds to the game. Some of you old timers like me may appreciate this in light of what we had twenty or so years ago.

Cheers!

Very good fantasy. Overall well done. The Giants are more like Titans. It's fun movie.

Downloaded Avadon: The Black Fortress to my Android Samsung Galaxy Tablet yesterday. This is not a bad old school style turn-based RPG. The fact it runs well on my Tablet is really cool.

Inspired by Gluttony's, NobodysHome's, and others RotRL campaign threads, I decided to write our tale, in a somewhat novelized form. It comes with the help of the player characters that recalled valuable details that were missing from my campaign notes. I do this for my own personal enjoyment, as writing this recalled fun times at the gaming table. But some of you may find enjoyment in it as well.

After over two years of giving 4th edition campaign a whirl, we decided a change was in order. Last year (2011) we decided to give Pathfinder a try. So we sought out the first books, Burnt Offerings and The Skinsaw Man. We immersed ourselves in Golarion and Varisia. So, enjoy!

Burnt Offerings

When times are hard they stay hard unless heroes rise. Some say that such a rise is a matter of luck. Others say it is fate.

Could these be the ones to rise? Are they the lucky? Some may say unlucky. Or are they the heroes of fate? Could they be the ones that rise to legend?

Eleisa was the daughter of a strange union between a Drow Priestess and a Human Warrior. Shunned by both the worlds of Elves and Men, she became a fierce and independent fighter, always fully adorned in her armor. Her studded leather helm and gauntlets never revealing her mixed race to others. Clad as such, she is mysterious and causes others to fear her, an ideal guard for a Cheliax merchant that values intimidation as a way of protection. Eleisa was hired to protect a fat Cheliax merchant named Pevick that roamed the Lost Coast roads plying his wares. It was with the merchant Pevick that Eleisa came to Sandpoint at the dedication of its temple during an odd little festival filled with way too many butterflies. The Swallowtail festival is a perfect time and place for fat merchants to get fatter. And this year's festival has the dedication of the new temple. The crowds should be larger and the purses deeper.

Nirga as an Elf living among Men in Riddleport found great fun and humor in taking the trinkets that these Humans value so much. Until she took from an particularly powerful Human named Gaston Cromarcky, the overlord of Riddleport. Looking back she now sees this whimsical opportunity as maybe a mistake. So a new town to find more trinkets was in the offing. And Sandpoint seemed to have a friendlier group in need of fewer trinkets. Plus this odd little festival seemed an ideal event to find even more trinkets.

Fedra loved the sea. She often travelled with her uncle to strange locations. Halflings were never known as sailors. But her uncle was a good one, and with the family wealth, built a fine vessel to conduct trade. Having a ship worked well for the family of farmers to have a wider market for their tobacco. Fedra's father was devoted to the land, a skilled planter and grower. Her mother knew how to pull power from the air around it. She was the communities Shaman, and taught some of these skills to her daughter. But Fedra learned these skills to defend and attack, instead of to grow and nurture. She was a young Halfling seeking adventure. More than once with a simple cantrip she scared off would be attacker to her uncle's ship. And now with her uncle she comes to Sandpoint at a busy time when a good smoke is often preceded by good food and drink.

Emeril was raised on a farm a few miles outside of Sandpoint. The farm was more to sustain the family. Any excess was used to buy a new mule, or a steel plough to replace the copper one that often became bent. Emeril, a few times a year, travelled in to town with his father to trade. It was on one such trip that Emeril spied a precocious fiery red haired lass named Shayliss. But this flirtsome, at the time twelve year old, paid no attention to the ordinary farm boy. A year later when Emeril was fifteen his father became sick. Desperate, Emeril's mother sent Emeril to town with a mule packed with dried corn to trade for a healing poultice. Emeril came back with the poultice and a fair amount of extra coin. His father recovered. But it was at this time that the family learned of Emeril's skill at bartering. For the next couple of years or so, it was Emeril that went in to town to barter the excess corn, fruits and vegetables for items needed around the farm, plus some extra silver. He also enjoyed the fact that most of his trade was at the Sandpoint General Store, a place where the occasional glance upon the proprietor's daughter, Shayliss Vender, was more common. But Shayliss in his many visits to the General Store never glanced back.

