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If you're game for a mild conversion, I've GMd the 3.5 Savage Tide AP twice to roughly the midpoint. I was bummed we didn't get to go further, as the second half read as well as the first. Great mix of different adventures. Excellent recurring villain, city adventures, dungeon crawls, high seas, a colony on a mysterious island, underwater adventures, diplomacy adventures, depraved bad guys, planar travel, and a plotline that slowly reveals itself; really excellently written stuff.
I suppose I will be the contrarian in this thread. Heh. I agree with a lot of what I've read. However, I recommend you continue to make your own material and adventures. Struggle with what works and what doesn't. I believe your players will forgive you for missteps. Mine always did with me. Intersperse some prewritten work, but don't lean on it too heavily. I use APs now, I admit. But I'm old (read: lazy and have no time). If you lean too heavily on prewritten material, you're education in what works and what doesn't will be delayed. You'll still learn, of course, but it will be slower. As for playing characters: This is where I agree with others the most. I would add to their advice by saying: time and practice are what make you good at something. There will be precious few pieces of advice that will strike an epiphany in your brain to change things- mostly it will be time and practice that make the change. As for whether you are being too hard or too easy: more important as a GM is- are you being consistent? And this applies to more than just the difficulty of encounters, but also how you judge rules. Consistency is key. Consistency allows you to say yes I AM being too hard or too easy on my players because I've TPK'd them three times or they are never cowed by any enemy I put in front of them. Because of your consistency, you can say "Hey guys, I notice that things are too easy, so here's a change I'm going to make." and your players will trust you. If you're consistently too hard, your players will complain (or maybe they'll really like the challenge?). When you're consistent in how you act upon the rules and/or waive them. You're players will know what to expect at your table. When they know what to expect, they feel more comfortable and either have more fun, or know what type of fun is being aimed for and can decide if that's fun for them. As for your trouble player: this is always tough. Especially at a distance for others when chiming in. Acknowledge that part of the problem is that you have an opinion on what good roleplay and gaming is, and you are not accepting that his opinion is different. Acknowledge that he is a new player or am I just assuming he's new because he's new to Pathfinder? I'll drop that. It sounds very much like you both have different ways of having fun, which is unfortunate, because 99% of the time it results in you not gaming with each other down the line. But as you feel you cannot kick him, a compromise seems in order, and it looks to be that you have been the only one giving. Have you approached him in a tit-for-tat fashion? i.e. "So you wanted this spell and I gave it to you, how about you do something for me, like print out your character sheet?" That's an option. Another is to think about what all your players will/would do should their characters die. What if this player's concept of the character is the problem? what if he had to roleplay another? Would it be a carbon copy? Would it be different skin, but still be annoying (not fight, not be productive, etc). I have been known to tell my players that the campaign they're going on is particularly deadly, and ask them to have at least one back-up character ready should they die mid-game. As others have pointed out- you don't have to pull punches with your players, unless having them run the same character forever is fun for both you and them. And that's what my advice all boils down to:
Good luck, and welcome to being a GM!
[citation needed]
D**k move that prompted a derailing argument over whose responsibility ti is to prove or disprove an argument. Could have been avoided by saying "Here is an example that disproves your claim, is there another that contradicts it that I overlooked?" Manners are cooler than being right. That being said, I think an errata is in order, because one logical leap reads the rules for Grapple and Armor Spikes, finds "attack" only in the parts concerning damage and concludes they must reference each other. And another leap goes further and reads the Attacks definition, finds that everything grapple is a "grapple attack" and concludes that armor spikes deal damage everywhere in the grapple rules. Neither are wrong, but they do contradict each other.
I like the tar idea the best, if you haven't gone into much detail on the surroundings though you might use what I did: storm surge. Hurricanes raise the water level along the shore so that boats are swept up on land. A storm surge makes it impossible to get the ship into the water until another storm comes along(not necessarily as big as the one that wrecked them) or they use magic/ingenuity. Your party might abandon the Sea Wyvern entirely, like mine did, but it didn't alter the course of the campaign really. The found other ways of getting through the pirate invasion. We didn't play long enough for them to need it again to get to Scuttlecove, but I'm sure there would have been other ship options by that point anyway.
Say, any suggestiosn for Vanthus during the big battle of Farshore? ...thought I'd throw my choice out there:
Two of my players chose Phanaton for our Savage Tide so if you come up with any minis let me know. That's weird, I just answered this question in the Savage Tide minis thread. hm. Here's my suggestion: Crunch-Waffle's Waggamaephs
Though I have no idea what mini I could use to represent a phanaton. I use Crunch-waffle's Waggamaephs... this gives a good pic for scale: http://www.coolminiornot.com/105480there are also some more Waggamaephs that are interacting with items like a medium-sized sword or shield and one that dual wields a pair of little knives I think. I think they're perfect.
I'm probably too late, but I played around with foreshadowing when it came to side quests for my PCs. Azahu's tooth and Malcenthet's meddling via the idol in SWW are especially nice things to send a cleric's direction. No matter the alignment, he might be given something that leads to a premonition of one of those items by his deity.
My players had developed a history of bashing the Jade Ravens as incompetants, and I thought that a)knowing what I know about the future of the Jade Ravens, and b)there wasn't much in the AP that allowed the JRs to be heroes, too... well, I had the players play as the JRs for this encounter. It was a nice break from their own characters (which helped out from range because it made sense), and garnered some camraderie/sympathy for the JRs with my players. I described the Blue Nixie sending the JRs out to refill their water first, and when the hydra appeared I put the stats for Lavinia and the JR son the table for whoever wanted to play whom, and continued from there. All that to say that the hydra wasn't much of a problem for two groups of adventurers. The way the hydra is set up, additional attackers take away the benefits of the fast healing and made for an easy encounter.
