Orcus

Paul the Destroyer's page

33 posts. No reviews. No lists. No wishlists.


RSS


PUTZMAN2000 wrote:
Ive looked, but found nothing for marshal or bard.

Since you're clearly still using some 3.5 rules, try looking in the 3.5 Magic Item Compendium. It has several Marshal-specific items. The Helm of Tactics and Rearguard's Cape are 2000 gp each and are both keyed to the marshal's abilities.

As for bards, they have a massive raft of abilities, so they can use a wide variety of items, any item that helps arcane spellcasters, things that enhance healing spells, items that give skill bonuses, etc. There are also many instrument-based magic items in the Magic Item Compendium, as well as the Badge of Valor (which increases the inspire courage bardic ability).


modus0 wrote:
A wizard 1/fighter 19 may have acaster level of 10, but he's only casting 0 and 1st level spells.

If you're JUST giving multiclass characters caster level and not spells, I agree with you that no cap is needed. In fact, I would be fine with saying Caster Level = Character Level if CL is all they're getting.

I was actually referring to the idea of giving multiclass casters new spells per level as well as caster level (which is what Maxxx suggested at the top of the thread). In that case, I feel a cap is needed. Being able to cast 1st-5th level spells as a 10th level wizard is an awfully big bonus for sinking just one level into wizard, but I wouldn't feel bad about giving it to a Wizard 5 / Fighter 15.


I like the idea of advancing spellcasting automatically like this for multiclass casters. The only thing I would add, though, is some kind of limit. For example, say that the caster level for a given class can't go above 2 x the number of levels you have taken in that class. Otherwise, in theory someone could be Wizard 1 / Fighter 19 and have the spellcasting power of a 10th level wizard along with all the abilities of a 19th level fighter. Even more broken, they could go Wizard 1 / Sorcerer 1 / Cleric 1 / Druid 1 / Fighter 16 and have 10th level casting in ALL the caster classes plus the BAB and bonus feats of a 16th level fighter. Whether or not that is uber-powerful is debatable, but it certainly seems silly at best.


Timespike wrote:


Interesting. I can't help but wonder how much scarier Xanesha will be under the new rules. She'll get a sorcerer bloodline and extra feats.

Oh, good lord. Does she need to be any scarier?

Spoiler:
My PCs got beat handily the first time they encountered her. They encountered her a second time when she tried to assassinate the Lord-Mayor, and she got away. They encountered her a third time in a side-adventure I threw in, and she got away after killing a PC. I placed her into the fortress of the stone giants, and they finally managed to kill her (although another PC got killed). I never increased her level or stats.

I haven't started playtesting these rules yet, but here's how I as a GM would rule on these issues...

Obviously, having a 4th level wizard running around casting Wish once per day from his wand is abusive. I wouldn't let a wizard use a bonded item to cast any spell that he couldn't cast without the item.

As for the item being masterwork, I'd just give the wizard/sorcerer a pass on this one, and let him make his non-masterwork bonded sword into a +1 sword if he wanted to. It's already a bonded item, it's special enough.

"replace" is a vague word here, does it mean the wizard summons the original item back, or does he bond to a new item? I'd probably rule that the wizard bonds to a new item, and the old bonded item (wherever it may be) immediately loses its bond, and loses all powers the bonded wizard added to it. This prevents the wizard from using the bond to cheaply produce items for other characters.


The changes I plan to make are mostly changing the motivations, rather than the details. I start Burnt Offerings this weekend, and some of the players have been sending me background for their characters, and NOTHING in their backgrounds has anything to do with Sandpoint. I have 3 Shoanti tribesmen hunting for the Varisian sorcerer who killed the son of their chief, a Varisian swordsman looking for his lost sister and wanting revenge on the Riddleport gangsters who murdered his parents, and a displaced scout who used to be in the Magnimar military.

So my first change will be that the Varisian PC will recognize Orik (Nualia's human fighter henchman) as one of the Riddleport gangsters. Orik will reveal that, in reality, the Skinsaw Men (chapter 2) are behind his parents murders and that his sister was sold into slavery to a band of ogres (chapter 3).