It was on one such trip in to town that disaster struck back at the farm. A Goblin party raided the homestead while Emeril was in Sandpoint. Both his mother and father were killed, the farmhouse and barn burned to the ground. Emeril found their lifeless bodies, so badly mutilated, that he quickly buried them. For the first time in his life Emeril called out to Desna. Desna must have found pity for the young lad, or saw something more, for shortly after the burial a Father Zantus visiting a nearby parishioner saw the smoke of the burning homestead and went to offer aid. There he found the stoic youth by the recently dug graves of his parents. Father Zantus told the boy to come with him. That he could stay at the temple dormitories. Emeril obeyed. That was just a few months ago. Emeril now helped with other Acolytes to roll out the cart filled with swallowtail butterflies on the day of the festival. It was shortly after the butterflies release that trouble started in the streets.

The Swallowtail Festival

While Father Zantus was speaking during the temple dedication, the whelp of a dog is followed by the shrill sound of Goblins. A sickly chant begins to be heard along with the screams of women and children running from these short green little menaces. The nimble female Elf Nirga begins to slip behind a group of three Goblins near a vendor stall on the north side of the plaza in front of the temple. At the time, Nirga truly wished she did not understand Goblin, for the sickly chant was a Goblin song whose poetry was so horrid that Nirga feared losing her already sparse Wisdom by just hearing it. It was at this time that the tall and imposing Eleisa drew her father's sword and engaged one of three Goblins, missing her attack. After all this was her employer's stall. Eleisa glanced at the fat merchant Pevick running, more like waddling, away screaming in terror from his stall. His other guards were doing the same. The Halfling Fedra, standing near the speaker's podium, felt a rush of excitement, and almost without thinking, launched a missile from her fingertips that hit the middle Goblin. The Goblin being surprised dropped his torch and caught himself on fire, dying from the combined damage. Emeril, seeing the same kind of wretched creatures that killed his parents, ran toward the fight. He drew his flail, a tool he used to thresh grain, but also found it useful as a weapon. The Goblins eager for blood and mayhem fought back. Nirga, seeing an opening from behind the Goblin that was engaged with Eleisa, manages a clean stab on the pesky Goblin with her rapier. It falls dead. Emeril flails away to no effect. The third Goblin lands a blow on Emeril with its weird little sword. Eleisa moves to engage the third Goblin, when a burst of electric energy flashes by missing the Goblin, the bristling energy coming from the little Halfling Fedra. The Goblin lands another blow on Emeril. Emeril takes a step away laying a hand on himself and calls on Desna's healing power. He feels better. Eleisa hits the third Goblin, dropping it.

Deep breathes are taken, when Eleisa sees Nirga from behind the stall, Emeril at her right side, and a robed Halfling just behind. Nirga gives Eleisa a wink, and stares at the other two. Emeril gives an approving nod to the helmed warrior at his side. Fedra smiles not really noticing the pleas of her uncle to run back to the ship. Without a word between them, the group that would be known throughout the region as the Heroes of Sandpoint was formed.

But the breather ends quickly as chaos continues around them. Then across the plaza three more Goblins sets a wagon ablaze, lead by a strange whip wielding female Goblin. Eleisa charges across the plaza, followed closely by Emeril, Nirga and struggling to keep pace, the Halfling Fedra. All the while, Fedra's uncle yelling at his niece to go to the ship. Fedra ignores her uncle. Eleisa charges one of the Goblins quickly dropping it. Nirga engages the second, and Emeril the third. Then Fedra stops and launches a missile at the whip wielding Goblin. It strikes the foul little creature. The remaining two Goblins miss their counter attack. The whip wielding Goblin, known as a Warchanter, cast a spell at Eleisa. It fails. An Eleisa move on to Nirga’s Goblin, but misses. Nirga manages a weak blow. Emeril misses. Fedra strikes with a second missile on the Warchanter. Both Goblins lands blows on Nirga and Emeril. The Warchanter cast a spell dazing Eleisa. Nirga stabs at her Goblin but misses. Emeril misses yet again. Fedra, realizing that she may only have enough energy for one more missile, moves closer to the Warchanter, deciding to call again upon her elemental fascination with the air around her, and launch a ray of electricity at the Warchanter. It hits the burning wagon instead. Twice now Fedra has called upon this source of energy and missed with it. Fedra thought to herself that she really needed to work on her aim. Both Goblins miss their attack. The Warchanter tries another spell, but it had no effect. Recovering from her daze, Eleisa charges the Warchanter, but misses. Nirga gets a piercing blow with her rapier. The Goblin falls. Emeril continues to flail away to no effect. Fedra tries a third ray of electricity, but with Eleisa now engaged with the Warchanter it too misses. Emeril's Goblin manages a blow. Emeril staggers but does not fall barely hanging on to consciousness. The Warchanter steps back and whips away at Eleisa, but the attack misses. Eleisa, now thoroughly ticked, steps into the Warchanter sending the wretched creature to some infernal region. Nirga moves to a flanking position on Emeril's Goblin, striking with a precise and clean strike killing the last Goblin.