Death Throes says "When a savage creature dies". Does this mean 0? -1? or -10? They have a special ability that allows them to act normally even when in negative hit points, so Death Throes happens at -10 hit points. My players enjoyed hearing me say "The way you hacked this thing up- it should be dead. It's guts are hanging out and that left arm is hanging by tissue, but it's still coming at you with unnatural speed. Slavering as if nothing were wrong at all." And then they went splat at -10 for the finale.
I tried to focus on the non-military vessels from the books for precisely the reason of the guns/crews (though, it's still a little inacurrate to say that it's because of the guns that the extra crew was needed- that makes it sound like there are a bunch idle gunners sitting around waiting for combat and as far as I can tell, the only blokes not pulling double duty were the marines) ANYway, uzagi makes my points. Saying that just a few are needed until maneuvers need to be done overlooks the fact that the wind is the wind and the sea, the sea, and they are both constantly changing.
The Paladin nat20ing his diplomacy with Churtle in TINH and gaining a kobold cook follower that fawned over him in a creepily motherish but still flirty way. Churtle's still alive in HTBM, and cooked all sorts of special kobold-cuisine things for him during the trip down. At some point he stopped asking what was in his meals because he didn't want to know.
I'm of the camp that thinks 7 for a caravel at all times is lenient on the part of the writers of Stormwrack. We used the wrack rules for the game certainly, but once you start reading naval novels (both the Horatio Hornblower and the Aubrey/Maturin series, for me) then you appreciate the difficulty of keeping a wind-powered ship running smoothly. There are references to ships in those books (and the Aubrey/Maturin author pulled as muc has he could directly from english naval logs for his writing) to ships that work with less tha na dozen crew, but those were always merchants and renowned for their complete inability to maneuver, go fast, or survive in inclement weather unless they could just run in front of the storm. Imagine that you are in moderate winds for two days, with gusts up to 30mph (enough to break a topmast or tear a sail). If you used the 7total crew model where you pipe all hands for changing direction, etc., your crew would be working 2days straight. They'd be reefing sails, adjusting masts, taking masts out and putting them in, repairing minor damage... it's staggering the amount of tiny tasks neccessary for one of those ships. And weather like that is not uncommon (though you could rule that the seas between Sasserine and IoD are more calm, certainly). My party maxed out the Wyvern's crew capacity with a crew made up of Amella's old smuggling contacts. They doubled up bunks, with two crew using the same bunk- when one was working, the other slept in his bunk. They were a little obsessive about figuring out who did what when, and where they slept. Especially when Rowyn began her fun. It was nice.
Behold the power of Bea Arthur: The mere mention of her name was enough to kill this thread!
Bea Arthur. Yeah, I said it.
More Bullywug Spoilers
Spoiler: My party did get that Lavinia was in trouble- they sailed nearly to the merchant district, bypassing all festival encounters save the ambush. Two ran ahead to investigate the front door, while others quickly did some minor tasks. The two investigating got in a scuffle with the bullywugs guarding the front- putting the rest in their 'alerted' positions.
When the party came back, they went around back- first to the kennel door, and then to the ballroom door. I put Huntrees LorbLorb in the ballroom, and they delighted that she waved them past. They went directly to Lavinia's bedroom through a retreating defense of the stairway and fought Bua and Drevoraz, which probably saved them. They got pounded by that encounter and they only managed to keep Drevoraz from escaping by some sweet rolls letting the wizard stop Drevoraz's Overrun attempt to get past him. They regrouped, the danger past, and searched the rest of the house. They found the chieftan in the basement and thanks to a web spell the chieftan never even got to pull his greatclub. The party really felt good after this whole adventure. The pace was set for them to be virtually exhausted by the time they got there. But bringing it back on topic- Drevoraz and Bua lasted a good 5 and 10 rounds respectively at the end of what was a 20 or so round retreating combat for the bullywugs, which was my version of making them dynamic. Remember two things, though: neither the huntress or chieftan really want to be there, so they end up being pretty static; and while the whole thing is an ambush for Vanthus, Drevoraz thinks that Vanthus will try and save his sister, so they are comfortable in the knowledge that waiting in her bedroom will bring Vanthus to them. I think it even says that Drevoraz wants Vanthus to see him kill Lavinia. So all in all, I think the adventure is more true to the motives of the antagonists than they're being given credit for, and making them more dynamic (in this example, anyway) runs the risk of the players scratching their heads after their characters bite the big one.
I find that my baddies last somewhere between 3 and 10 rounds without Deus ex Machina involved. Though I can't really go crazy detailing how that happens, I will say that I try like crazy to invest a feeling of self-preservation in my NPCs. I've found that doing so even with the cannonfodder goes a long way towards establishing reasonable levels of believability when higher level bad gals start acting independantly. That is to say, my party is more understanding when the BBEG takes flight if his minions do to. Spoiler for STAP:
A lot of my minion-types run away when the chips are down, and by extension, the BBEGs do to if things are looking bad. Things just feel more realistic to me that way. If anyone laid into the party in great swaths of devastation the way the party routinely does to NPCs, they'd think three times abotu running away, too.