My second change will be to entice the Shoanti PCs. The ritual murders in chapter 2 will be disturbingly similar to the way their tribesman was killed. The sorcerer who killed their tribesman will eventually be revealed as one of the lamia priestesses from chapter 4. I plan to drop the info early on that the Skinsaw Men are looking for souls for their master, hinting strongly that their kinsman's soul has been taken and they are now honor-bound to see this through to the end, eventually destroying Karzoug's runewell and freeing the souls therein.

I'm sure when I read the second book, I'll probably be able to tie the Magnimar soldier's background in with some subplots there.


A, eventually.

I'll probably pick up the books when they come out (especially if they offer a low introductory price), but I doubt I'll actually be playing 4th ed anytime before 2009. I'm already running two 3.5 campaigns (Age of Worms and Rise of the Runelords) and after those I plan to run Savage Tide and Curse of the Crimson Throne.


They receive brief mention in Age of Worms, where they are simply described as "unscrupulous archeologists and pseudohistorians." The only Seeker who appears in the AoWAP is Neutral Evil, and they seem to be generally pretty nasty.


I like the affiliation requirement idea a lot, I may have to use that one. I currently use 2 house rules for my group.

1. skill system: In my system, skills can be Primary (class level + 3 ranks), Secondary (class level / 2 ranks) or Cross-class (0 ranks). At 1st level, each skill listed as a Class Skill for the PC becomes a free Secondary skill. Each PC gets a number of Upgrade Points which they can use to promote a Secondary skill to a Primary or a Cross-class into a Secondary. The number of Upgrade Points given at 1st level is (class base skill points + Int bonus + 1 for humans). PCs get 1 extra upgrade point at each even level. If a PC later multiclasses into a class with more skill points, they immediately receive new Upgrade Points, as well as new free Secondary skills.

2. friendly fire: If someone uses an area effect damage spell on an enemy in melee combat, I also make the PCs in melee with the enemy make a save. If they fail their save, they take half damage from the area effect.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

This is all good stuff, I particularly love the idea of the idol of Shelyn.
My own plans to introduce the backstory are:
1. At the festival, before the raid, one of the PCs will see Father Zantus arranging a small shrine (near the church or in the boneyard, whichever seems more appropriate at the time). If asked, the Father will tell them it is a special memorial to Father Tobyn and his adopted daughter. Father Zantus will then relate a large part of Nualia's story to the PC. I plan to present enough info that it may make the player immediately suspicious that Nualia set the fire 5 years ago.
2. After the PCs find out Father Tobyn's remains have been taken, they may investigate the boneyard. At this point they will probably notice that Nualia's remains are not there, they were never found. This should just about convince them that she is involved in the current plot.
3. Tsuto's journal reveals just about everything else the PCs need to know.
4. Finally, I'll have the final encounter with Nualia start as a noncombat encounter, she wishes to try to talk to the PCs and explain herself, villain style. If the players are in the mood to talk to her, they can get more info. If they immediately attack, of course, this opportunity will be lost.


Krome wrote:
GURPS is the ultimate in rules light RPGs. Combats are fast and easy, but characters are the most well developed and individualized in the industry.

You're rocking my world here. You think GURPS has simple combat? I currently play in both a GURPS game and a D&D game. Just to make a simple attack in GURPS requires so much more complication.

In D&D:
1. player rolls d20 and adds attack modifier, calls out a number, GM says "hit" or "miss".
2. player rolls damage. the monster loses some hp, it either goes out of the fight or it's fine.

In GURPS:
1. player rolls weapon skill roll.
2. GM rolls defense roll.
3. assuming the attack roll succeeds and defense roll fails, damage is rolled. opponent's DR is subtracted from damage and the remaining damage is multiplied by a number that depends on weapon type and hit location.
4. Next the GM determines if the amount of damage is enough to force a stun and knockdown roll, or (possibly multiple) instant death rolls.
5. Finally, we now have to keep track of the shock penalty the injured creature has, and whether the injured creature now needs to make unconsciousness rolls at the beginning of each of its turns.