Emeril drops to one knee, and channels Desna's powers to heal himself and others that were hurt around him. He does this process a couple more times until he feels that his wounds are almost fully healed. He stands. Nirga stares at Emeril realizing her own wounds too were healed. The boy can't fight, but this other healing power is nice Nirga thinks to herself.

Much of the crowd scattered in all directions during the raid. Father Zantus was ushering people into the Temple, but did notice Emeril and the others engaging the Goblins. The Mayor of Sandpoint, a Kendra Deverin took note as well, wondering why her own town guard was nowhere to be seen. But Mayor Deverin did not realize the extent of the raid. The town guard and its leader, a Sheriff Belor Hemlock, were busy fighting Goblins elsewhere in the town. Many of the town’s citizens here and around the plaza now stopped to watch the heroic efforts of the four.

The sounds of Goblins and fighting now echoed away from the plaza where the festival was held. The four looked around at the dead Goblins, and saw some townsfolk on the ground too. Emeril began to move toward one of the fallen, when he heard a man scream and the frantic barking of a dog to the north. A Goblin mounted on what looked like a large hairless dog was attacking some well dressed dandy.

Eleisa was already in full charge toward the mounted Goblin. Nirga looks over at Emeril, shakes her head from side to side, and moves toward the fight. Emeril follows on Nirga's heals. Fedra, adrenalin still pumping inside with excitement, follows as well.

Eleisa slashes at the mounted Goblin but misses. The Goblin wielding a long spear-like thing, known as a horsechopper, stabs at the barking dog skewering it. The dog falls lifeless. Three more Goblins move to engage Eleisa. The shivering dandy hides behind a rain water barrel outside an establishment known as the White Deer. Nirga moves wide to the right of the fight. Emeril advances and lands a blow on one of the approaching Goblins. It falls to Emeril's utter amazement. Fedra launches her final magic-tinged missile at the mounted Goblin striking true as it always seemed to do. The mounted Goblin maneuvers behind the remaining two other Goblins and draws out a bow. One of the two remaining Goblins hits Eleisa. The other swipes at Emeril but misses. Eleisa attacks back dropping another Goblin. Emeril hits again but the Goblin continues to fight on. Nirga keeps moving behind their fray, now waiting to strike. Fedra once more gathers energy from the air around her to launch an electrified ray, this time striking true on the mounted Goblin. She gets excited. Noticeably hurt the Goblin manages to stay on its mangy steed. The mounted Goblin fires an arrow at Fedra, missing. Barely! Fedra's heart went into her throat. Her uncle now seeing too much races out and grabs Fedra’s arm. "Enough! You are coming with me," Fedra's uncle says scolding his niece.

The Goblin on Emeril swings futilely. Eleisa hits again and the Goblin falls. Emeril moves and swings toward the rat-dog thing, but the mounted Goblin steered his mount away from the blow. Nirga moves quickly from behind striking the mounted Goblin. It slumps off its mount. The rat-dog bites Emeril. Eleisa moves but misses her attack on the dog-like critter. Emeril missed. Nirga too misses an assault on the creature. The rat-dog bites Emeril again. Once again Emeril finds himself on the edge of consciousness. Eleisa hits but fails to drop the thing. Emeril steps back out of the fight and calls again on a healing touch from Desna. Nirga keeps missing the ugly beast. Fedra tears herself from her uncle’s grasp, draws her dagger and runs toward the fight. The rat-dog bites Eleisa. Eleisa is starting to feel the pain of her wounds. A rejuvenated Emeril steps up and lands a solid blow killing what the party would later find out is a Goblin Dog.