Why not let the players do as they please? Have the Wormfall Festival continue throughout the week, and when the PCs are celebrating their victory over the bullywugs a few days later, the stiltwalker assassins strike. My thought too, both for the assassins and the players, you'll do less work adapting the street encounters to water encounters than trying to coerce or force them back onto land. The congestion, and the sewage are great places to start adapting... take the runaway cart, for example, that could become an incident where two ships bump, to the detriment of any swimmers between them. Everyone's likely drunk, after all. Great photos, btw- wish I'd had them when I ran this.
I thought about this aspect, as well. I posted on the Dragon board under the "Angry DnD Players Unite" thread, though. I can't wait to see how much they intend to be paid for the ezines, and wonder how much of the savings from not having to do the printing they'll pass along to the customer.
Long post, my apologies...
The first is that I see a few good points being made by posters in favor of online content. Part of my resistance to change drove my anger, but I'm forced to admit that while running STAP, I've been ecstatic to find that Paizo put out an online supplement with maps and artwork. I've loved the statblocks and customer generated content that many have put together, and of course the boards for sharing ideas.
So let's assume that I'm one of the lucky that has the computer, printer, internet connection to subscribe, and I print it out so I can read it on the bus to work, or while waiting, etc... Great, everything's hunky-dorry and I eat some humble pie. Then I started thinking about the financial side. WOTC saves money by not having to do all that horrid printing, right? That's at least half of the motivation (correct me if I'm wrong, but this is my assumption and experience with corporations' financial decision making)? So I do some math, estimated $40 per year for a sub, divided by 12 issues = $3.33 per issue. Paizo does all my printing for me, so without guestimating, I can assume that it costs less than that for them to produce it and still stay afloat... so I can expect that(even with the cost of IT personnel and computers) the price should stay the same. But hang on, now I'm printing my issues. And not just a little bit of printing, and not in black and white. Ok, let's say I print one module and it is in black and white. Printers and especially toner costs money for me, too, you know? Gee, it'd sure be nice to see that conciliation thrown into the mix when they decide on how much an 'issue' will cost. But because WOTC doesn't communicate their future plans, I am going to adopt a wait-and-see approach to these ezines. Here it comes, though- my nagging skepticism. Dang-it... Must fight... it... Who wants to start a pool for how much WOTC charges for each issue, or a subscription? $3 per issue? $4? 5$? I tried checking WOTC's boards, but ee-gods, what a behemoth. I don't even know where to search. There was a recent news-story here in Chicago about a possible name-change for Marshall Fields, which I thought relavent to the current customer attitudes here: Macy's of New York bought Marshall Fields in Chicago. There was a hullaballoo over whether Marshalls would "be the same", would "lose the tradition", or even get to keep the name(that being part of the tradition). Macy's says the name will change despite peoples anger. Things die down, life goes on. A few reporters say that there aren't as many people shopping there, but still, I shrug and move on. Now, because of poor sales, Macy's is seriously contemplating changing the name back. To close, if anyone read my points on boycotts from the missing B O Y C O T T thread, they'd remember that my pro-boycott stance was tempered by the knowledge that we wouldn't get everything we wanted. Peeps in chitown want the old MArshall's back, but that's not likely to happen. And while the name being changed back seems superficial, it's a step in the direction of those irate customers. Corps listen when you hit them in the pocketbook, people. Saying that not buying WOTC products is killing DnD or hurting the cause to induce WOTC listen to us is a little, I don't know, extreme.
Axebeaks from Reaper. They're perfect.
What I wanted to learn from reading that was the justification behind going online with the magazines- that's what we're all upset over. That seemed to attack the notion that has been put forth that the folks behind the scenes are cold or uncaring or not passionate about the game. Problem is, those feelings stem from the negative feelings over the (seemingly) counter-intuitive move to axe the print mags. And so that felt a little gushy and certainly didn't adress the real problem: What is it about going to an online format that they think will outperform the print magazines? They really need to convince people that an ezine is more convenient for readers, or will be of some greater benefit to readers (rather than the company), or better in some other fashion. Give me some hard facts and good arguements, not sentimentailty.
Actually I did. (Edit: That is to say I went back and read more after posting) Elsewhere on the page they said that a 3-5% margin is a success, believe it or not. We have vastly different opinions on what a succesful boycott is. To me, a succesfful boycott brings about change. To you it appears that unless every demand you might have is met, then the boycott is an utter failure. I disagree. We all compromise on many things in our lives. Maybe in this case we don't get Dragon and Dungeon back, but we do bend WOTC's ear enough that we feel like we regain some ownership over our hobby again. I'm guessing you would say we'd failed, but I'd call that a success. From what I read on Ethical Consumer the majority would side with me. The long and short is that I'm willing to at least TRY.
Hearsay is because Paizo could not afford it or negotiate the price down, and printing costs are high and advertising is thin. That's the way it is. Well, huh. That's not my impression of how it's been represented on these boards. My impression is that WOTC pulled the liscence, not that Paizo let go because of high cost. I'm I wrong?
Boycotts don't work. Historically, name one. Yeah... I was a little skeptical of such a sweeping statement so I typed 'successful boycotts' into Google. It yielded a listing of many successful boycotts by Ethical Consumer in the very first website Google listed. I didn't even bother reading on to find more examples of successful boycotting campaigns. Let this stand in place of me naming more than one. These may be for harder hitting issues like the welfare of whales vs salt extraction in the ocean, but all that means to me is that you must have passion and perserverance to correct the ethical actions of companies you patronize. Boycotts can and do work, if you believe in what you're fighting for. Our mags may not be whales or fur or fair trade, but to me they are the life-blood of our hobby, whoever marginal the nay-sayers say we are. I'm sure the fur-loving rich were equally dismissive of PETA until they got their first paint bath. Let's not do the work of WOTC and put ourselves down, let's build each other up and positively effect an aspect of our hobby that we love.