GURPS is a more realistic system than D&D, but has a lot of overhead. Both the examples above are simple ones, but when GURPS combat gets complicated, it gets way more complicated than any D&D game I've ever seen.


Jester King wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Thanks.

That looks correct to me. If any elf PCs take an arrow in the chest from Bruthazmus they are going to be in for a world of hurt.


Turin the Mad wrote:

it seems 2 points high on the bonus after the d8. Bane adds to-hit and the bonus damage dice IIRC.

No, according to the DMG the enhancement bonus of the weapon is increased by 2, which would apply to attack and damage. It also does 2d6 extra on top of this.

Jester King, I think your damage is 2 points too low, you didn't add in Bruthazmus' favored enemy: elves.


This one may be a bit obscure, but the one that bothered me the most was Titus Groan from the Gormenghast novels. I really loved almost all the characters in those books except the main character. By the end of the second book I was praying for Steerpike to complete his dastardly plans and murder the whiny passive putz.

But Harry Potter's angst was also pretty hard to bear.


The Diamond Lakers


Jamie forever! I loved his kilt, and his accent.

And, uh, I actually liked Adric.


On page 13, I think the to-hit bonus and damage listed for the goblin commando are incorrect. His bonus to hit in melee should be (+1 BAB, +2 Str, +1 masterwork, +1 size) = +5, and the damage bonus for his 2-handed weapon should be (+2 * 1.5) = +3. This would make his attack:
Melee: mwk horsechopper +5 (1d8+3/x3)
and after rage wears off:
Melee: mwk horsechopper +4 (1d8+1/x3)

Also, mounted archers only take a -4 penalty if their mount does a double move.


Belfur wrote:
I know the ways, the adventure text proposes, I wanted to know, how many of you had the big-bang showdown and what methods your PCs used to destroy the "cocoon".

My group just played this last night. During the second day they found their way under the arena and killed off Bozal but couldn't open the wall of force guarding the ulgurstasta.

They discovered (as part of the treasure) a strand of prayer beads. Due to a misreading of the item's description, we thought it had all of the beads listed (I didn't catch the error until today). So during the froghemoth fight, while the Pcs were getting their butts roundly kicked, the cleric used the bead of summoning. I gave him a trumpet archon, which really helped the party out with some well-timed mass cure serious wounds spells.

Since the summoned archon was going to be around for 24 hours, they decided to make another try for the ulgurstasta that night. The cleric made a really good turning roll and the archon made a really good Greater Dispel Magic check, and they unleashed the ulgurstasta. They were well-prepared for the fight and managed to off the worm without any casualties.

For my final climactic moment, I plan to have Raknian personally challenge the PCs after they win the belt. At this point, they reeeally want him dead. I may have to buff him some to make him a decent challenge.


Nicolas Logue wrote:
Charisma is lost on gay men unless you have the Chelsea-Banana Republic store-bought picture-perfect torso. I tried to be gay, but alas, the picture-perfect torso I do NOT have...so I had to settle for attentions lavished upon me by hundreds of beautiful women...sad for me.

Nic, this is so not true, it's just what shows like Will & Grace and Queer as Folk want you to believe. We chunky gays get plenty of action, believe me. Come back to the gay side!


fray wrote:

Tome of Battle

I love the whole maneuvers section and flavor of the classes.
(I ignore the legendary weapons section.)

I second that, the Book of Nine Swords rules.

And I think Weapons of Legacy could be in competition for worst D&D book ever. The legacy mechanic was so badly designed.


Like James, I give XP at the end of each session, no matter where in a given dungeon the end of the session happens to fall. The players usually level their characters either directly after the end of the session, between sessions on their own time, or (occasionally) at the beginning of the next session, they never level-up mid-session.


lojakz wrote:
If 4th edition had something to help my rolls, I might be more excited about it.