Eleisa falls to one knee. Father Zantus rushes toward the heroes. A healing touch is delivered to Eleisa. The fight is over. Many who witnessed this bravery began to cheer, including one Shayliss Vender who is now seeing the farm boy Emeril in a different light. Fedra's furious uncle approaches but Mayor Deverin moves toward Fedra thanking her and the three others for their bravery. Fedra's uncle stops and stares at the Mayor.

The dandy rises from behind the rain barrel, straightening his fanciful clothes, brushing off any dust, and looks straight toward Nirga. "Thank you my dear lady. I owe you my life," he says. Eleisa looks puzzled at the dandy. Emeril too, as this very over-dressed noble devotes all his attention toward Nirga. "You deserve a reward, my lady. Come tonight to the Rusty Dragon where I am staying. I will make it worth your while. I am Aldern Foxglove, and I am in your debt", the dandy bows low in a graceful gesture. Nirga thinks how ridiculous this fool looks. But she could use the extra coin and nods OK.

Nirga, typically a very selfish Elf, realizes that any reward also belong to her allies in this fight. Plus Nirga would rather not meet this dandy alone. Nirga moves toward Eleisa, and introduces herself. The tall helmed woman nods, and simply says, "Eleisa." The two women look toward Emeril. "Pleased to meet you, I am Emeril,” he says. Then the three look toward the Halfling. Fedra was so hoping to get a stab in to one of the Goblins with her dagger. She was looking around for any moving Goblins, when she notices the other three staring at her. "Hi! Wasn't that fun?” Fedra says excitedly. "We should look out for more Goblins!" But the sound of conflict and singing Goblins fades away, only to be replaced by a murmur from the regathering crowd. The crowd begins to chat with each other about Sandpoint's new found heroes, their losses, and the silliness of Goblins.

Nirga looks at the three and tells them the dandy they saved wants to give them a reward tonight at the Rusty Dragon. "I will ask Father Zantus if I can come," Emeril says. Eleisa just nods. Fedra on the other hand wonders if she will be able to attend. "I will try to be there," she says.

Nirga began searching the dead Goblins for any coin or valuables. Emeril went to Father Zantus. Zantus was pleased with what he saw. He could see Desna's light on the boy. He agreed to let Emeril go to the Rusty Dragon that night. Eleisa stayed close to Nirga watching her back while the Elf Rogue rummaged through the Goblin rags finding a few coin along the way. Eleisa gathers some weapons, including the Goblin Warchanter's whip. Fedra went back to the ship and received a full tirade from her uncle about her being careless and irresponsible. Fedra was locked in her room. But this was not the first time Fedra was locked in her shipboard room. And Fedra knew how to escape it. And she immediately did so.

As the heroes moved through the town, pats on the back and applauses often followed. Nirga and Eleisa found a spot across from the Rusty Dragon, a place easy to find with its rusty iron dragon perched on it shingled roof, and watched the entrance to wait for their other allies. As Emeril left the temple he too received congratulations, but none more so than a solid kiss on the lips from the beautiful fiery redhead Shayliss Vender. Stunned, he received this kiss. "I have to go to the Rusty Dragon," Emeril said nervously looking into Shayliss' bright green eyes. Shayliss followed Emeril until the booming voice of Ven Vender, Shayliss' father could be heard over the crowd, "Shayliss home," the large stout man yelled. Shayliss stopped in her tracks and sighed. She slowly walked to her father. Emeril stopped too, looking back at Shayliss walking toward the large and imposing man, thinking how both wonderful and absolutely frightening was that kiss from Shayliss. He didn't know which he feared more, Shayliss' kiss or a horde of Goblin Commandoes on Goblin Dogs with horsechoppers in hand. He agreed with himself that it was definitely Shayliss’ kiss.

OK! That was really cool. Anyone else think so?

Major Spoiler Alert – So please do not read if you haven’t played or will be playing this excellent adventure.