Please tell me you mean Indy. I'd love to meet everyone at Paizo. And not just because the mags are going away- more because the mags have been spectacular and I want shake hands with the talent. C'mon guys, GneCon Indy? You'll be there? I'll buy you some nachos.
Alright! Finally some Prime Material foes at the end of an AP! I can't wait! Seconded. My biggest criticism of high-level adventures has always been that the real threat always came from some other plane. It'll be exceptionally fun for me to see some prime material high-level opponents this go around.
(I don't subscribe but I leaf through the magazines and buy them if there is interesting content) where I might also then buy some other material too... This shouldn't be overlooked. WOTC is also hurting the small business owner of revenue brought in by browsers of these fine magazines, as well as the social aspect of the community that these stores represent as a local meeting place outside of the cons. Dragon and Dungeon have always been my strongest link to this hobby. Without them, I'm much less likely to participate (aka spend my money). I've always seen the business side of what WOTC has done with the market. I can understand it. I've never liked it. What's worse is that I'm willing to listen- I'd love to learn why they made this move. My dislike sprouts entirely from a lack of real knowledge of why, but with mum being the word, it really leaves us to imagine the worst every time something like this(see 3.5 edition) comes along.
PC: Tranpor, Human Wizard6
Long Description:
When the morning arrived, the party was distressed to find several seagulls, one for each of the survivors, arranged in the same formation as their sleeping arrangements the night before, carefully laid out a several yards away. The seagulls had apparently been killed by having their heads pulled off. Yoink! As they proceeded, a few hours down the road, they found two severed gargoyle claws lying on the road, with a message written in blood. "They come for you today. Do not die yet, meat." Double yoink! Rowyn's terrorizing is wearing them down already, so I might not get to inflict this level of wicked fun on them, but I can't wait to at least say "Do no die yet, meat." to them. Ooh yeah- I'm all tingly.
"Mephisto, Arch Devil" is the closest I could find for Vanthus, despite its "weird wings for a demon", I think this is the best, and it is a 25mm mini!! I'm getting this for sure to play Vanthus!! This is the one I went for, as well. I think the wings can really work if you paint them to embody 'tainted' feathers. A sickly brown or dirty yellowish might do more for making him creepy than the traditional bat-wing. I haven't gotten around to painting mine yet, though. Dang-it. One day.
We ran this battle just last night. My players commented on how nice it was to have a battle that was easier for a change. We used the Dungeon rules with a little ad-hoc thrown in so that our seige engineer could get good use out of his skills and pepper the other boats before they engaged each other. We also used the additional pirate ship for the Blue Nixie (because I'm desperately trying to make the Jade Ravens feel like an actual adventuring group compared to the real heroes...) so the Nightshark became a dhow that boarded the BN, and Purity's prow moved to board the SW. A lot of damage resulted from the wizard's fireballs, but in the end, it fit with the fiery scenario that only nine desperate pirates and their captain boarded the SW after ramming her. The Jade Ravens sank the Nightshark, and the PCs captured the Purity's Prow. Yea for them, right? Now, my players originally hired nearly the Wyvern's compliment to crew her, hand-picked by Amella. They've now decided- inexpicably- to let Amella captain the Prow with her hand-picked crew. I say inexplicably because the SW captain is an evil ranger and, because of Rowyn's capers, hasn't had much trouble convincing his goodly-aligned mates to go along with his plan of intimidation and persecution to divine who's to blame. So he's got more than enough un-named NPCs itching to get away from his tyranny to man a ship on their own, and they're already on it. They used to be smugglers, afterall... The long and short, yes they have another ship. The crew's so grumpy that they aren't likely to have it for long, though. And they'll be short-handed if they keep terrorizing their crew.
Demogorgon is an epic level character, and as such isn't forced to play by the normal D&D rules. A spell cast by a mortal, while effective at stopping normal undead from getting up and shuffling around should hardly be a barrier for the Prince of Demons. I know my players would be upset if I made this argument to them- they'd want to circumvent the rules at epic levels, as well. The truth is that Hallow definitely isn't an effective barrier to Demogorgon... emphasis is on effective. James threw out a simple way around it when suggesting that big D would have a minion sneak in and cast the appropriate counter to the Hallow spell. Personally, I plan on using the "Angry Villager" solution if it comes up. It gives some great personality to Farshore. And when my players smugly go about casting Hallow on the new spot they go to bury him (they're darn clever), I'll remind the party cleric that being buried in consecrated ground is supposed to be a boon for the faithful (bringing them closer to such and such god), and not something she should grace upon a half-fiend, parricidal SOB. If they do it anyway, then I revert to the "Minion Counterspell" tactic. I like the smoking hole visual, but I see the enemy being cunning enough to cover up the fact that they just stole Vanthus away for future use, rather than flaunting it.
Alrighty, if you want to hear Lavinia's Modest Proposal to the party at the beginning of SWW; it's done. Needless to say, don't listen to it if you have not yet begun SWW. I'm hoping to have another recording (Lavinia's from TINH) done soon. Poke around the site if you like.
Thanks, James, for getting back to me so quickly about proper crediting, too!
I have two characters who opted into the Z Horns affiliation. They're interested in bringing back live specimens for the arena and have asked me what sort of equipment is available to buy or rent from the Horns or in the Champions district. I put them off slightly (they're on the Sea Wyvern ATM) saying I'd research it. I haven't found much. I imagine they'll invest in cages to hold the monsters, and I found taht the Bands of Balaro would be useful, but little else. They're short on cash, so I'm trying to hunt down mundane or low magic items (under 1500gp). Anyone else have Z Horns characters who wanted to capture things? Anyone else have some ideas for subdual items?