Didn't anybody tell you? DMs are allowed to cheat! :)


I also tend to get a lot of inspiration while on vacation to various places, and from reading historical, anthropological, and other nonfiction books. One unusual source of inspiration for adventures I use is a tarot deck. I do a single spread to give me ideas for the main plot, then I do secondary readings for the main characters in my plot. Some of my best adventures were written this way, I find the randomness of the cards makes me break out of my usual ruts and think in unusual ways.


The most frustrating thing about D&D 3.5 for me is how long it takes to prepare as a GM. I love the character creation system when I'm a player because all of its complexities and quirks let me fiddle with my PC endlessly away from the table. I usually reserve 2 weeks to create a new 1st level PC just because I like to look through all the available books and plan out my whole character advancement.

But, when I'm making an NPC I find it endlessly tedious to pick out 2 dozen spells for a wizard who will appear in the game for 3 rounds, looking up each spell individually so I know exactly what it does and how it ties into the wizard's strategy. Likewise picking 12 feats for a fighter or spending 80 skill points for a rogue are excruciating. Then we get to spending their starting cash on gear. Theoretically, using monsters from the MC would make this easier, but I don't want to run a game where the PCs do nothing but fight unintelligent monsters, most of the time my plots call for some NPCs (or monsters) with class levels.

Some game systems have rules for creating PCs, and completely separate much simpler rules for creating NPCs. I wouldn't mind seeing something like that in 4th ed.


Azzy wrote:


So, that’s $85 per night at these inns—that’s roughly twice what you’d pay for a room at Motel 6.

Motel 6 is not what I'd call a "good" inn. Despite the fact that Motel 6 offers accommodations infinitely better than any medieval inn could have, in our time Motel 6 would probably be equated to a "common" inn, which is 5 sp per night.


GentleGiant wrote:
a price tag of 2 gp per night is the price given for such establishments. Yet my players choked on those prices and they do seem high

The prices seem about right to me. I usually think of a gold piece as being the equivalent of 25 to 30 modern american dollars, and a price tag of $50 to $60 per night seems pretty reasonable for a modern hotel room.

There should be cheaper places in town to live than an inn, however. If your PCs are from Sandpoint, they probably already have a place to live. If not, they might want to find one. When they first arrive, people might be shy about renting to them, but after they prove themselves the new heroes of Sandpoint, they should be able to get a good deal (as DM, I would think about 40 gp per month for a house big enough for the whole group).


When I gave my players a preview of what the Pathfinder goblins are like, half the group fell in love with them instantly and actually asked (jokingly, I hope) if I could restructure the adventure path to be played from the goblin's point of view so they could all play goblins!


I just want to express my extreme respect for all of you Paizo folks. Any realistic setting should include gay characters, but most companies would not have included them at all for fear of offending someone. I was thrilled to find that not only were there gay NPCs in town, but that they were portrayed in a positive light (a paladin, no less!). I really feel that there are a lot more gay gamers than there are extremely conservative gamers, and I think your policies will bring you a lot more fans than detractors. I especially respect you for coming on to the forum and defending your decisions from naysayers. I was already a Paizo fan but your integrity is inspiring me to be a Paizo fan for life!


the Rose of the Prophet series by Weis and Hickman had a gay protagonist.

In the Shackled City campaign, I thought it was clearly implied that Adimarchus and Athux had a gay relationship. When I ran the STAP, I expanded this theme somewhat and even had Athux join the party in the last chapter, professing that he loved Adimarchus and repented his betrayal (of course in the end Athux double-crossed the PCs and grabbed rulership of Occipitus for himself, but he is Chaotic Evil after all!)

My group has two gay players (including me), sometimes our characters are gay and sometimes not. Most of the time it really doesn't come up, our games are more about killing monsters and not so much about sex or relationships. In games I've been in where I've seen flamboyantly gay PCs, this is sometimes met with derision or annoyance, sometimes with lots of ribbing, and sometimes with delight (of course, I've seen the same reactions to gnome PCs).

I was really happy to see some gay NPCs in the Sandpoint background, portrayed in a positive way and widely accepted by the community. In general, Sandpoint is portrayed as being pretty liberal, which is cool.