Yesterday we restarted the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path. Here is an account including some of the past events. We had so much fun with it that I used this day off to write a little story about what happened. Enjoy! It is a bit long. So forgive my indulgences.

We left off with our Heroes doing some side quest for the Lord Mayor of Magnimar. Twice before our Heroes had encounters the Lamia Matriarch Xanesha. Each time Xanesha managed an escape. Xanesha has been masquerading around Magnimar as a Lady Carla from Korvosa in the weeks since her last tryst with the Heroes, recruiting a new group of spies, cohorts and lovers, plus a few survivors of the Skinsaw Cultist, including the notorious Justice Ironbriar.

Xanesha is cleverer than her sister Lucrecia gives her credit. Plus Xanesha has her spies. A servant in the estate of the Lord Mayor has kept tabs on the Heroes and their plans, including their intent to find out about the fate of Fort Rannick. And their departure date to travel up river to Turtleback Ferry. A spy for Xanesha in Turtleback Ferry has reported back the sinking of Lucrecia's Paradise Barge and her sister's departure from that town. In addition, a spy amongst the Pathfinders in Magnimar has found out that an old acquaintance of the Heroes has also been sent to Turtleback Ferry.

A wannabe Pathfinder Lyrie Akenja was spared death at the hands of the Heroes by the pleas of an Orik Vancaskerkin. At the Goblin Stronghold of Thistletop, Orik was a sword for hire by the Aasimar Nualia who had made Thistletop her lair, and the Goblin Warchief Ripnugget's clan her servants. Orik had mixed feelings about Nualia's nefarious schemes. But not so mixed feelings about his infatuation and growing love for Lyrie Akenja. So when the Heroes stormed Thistletop, Orik abandoned his hire and aided the Heroes in their taking of the stronghold, which included the deaths of Nualia and Warchief Ripnugget. Lyrie was taken by the Heroes. But Orik pleaded with the Heroes to spare Lyrie's life. The Heroes reluctantly agreed. The Heroes shared some of the silver coin found at Thistletop as an additional reward for Orik's aid. Relieved to be alive Orik and Lyrie said goodbye to the Heroes and departed Thistletop.

Lyrie and Orik travelled to Magnimar where twice Orik fought off Goblin scouting parties in their journey. Orik's devotion and desire to protect Lyrie did not go unnoticed. Lyrie never had someone that cared so much for her before. The bitter hard young woman began to soften. When they reached Magnimar they stayed in a quiet inconspicuous Inn where over the next week or so Lyrie chronicled the events at Thistletop and the Heroes taking of the Stronghold. And for the first time in her life, Lyrie gave her heart to one that also cared for her. Lyrie's cold dark heart began to warm.

Though spurned by the Pathfinders, Lyrie tried again and approached the Magnimar Pathfinders with her chronicles on Nualia, the Thassilonian ruins and coming of the Heroes. Impressed by her prose, the Pathfinders sent Lyrie to Turtleback Ferry to chronicle the recent events in that region. The Pathfinders seemed most interested in the activity of the Heroes. Lyrie quickly accepted the assignment seeing this as an opportunity to help accomplish her desires to become an initiate of the Pathfinders; hopefully without the dark acts of her sordid past coming to light.

With everything pointing in the direction of Turtleback Ferry, Xanesha decided a move maybe in order. So she packed up her finery and with the remnants of the Skinsaw Cultist, including Justice Ironbriar now disguised as her Butler, began the long barge ride up river. Xanesha's plans now are to finish off the Heroes at Turtleback Ferry and deliver her new kill as a prize to her sister Lucrecia. The Heroes had already become well known in the region. Even Mokmurian now knows of these Heroes, and their deaths would be quite the feather in the cap of the one who destroys them. And Xanesha has come close before and believe she can complete the task.

In Turtleback Ferry Lady Carla took over a comfortable house outside of town, recently abandoned by a now missing fur trader. As Lady Carla, Xanesha used her charms to make acquaintance in town, including a couple now in town chronicling the recent events. Lady Carla with her Butler met Lyrie Akenja and Orik Vancaskerkin in the Bottoms Up Tavern. Lyrie mostly ignored Lady Carla, until the subject of fine wines came up. The wine in the Bottoms Up Tavern is poor bordering on vinegar. So when Lady Carla invites Lyrie and Orik to her house outside of town with the promise of fine wine, Lyrie is quick to accept. And Orik goes where Lyrie goes, though he was quite happy with the tavern’s mead.