The trick, I should think, is to make them think that they're trying to hit the beach. For example, when the storm springs up, have them make their sailor checks and reward success with a chance to take the Wyvern to safety. Describe the beach as a sheltered cove they've sited. When they crash into the reef, give them another sailor roll to get free. When they finally get to the beach, it'll be because they made their rolls, not in spite of them. Good ideas, but I still think Fletch's is the one that keeps FDW's players from figuring out that they're being railroaded. I quoted it in case you still can't see it, FDW.
---WARNING---
Day2- Dinner with Lavinia on the Blue Nixie/pickled mephit
Only the Cleric,Scout and Wizard were involved with the LD, that's why they're targetted by Rowyn. The first patch of ruins and coastal forts I describe in detail. As the trip continues, they get less descriptive unless something triggers their curiosity. They get plenty of time to interact with NPCs and if they don't have anything they want to interact with, I declare that nothing worth noting happens that day and move on to the next. It works tolerably well- but we're still at Tamoachan, so any suggestions are welcome.
I like Fletch's solution, myself. Put a second vote behind that advice. When I get home, I'll post my itinerary for the Sea Wyvern to show what I did with day-to-day stuff. So far, so good with my players- they feel likfe they're travelling for a long time, but they aren't bored. (at least nobody's said they were) :)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who envisions Lavinia as trying to look the part a little too much. Luke, Mephisto is a little larger scale. If one assumes that standard 25mm figs represent a 6' person, then Mephisto would look about 8'. To me, though, it captures all the right changes present in the artwork. I figure it's easy to explain away the size difference through the Lemorian transformation. And honestly, I think the more impressive Vanthus appears when he returns, the more my players will want to take him out. We just started SWW, and they ask me after _every_ session, "So, no more signs of Vanthus? Nothing?" ...and then they give a little disappointed sigh.
Here's my Lavinia, with levels: http://www.reapermini.com/gallery/2800s/2859_G Here's my Vanthus, after BWG: http://www.reapermini.com/gallery/2700s/2729_G
AFAIK, the only things that _have_ to happen in BWG are the meeting with Harliss and the first taste of the savage tide they get from Vanthus and Harliss' meeting. If you can work those two into your sidetreks, you could conceivably skip the BWG altogether and have Lavinia pouring over her parent's journals during the time the PCs are doing their sidetreks. That wouldn't solve the problem in an of itself (I'm assuming your party will gain some xp and be 6th or 7th by the time they're ready to head off with Lavinia), but toning down the encounters in SWW would get them pretty darn close to the appropriate level for the start of HTBM.
We started STAP with this:
After their first attmepted foray into the LD den, they quickly scrambled for a player to play a rogue. After their first foray into Kraken's Cove they quickly realized that the paladin's death in the second encounter (first actually in the caves themselves) was bad news. The paladin's players whipped up a fighter/ranger mix that could actually handle the tank job, but I still think they're in for a rough time of it later on.
As you all may or may not have noticed, Lavinia has a robust pair of monologues to begin both TINH and SWW, and Harliss takes some time to vent in the middle of BWG. Well, to preserve my players from hearing me attempt to imitate not one, but two major female NPCs I collaborated with my girlfriend to make a recording of these important monologues. I thought it'd be a nice change of pace from listening to me all the time, and would help immerse them a little more into the story. I took a chance and uploaded the first recording onto the site from which we sampled random background sounds (a very awesome project, BTW: freesound.iua.upf.edu/). I say chance because it seems they deal with more 'raw' sound, rather than produced pieces. The site moderator has been receptive, but has legitimate concerns over hosting copywrited material like this, and has not yet posted it. I think he raises a valid point whether I pursue posting it there, or elswhere. Here's my question:
I'll shoot an email to paizo, but with spam guards and whatnot I figured I have as good a chance of getting a response here. I'd love to share them- my players loved the first one- and I'd like to think that all the work she put into it could be put to use for more than just my campaign.
You're right, Black Bard, the skirmish only applies to attacks on his turn. We read the sentence that said it applied to all attacks, and didn't read any further. That's gonna break his little front-line smackdown-wantin' heart.
This might not be much use to your longbow-wielding scout, but...
I'm slowly getting snowed under by the workload of prepping the STAP for my players and these statblocks could save my behind. Please, please, Dire Please, let me subscribe! waiter_for_hire(at)hotmail(dot)com Thanks in advance!
Wait, now I'm confused about thr DR... DR/bludgeoning vs half damage from piercing slashing means...? I should know this, I know. But I don't.
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Good luck to my fellow competitors. Thank you to Paizo for hosting this contest which I yearly participate and lurk. "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
I occasionally peak around here for ideas so I figure I would post my current setting/campaign site: http://valleyofbluesnails.blogspot.com/ Valley of Blue Snails is a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, using B/X rules. It is created for a cousin who will soon be in Iraq. We chose to do an online game to prevent boredom and as a escape from the realities of things sucking over in Iraq. Incidentally this opportunity seems a decent time as any to write some homebrew material and chronicle it for self indulgence. Mainly the blog will cover my notes in the creation process.