I agree about the minor/major arcana comment. My suggestion would be that there are two decks, a major tarot deck and a minor.

The minor Varisian Tarot deck has 50 cards, 7 of each of the 7 suits, plus an "Emperor" card. Each suit has a Lord and a Consort card, the other cards are numbered 1 through 5. The minor deck is commonly used to play a number of card games throughout the region, and is now quite popular among Chelish gamblers. Most of these decks will be cheaply made and with simple illustrations.

The major Varisian Tarot deck includes the 50 cards from the minor deck, but also has 21 major arcana cards that depict various mysteries (perhaps some long-forgotten gods as well, like the Peacock Spirit). Major Tarot decks are usually much more expensive and elaborate, and are viewed with some superstition. These decks are usually only used for the purposes of divination.

I would make the major tarot decks much more expensive, but have them give a bonus to the fortune-telling roll.


My suggestion would be: don't alter the adventure. If you alter the difficulty now, you'll have to keep doing it the whole campaign. If you don't alter it, your PCs will get less XP per encounter, and they will quickly fall to an "appropriate" level for the adventure.

As an example, I am currently running Age of Worms AP with a 6-player group. Because they are dividing the XP 6 ways from each encounter instead of 4, the entire group's average level stays about one level lower than the listed level in the adventures (when it says "your characters should be 7th level at the start of this adventure", I know my PCs will be 6th level). The XP chart in the DMG was designed to auto-adjust to fit any group size.

This may mean that the first half of "Burnt Offerings" will seem too easy for your group. But once your 7 1st-level characters start facing challenges designed for 4 2nd-level characters things will work out just fine.

When I start the RotRL campaign in a few weeks, I will have 7 players too, so I will get a chance to put this into practice myself.


Nighthunter wrote:

Allow each player to make 2 characters. That way you end up with the appropriate number of heroes and you open up some interesting things.

I certainly considered it in my case. I decided not to do this because in the past when I've seen players play multiple characters, it really takes away from the roleplaying. When a player controls one character he feels (in some sense) that he is that character, and he sees the world from that viewpoint. But when he controls multiple characters, it feels more like a strategy game. The player is removed from the world and becomes a more abstract entity.

To give a concrete example, I actually am playing one of the party members (the cleric Ruphus) as I GM the game. And I really can't bring myself to care that much about him, I just have too much else to worry about. If he was my own personal PC that I was playing in the world, I would choose his actions more carefully, spend more time going over every aspect of his character sheet, and care a lot more whether he lived or died. I would see the game world from his perspective, instead of my omniscient behind-the-GM-screen viewpoint.

Of course, my comments are based solely on myself and groups I've been in, I'm sure there are some players who would thrive with multiple characters and become emotionally invested in each of them. I just haven't met these players yet.


Drakli wrote:

I don't know if I should put it here, or create a new thread for it, probably, "Shackled City on 3 Heroes a Day,"

I've been running Shackled City with three PCs. Actually it's only two actual PCs, but I made my own character sheet for Ruphus and threw him in as their third party member, run by me. The PCs are an elven monk and an elven rogue/scout. I started them all at 2nd level for Life's Bazaar. Right now they've completed Life's Bazaar and are halfway through Drakthar's Way, and they're close to hitting 6th level.

I do use Action Points, which are a HUGE boost. If the PCs are smart enough to save their action points for critical rolls, I'd say action points are equivalent to at least +1 level.

The other house rule I use is that if PCs are not satisfied with their first hit point roll, they can hand me the die and I'll make a second roll, but they are stuck with the second result.

Jzadirune was pretty challenging for them, but there were no PC deaths (several times they went below 0 though). The grell fight nearly resulted in TPK, and the final fight against Kazmojen almost was a TPK as well. The animated chain fight was also extremely challenging due to having no arcane casters or psionicists and no weapons that could cut its damage resistance.

So far Drakthar's Way has been a cakewalk for them, but I wanted them to be 6th before Flood Season.