Lady Carla’s wine was fine indeed. In fact it was exquisite. Lyrie was impressed. And after several bottles Lyrie was telling all about her exploits, including her encounter with the Heroes at Thistletop. Lady Carla seemed most fascinated by the Heroes and inquired about every detail, of which the tipsy Lyrie was happy to oblige. Lady Carla asked Lyrie if the Heroes should visit Turtleback Ferry they would be most welcome for supper. Lyrie responded that she hopes she never sees them again, not fully aware that her purpose in Turtleback Ferry was to be an observer for the Pathfinders on whatever the Heroes do.

Only three days later on a cold and rainy morning, the Heroes walk in to the Bottoms Up tavern and sees Lyrie working on a scroll at a back table with Orik staring into a goblet of mead. When Lyrie sees them, her heart begins to race with both fear and excitement. The Heroes buy them around of drinks and renews their acquaintance. Lyrie tells the Heroes much of what she has seen and heard around town since their arrival. Lyrie tells the Heroes that a Lady Carla would enjoy their company for supper tonight outside of town. The Heroes accept the invitation.

That evening Lyrie, Orik and the Heroes go to supper. Lady Carla’s Butler invites them into the parlor offering wine. Lyrie quickly informs the Heroes that the wine is very good. No one recognizes the well disguised elf serving the wine. Once wine was served, Lady Carla comes out in a beautiful green dress, a long spear in one hand a mask in the other. “So we meet again”, Lady Carla says slipping on the mask as she transforms into the Lamia Matriarch Xanesha. Lyrie and Orik are stunned. A battle ensues, as a couple of Skinsaw Cultist rushes the party from a back room. In her first opportunity, Lyrie heads toward the front door from which they entered followed closely by Orik. Spells and arrows begin to fly. The Skinsaw Cultist was quickly dispatched. But the Butler shows his true color as Justice Ironbriar, and begins an assault of spells in an attempt to control a Hero. He was unsuccessful. The Heroes principle fighter a Female Half-Drow name Eleisa engages with Xanesha, as Shalelu Andosana unleashes a barrage of arrows at Xanesha. Lyrie standing at the front door notices that no one is attacking either Orik or herself. Stealthily Lyrie moves to a corner table where she pulls out her scrolls, ink and quill and begins writing what she sees. Orik stations himself in a guarding position in front of his love, and to the right of the front door to the house.

The battle wages for some time as the Heroes female Elf Rogue Nirga was temporarily turned to stone. But a tipping point is reached and Xanesha turns invisible and heads toward the front door in an attempt to flee. But Orik Vancaskerkin was there blocking her path. The parties Sorcerer a female Halfling named Fedra managed to successfully dispel Xanesha’s invisibility. Seconds later Xanesha lay dead from a few quick arrows from Shalelu. Justice Ironbriar, his escape routes blocked, surrenders to the Heroic party. Part one and two of Rise of the Runelords invading into part three finally comes to an end.

It was a great session to restart the adventure having previously played through the first two books. We were able to use the new figurines for Lyrie and Orik, plus two of the Skinsaw Cultist. Xanesha’s new stats were more manageable. Justice Ironbriar surprisingly was much tougher. The party was a level higher now since they last fought Xanesha. In the end it was tough but very much a doable encounter for the party. It looks like both Lyrie and Orik will be hanging around with the party.

There is a nice Ogrekin in the RotR set. But I am looking for a good match for Rukus Graul. He has a different look from his artist rendering than the Ogrekin mini. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mazra

Dungeon Crawler Miniatures

Giants Ants, Ravens, Coffin with lid, Merchant, Beggar and more oh my. I don't have to paint them. These are all very useful. They are a must buy for me.

Cheers,

Mazra

Since we now know that we will not be getting a Mammy Graul mini, any suggestions of a mini that would be suitable? And for those that ran Hook Mountain, what did you use for Mammy Graul?