A Thousand Words Art from the days of yor can be seen painted upon the cave walls and ceilings where the earliest men once ventured. These paintings had been drawn with red and yellow ochre, hematite, manganese and charcoal - but the purpose of the cave paintings is not known, and may never be. Perhaps they were used as hunting magic, meant to increase the number of animals, or perhaps oracles of old would retreat into the darkness of the caves and paint their visions, drawing power out of the cave walls themselves. Regardless the ancient and primeval magic therein still hold power that can still be accidentally released to this day. A curious kobold or stray youth may wander into the caves and paint where the men of a bygone age once did. In doing so the sympathetic magic, still powerful, would be incanted and form a magic rendering of the creatures the ancient shamans once saw and recorded. These creatures share the properties of their once living counterpart together with paint and color, and powerful primeval magic. Thematic Link
Mosaic Muntjac : The ancient cave paintings depict herds of caribou, reindeer and muntjac roaming the wilderness plains. Should these cave paintings be offered additional pigments, the Mosaic Muntjac will be wrought into existence in the surrounding wilderness. The purpose of this magical beast is simple – food. The shaman of old drew such paintings in order to attract various herd animals to the area in order to hunt. The Mosaic Muntjac will appear as the shape of a small horned elk, with swirling bright colors of reds, black and yellows. The details and patterns on its surface slowly twist and blend, clearly at great contrast to the herds of wild animals that gravitate towards it. The Moscaic Muntjac will wander the plains and tend to its herd as any natural leader would. The magical nature attracts many herd animals who naturally seek it out. Should the Mosaic Muntjac be allowed to survive for a long period its herd can grow into the thousands. Spoiler:
Mosaic Muntjac CR 2 N Medium Magical Beast(Mosaic) Init +4; Senses Scent; Listen +4, Spot +4 Defense
Offense
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. Statistics
Fauna Attraction (ex) : The Mosaic Muntjac attracts other herd animals, in particular caribou, reindeer and elk. These herd animals follow the Mosaic Muntjac as if they would their natural leader. Left unchecked these herds can amass into the thousands. Woodland Stride (Ex) : The Mosaic Muntjac may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her. Environment Woodlands
Mosaic Bearcat : The cave paintings depict a strange creature stalking the brushlands and taiga of long ago. The elusive creature is a sleek looking bear with a long prehensile tail. This is the Bearcat, a primeval stalker of man and beast. Should the painting of the Bearcat be offered additional pigments the Mosaic Bearcat will be wrought into being in the surrounding wilderness. The shaman of old summoned Bearcat to test the mightiest of warriors. Should one of these ancient warriors be able to best a Bearcat he would be assured glory to his name. The Mosaic Bearcat appears in the shape of a large wolverine with a bulky head and a long twisting tail. Swirling patterns of black, azure and red dance across its form as it stalks prey in the thick underbrush or high in the branches of thick trees. The Mosaic Bearcat will prey on all manner of animals and men when it feels the desire to feed. The Bearcat knows no fear of men and will calmly stalk into villages, even dwellings to seek prey when hungry. Spoiler:
Mosaic Bearcat CR 6 N Medium Magical Beast (Mosaic) Init +6; Senses Scent; Listen +16, Spot +16 Defense
Offense
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Statistics
Rend (Ex) : If a Bearcat hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and rakes the flesh with its rear claws. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d10+6 points of damage. Woodland Stride (Ex) The Bearcat may move through any sort of undergrowth (such as natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain) at her normal speed and without taking damage or suffering any other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that have been magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her. Environment Woodlands
Mosaic Wurm : Drawn high in the cave ceilings, a beast with large wings mottled with greens, whites, charcoal, azures, and blood is majestically painted. Strange and forbidding, this painting is above reach too high to touch – as if in warning. The shaman of old only summoned the Mosaic Wurm if the old gods demanded penance for a great wrong. If the painting should be offered additional pigment, the Mosaic Wurm will be brought into being in the surrounding wilderness. It has but one purpose – punishment. It will lay waste to the petty cities and pitiful nations of men. The Mosaic Wurm appears as a large dragon with no front limbs and an overly large head and maw. It is a primal creature with a cascading sheen of white, black, blue, green and red - which cast down upon its form like an endless rain. The Mosaic Wurm is born to punish apostasy and treachery, but also anger and envy by means of great calamity. Normally the old gods dispel such a beast when it has performed its task, but they are long since dead, thus once called the Mosaic Wurm causes devastation with impunity. Spoiler:
Mosaic Wurm CR 16 N Huge Magical Beast (Mosaic) Init +6; Senses Scent; Listen +16, Spot +16 Defense
Defensive Abilities
Offense
Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft.
Breath Weapon: Damage as current Hit Point total. Statistics
Environment Woodlands
DM Notes about Mosaic Creatures Mosaic creatures are wrought into being to perform a specific task; in the creatures listed above - to feed, to test and to punish. They think little beyond this singular objective and strive to uphold it purpose. If they can no longer completely their task they will dissipate. Otherwise they will continue their task in perpetuity. All Mosaic creatures wrought into being from the cave paintings share the following subtype. Mosaic Subtype The mosaic creatures cascade with color, magic and some of their living counterpart’s essence. As such they posses the following traits: * The distorted and shifting shape offers a +2 Natural bonus to Armor Class
DM Secrets Spoiler: If left unchecked the Mosaic Muntjac can attract a herd of thousands which can devastate the local ecology. Only slaying the Muntjac will disperse the herd. The Mosaic Bearcat will likely stalk men and beast until slain, often dragging its victims up trees to devour them at its leisure. The Bearcat can be particularly elusive since it sleeps for long periods of time, 1d10 days, before resuming hunting and it usually hunts at night. The Mosaic Wurm is overt in its task of punishment, burning villages to the ground where it can. It will continue until destroyed, attempting to raze a village, hamlet or city every 1d8 days.
Any of the Mosaic creatures can be countered if a clever party paints upon the cave walls a natural enemy of the creature they wish to defeat. For example, if a Mosaic Wurm is menacing the area the party may paint their own Mosaic Roc next to the beast to combat it. A Mosaic Roc will then be wrought into being to combat the Mosaic Wurm – although it may need assistance from the PCs to be victorious. This should not be immediately obvious, as locating the cave and the method of a Mosaic creature’s nature may be very difficult.
Killing time before round 3 entries are public: Villains Last Words Chart - 1d20 1 - Was that a healing potion I just drank?
Fleshstripping in Zopotishto “Mind-altering spores compel a fallen, Dwarven folk-hero to harvest flesh for his fungal gardens.” Spoiler:
GRIMSON VEGARD, FUNGAL GARDENER CR 5 [+5 barbarian 5]
Male Dwarf barbarian 5
DEFENSE AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16
OFFENSE Spd 30 ft. [20 ft. base speed, +10 ft. barbarian speed]
TACTICS Before Combat If Vegard is aware of on-coming opponents he will commands any undead and fungi nearby to assist him.
STATISTICS Str 18, Dex 14, Con 17, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 2
SPECIAL ABILITIES Special Ability (Ex/Sp/Su) Darkvision (Ex) Out to 60 feet.
Background: In years past, the celebrated, dwarven folk-hero, Grimson Vegard, struggled valiantly to keep the mountain passes around Zopotishto cleared. He was given the honorary title of Midwinter King for three straight years, so renowned his valor and mirth. Vegard adventured extensively into the lightless depths of the earth, seeking its wonders. During his travels, he came across the chittering, black-scaled kobolds, who cultivate toadstools in the remote reaches underground. The kobolds’ toadstools released powerful spores that intoxicated Vegard, and he bartered for their hallucinatory mushrooms. In a short time, Vegard became unstable and addicted to the spores’ hallucinogenic and euphoric effects. As Vegard’s insatiable yearning grew stronger, he frequented the kobolds and brought them untainted fertilizer in trade–he even haggled away his traveling companions on one occasion. Eventually, Vergard’s hunger for the spores grew excruciating, and he slaughtered the bothersome kobolds to claim their spore gardens as his own. Now, Grimson Vegard is more plant than man with fungal growths fused to his flesh. He appears as a gaunt figure with a grossly matted beard and hair. His skin is slick with mold, and various toadstools and polypores sprout from his body. He moves in a hazy mist of spores and with an oddly spongy gait. Lightless Garden: Vegard dwells deep beneath the city of the Zopotishto in the Stained Peaks. The lightless, fungal gardens he inhabits are ripe with all manner of toadstools, puffballs, tubers, polypores, and other sorts of bulbous, fibrous, or flat patches of fungi. Any corpses not used as fertilizer are buried in the spore-saturated soil and return as undead under the command of Vegard. Dogs, cats, large rodents, humanoids, and occasionally more exotic creatures from the deep all become servants. These creatures are treated as zombies. The fungi-covered corpses remain animated for 1d4+1 weeks before rotting away. Vegard’s gardens are beginning to fail due to the lack of fresh fertilizer. He is compelled to keep the mushrooms reproducing to feed his spore addiction; thus, he has become more aggressive in his methods of collecting fresh corpses. Fleshstripping in Zopotishto: Vegard and his animated minions have been harvesting their "untainted" fertilizer from the population of Zopotishto in a string of bizarre slayings. They emerge from the sewers into dwellings and alleyways to harvest the choice bits of flesh and gather any suitable compost. They mindlessly hack apart anyone in their wake and stuff the nutrients into the sewers to bring back to the fungal gardens. Eerie scenes of blood-soaked bones and grizzly bits of mangled tissue are the only evidence of their crimes. Occasionally, Vegard and his animated minions retrieve live victims for the gardens. These unfortunate souls are subdued with soporific lichen and fungal growths. Vegard experiments on them by growing new types of fungus on their nutrient-rich bodies, including adolescent shriekers and violet fungus. Unfortunately, the victims are alive during this lengthy and excruciating process.
Forgive my ignorance, I have a couple questions for round 3. 1) Anyone know if Myconids are public domain? These guys have been around for 20 years, I was surprised they were not in the SRD. Not even Vegepygmys, sheesh. 2) One of the lines in the stat block is as follows:
3) There is a rule that states:
I planned on tacking on some abilities for my villain. Lets say something as follows
Nothing really new per say, just a different delivery rather than spell casting. This legit? Or better yet can I be more liberal in my descriptions and add in some descriptive text in the Special Abilities area?