Later,

Mazra

This is likely the absolute wrong place to open up a thread about a TV series based on a rude, middle-age doctor in a sleepy seaside village in Cornwall. But after spending much of the last two weeks watching the first four seasons on Netflix with my wife, I was curious as to how many others out there are hooked watching this quirky, but very entertaining show?

The detail is brilliant. Is it August yet?

Later,

Mazra

Just starting this thread to see how many out there likes really good animated movies. Not that Brave will be added to the ranks of really good animated movies, but from the trailers it shows promise. I want to see it! How about you? Do you want to see "Brave?"

Later,

Mazra

Wow! Have you seen these things over at Auggies.

Plant Vine

These are just so useful for so many things. I need to get a bunch of them for terrain as well as monsters.

Kraken Tentacle

I just picked up the awesome GameMaster flipmap Pirate Ship. I could see an awesome encounter using these Tentacles. I think I will need six to eight of these for the full effect.

Grappler

Here is another one that could be used for spell effects and other encounters.

Otherworld Arm

Another good encounter mini. Perfect for that creature coming out of the ground or sand.

Just great multi-purpose miniatures that you can't find anywhere else.

Later,

Mazra

This idea has seen some traction in other threads and on other sites, so this is an opportunity for thoughts and ideas about a dice-less skill check system.

As an example, you have an 8th level Rogue using his or her Perception check to Detect Traps based on his or her Wisdom modifier. Let's say the Rogue's Wisdom is a 10, but let's also say that Perception is a Rogue class skill and they can use their level to increase the score. In the example the Rogue would have an 18 Perception (10 Wisdom + 8 level). In addition there could be class based feats, like a Detect Trap feat that gives a +4 bonus. With this the Perception check specifically for Detecting Traps then would be a 22. The DM would automatically reveal all traps that would require a 22 or less to overcome. There would be no luck involved. This check would be fully based on the PC's natural abitliy (Wisdom 10), experience (Level 8), and additional training (Detect Trap feat +4).

Personally, I would prefer that Detect Trap be its own skill check and not a part of Perception, but that may be for another thread.

In the above example an 8th level Cleric with an 18 Wisdom would be just as skilled as an 8th level Rogue with a 10 Wisdom. The Cleric would not be able to use its class level as Perception would not be a skill trained by Clerics, but could use its ability score for the check. Also, the Detect Trap Feat could be class specific to Rogues only, or Rogues and Bards as an example.

This would truly make the ability scores far more meaningful.

Again, I believe Perception to be too broad a category. With this system Perception may need to be split up between functions that are more class specific skills like Detect Trap being a Rogue skill, or Detect Enemy being more of a Ranger skill.

So what are your thoughts and ideas?

Later,

Mazra

I am relatively new to Pathfinder. My group is now in the second book of the Rise of the Runelords. With the announcement that RotRL set that will be coming out next year I was wondering want figures would be in this new set. There are so many possible choices, but here is a few I would like to see from the first two books. These would be spoilers for some:

There could be a lot more, but with 60 figures in the set, you would need no more than 8 to 10 per book, with many coming from the later books.

I am guessing that this thread is out there somewhere already. I likely missed it in the few Paizo board threads that exist here and there.

Later,

Mazra

Vic Wertz was kind enough to mention about some developments revealed at Gencon that includes the relaunch of the DDM skirmish game.

EN World Forum

I missed this particular piece of news. If anyone has more information about this, it would be welcome.

Later,

Mazra

Erik, they look awesome. I am running a party through Burnt Offerings now. Sure wish I had these babies. They do capture the uniqueness of the Pathfinder goblins. Something I have grown fond of.

About next week, I would be happy with anything you would want to surprise us with. Maybe something that has yet to be mentioned throughout the boards.

Later,

Mazra

Alright, I broke down last night and went to see this movie. 22% Rotten Tomatoes rating did not bode well for a decent movie. Was I surprised. This was a more than an acceptable Sword and Sorcery movie. You have a nasty sick creepy sorceress calling up sand creatures, a maniacal villain as her dad, tentacle monsters, and a very capable Conan. It was fun. Will it win any awards? NO! But that was not its purpose. If you happen to enjoy rolling a 20 now and then, you might actually like this movie.

It is "R" rated, an earned every part of it and in every way. So keep this in mind if you have young ones.

Later,

Mazra