Yithnai "The Black Ziggurats of Yithnai stand as the ill-told seat of the Sundered Prince, Consort-on-Earth of the Black Twin, the Dead Goddess Yith." Alignment:NE/CE Capital: Yithnai (pop. 43,600) Notable Settlements: Akkaid (pop. 7,500), Achaemein (pop. 4,300) Ruler: Seleucid the Sundered Prince, Consort-on-Earth of the Black Twin, the Dead Goddess Yith. Government: Kleptocracy, whereby citizens exchange labor, personal rights, wealth, and darker tributes for status and protection. The Sundered Prince presides as the divine fountainhead of power within Yithnai. Resources: Iron, salt, peat. Religions: Many factions of Yithite clergy. Description: Yithnai is an oppressive realm named after the mad goddess Yith, the Dark Side of the Moon, who eternally struggles with her twin, Zyga of the Silver Moon. Yithnai is geographically centered on a great caldera lake, and the surrounding region is rife with badlands and heated bogs. The wilds of Yithnai are rocky and scarred with red and orange canyons, and dense patches of flabby, alkaline vegetation adorn the canyon floors and high plateaus. The badlands occasionally give way to steaming peat bogs and cracked salt flats. Yithnai is landlocked bordered to the south by her ever-sworn foes in Thaen, masses of feral barbarians to her east, and to the west the goblin realm of Thrallut with its barren slagheaps. Yithnai is perpetually embroiled in border skirmishes with Thaen, whose feudal lords honor the Church of Zyga. The border region between the two realms is called “The Arsalude”, a bitterly contested series of valleys between the mountain ranges of Trefol and Vologe. Both Yithnai and Thaen claim these lands, but in truth, only the goblins of Thrallut have settled here in recent times. The land’s bloodiest and most vicious wars were fought in The Arsalude, and it is said that the Sundered Prince seeks not to truly defeat Thaen, but to simply maintain the constant bloodshed. The eternal feuding influences many aspects of both realms. Whereas Thaen employs a regimented feudal caste system to consolidate power, Yithnai turns increasingly toward forgotten and taboo magic. The many sects of dread Yithite clergy hold transitory power within Yithnai in an ever-shifting balance, and the priests regard most of the populace as a resource to be exploited and then discarded when it is of no further use. The Sundered Prince acts as a fulcrum for the Yithite power base, directing its might with his melancholy gaze. Most citizens of Yithnai are justifiably paranoid, fearfully religious, and shockingly poor. Most citizens give up six years of freedom to earn enfranchisement, during which time they become indentured labor or serve in the military. Some are outright sacrificed at the Black Ziggurats if the stars are so aligned. Citizens can relinquish name, family, honor, skilled labor, blood, or body parts for higher status. In practice, most citizens accept a life of simple squalor, shoveling peat from the heated bogs, sacking salt, or delving deep ore mines. Only the truly ambitious or pious seek to elevate their status, and the frightful price they pay accords them respect and reverence. Nomads also dwell in Yithnai; hard-bitten folk, they honor Yith and are left unmolested. Outsiders in Yithnai are treated with a heavy dose of suspicion and distaste. To the average Yithite, outsiders are impious aberrations. Merchants are necessarily tolerated, but most other visitors to Yithnai have their stays cut short, either fleeing for safety or risk having their hearts ripped out like turgid fruit by the blood-priests of the Black Ziggurats. Yithnai is a major producer of salt, scarce outside its borders. Many realms which refuse to trade openly with Yithnai use Thrallut as a medium to acquire the much-needed mineral. Most households in Yithnai use peat for heating and even for food in desperate times. Yithnai uses an isolated tongue, but many of its educated people can speak Common as well as various magical and forbidden languages. The written script uses short graphemes, and the Yithnai libraries of clay tablets are renowned for esoteric lore. DM Secrets: Medicine in Yithnai is surprisingly effective, albeit bloody, using holistic techniques, divine rituals, and blood magic. Many wealthy and powerful individuals risk the trek into Yithnai for medical treatment. These same wealthy and powerful individuals often seek brave and expendable bodyguards for the forbidding journey. Seleucid the Sundered Prince was once a mortal wizard-prince. In his effort to bring harmony between the goddesses Yith and Zyga, he was impaled upon the black iron staves of the storm giant, Enki. Dark Yith decreed that he should die, while bright Zyga decreed that he should live a modest and honorable life. The result of the equal yet opposite divine powers pulled apart Seleucid’s soul and he was left to languish upon the black staves for centuries. For unknown reasons Yith freed and named him her consort. Seleucid is no longer a man—nor a god, lich, or other power. He remains in a transitory state of being that is both his reward and punishment from the twin goddesses. Sages speculate that the black iron staves of Enki may hold some transitory power, although what this power may be and where the staves are located is a mystery. The small city of Akkaid lies near the large bubbling mud lake of Nanshub. Periodically the giant loggerheads from the depths head to the beach on moonless nights to lay their massive eggs. The loggerhead hatchlings, each larger than a man, seek warm prey to feast upon, and the city of Akkaid is built quite close to the shore. Achaemein is a trading village near the Thrallut border, built on the ruins of a bygone age. In the center of the town is a large glacial stone with an epic tale engraved in a forgotten language. Should the script be translated and read in its entirety (60 hours at least) it will wake and return to flesh all of the fossilized primeval creatures for miles.
Quick rules question for any of the judges. Can I have a person other than myself edit the Round two contest entry? A community member offered to give my round 2 upcoming submission a edit run, but wanted to make sure it is kosher with the rules. Thanks
Migrus Locker This small locker is carved from fossilized wood and it is usually found chained, sealed and dumped in a long forgotten location. When the locker is unsealed and opened a desiccated hairless cat with a humanoid face lay within, the Migrus. After a few moments the Migrus animates and begins to preen itself clean and creature’s face begins to take the appearance of who opened the Migrus Locker. The Migrus moves in a strange jerky motion and it will obey simple commands that its master dictates. The Migrus takes a very literal and brutal approach to problem solving and is fond of taking trophies. If the Migrus is slain it decays messily overnight in a glistening slick of putrid fluid. When the dawn comes the Migrus will rise again from the filth, eat the scraps of rancid flesh, and return to its previous duties. The Migrus has attributes of a Cat with the construct type. The Migrus will always do its best to return to its owner and can not be permanently destroyed by normal means. Moderate transmutation; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, flesh to stone; Price 38,000 gp; Weight 8 lb. |
