Not sure if this is the right place for this, but just wanted to put in a quick post to thank James Jacobs (and Rich Baker, if he ever visits these boards) for excellent authorial work on Red Hand of Doom. I know it's a WotC product, but I figure this is a better place to post this.
Just finished the final battle of an online Red Hand of Doom campaign set in the world of Greyhawk. I made Elsir Vale into a former colony of the Great Kingdom off the map to the west of Ull and the Plains of the Paynims. The campaign took just over two years (about 26 months) to run online, staying fairly faithful to the adventure as written with the exception of beefing up encounters and stat blocks to handle a group of 6-7 PCs that included some very experienced players with characters drawing on the Complete books and Spell Compendium (and gifted with some custom-made magic items of considerable power discovered in the first dungeon).
The party:
Eltanin Vraath, warlock and heir to the Vraath family lands (Eltanin on these boards)
Aloysius Delozier, druid of the Eth Circle, and his ape animal companion Rheis (Wampuscat43 on these boards)
Sir Valyan of Arthion (aka Raziel), an Elven wizard from Celene
Sojiro Kurai, an exiled Samurai from the Seric Empire (Oriental-flavored land northwest of the Paynims in my Greyhawk) in the service of Lady Kaal
Wolf, an Elven scout (slain by Ozyrrandion)
Yann Zavier, priest of Pelor (Wolf's replacement)
Ril Merrison, a woodsman and sometime smuggler born near Vraath Keep (slain by Tiamat's Vengeance, as I named the Aspect)
Varghedin, a questing Ice Barbarian (slain by Regiarix and not replaced)
Thelya, a priestess of Sehanine and Raziel's cohort.
The final battle was particularly cinematic.
Spoiler:
Eltanin took out Azarr Kul very quickly despite the magical effects in place (and my boosting him to 15th level), but the Aspect (upgraded to a CR 16 version) appeared and made my players practically crap themselves in panic. They prevailed, but it was a very near thing, and for a while I thought they were going to retreat and I was going to have to have Tiamat's Vengeance come after them in Brindol. Raziel, after wasting two or three turns trying to organize an orderly retreat, rescued Soji and Yann, who were pinned under the Aspect's belly at the edge of the access shaft, by disintegrating the stone beneath them and casting feather fall to let them parachute downward. Only Eltanin using every last ounce of his power, and a couple of lucky crits from Ril allowed the party to win the battle. The battle ended with a critical hit eldritch blast destroying the Aspect as it was crawling down the shaft breathing acid and lightning at the party below.
It was a really cool encounter design, although the party never managed to drop the silence effect despite copious hints from the DM on how to do so. As a result two of the PCs were unable to affect the battle much, and two more (Raziel and Soji) ended up missing opportunities in their panicked concern to evacuate.
So, thanks much, James and Rich, on behalf of myself, Eltanin, and Wampuscat43!
Can magical traps be detected by a detect magic spell or (more efficiently at higher levels) by arcane sight? The rules say that only a rogue can find magical traps with the search skill, but they don't clearly say whether magical traps and trap-like spells (glyph of warding etc.) have a visible aura.
At lower levels, this is not a particular problem for most classes, which can only detect magic a few times per day at best. The 3.5e warlock, however, can detect magic at will, so it's pretty much automatic for them to at least check every door and chest, if you've got one in the party. Then when you get into the 11th or 12th level range, you've got arcane eye, which doesn't even require concentration to find a magical aura. This means that if the aura isn't masked, the caster is going to walk around the dungeon with arcane sight on, and is likely to spot a magical trap no matter where you put it.
My temporary solution to this problem has been to require a spot check with the same DC as the rogue's search DC to find the greater glyph of warding or whatever. This is not based on any written rules that I know of, but on an assumption that the game's designers didn't intend magic traps to be completely useless at high levels.
Anyone have any wisdom to share on this issue?
And is anything being done to clarify/rebalance this in PFRPG? (Aside from not having warlocks?)
Not sure if this is the best place for this, but here goes:
I've been doing some research on the Amedio Jungle and Blackmoor in preparation for upcoming campaign action in two different campaigns, and I'm curious about where to find a number of monsters. If there are 3/3.5e stat blocks for them, that would be great, but if not, a 1e or 2e stat block and/or any other source that substantially describes them would be most welcome.
I'm trying to get hold of the old issue that had an article on Baba Yaga's hut. I saw a citation on Cannonfire that pointed me to Dragon #84, but I recently obtained that issue and there was no sign of it at all.
Does anyone know the right issue number, so I can find what I'm looking for?
Hi--I've got several Pathfinders listed as "pending" on my subscription. Not sure if that just means they have arrived at Paizo warehouse but not shipped yet. If, instead, it is due to a problem with my credit card expiring this month, I've just updated that, so the card should be valid. Sorry if this has caused any inconvenience!
So, I received Pathfinder 11 in yesterday's mail, two days after it was supposedly shipped.
Interestingly, the post office had to forward it to my new address (their forwarding label was dated 7/11/08).
The problems:
1. I changed my mailing address for this subscription in mid-May, and I just double-checked for the second time--the address displaying for the subscription on "my accounts" (Bethabara Hills Ct) *is* the new one, so it's a bit mystifying why something supposedly shipped Thursday was sent to the old address.
2. I haven't yet received Pathfinder 10. I'm guessing this is connected to (1) above, and I presume it is lost in the mail somewhere.
Could you please make sure that the updated address is in your mailing label database, and tell me what I should do about the missing Pathfinder 10? I'm not in a huge rush to play it just yet, but would like to have the complete set I was charged for.
At the risk of adding to the overwhelming torrent of discussion that this part of the boards has opened up, I'd just like to put in a plea for new rules on something that has bothered me for a long time in 3e: pursuit.
3e's turn-based system works reasonably well as long as you're fighting a relatively static battle over a particular piece of ground, but when the enemy runs low on hit points and tries to make a getaway, things always seem to get clunky, with pursuers successively pulling even and (maybe) getting in an attack of opportunity, then falling behind again.
Has anyone given thought as to how to rectify this little glitch in the system?
Just a quick query for advice on a small campaign issue that has come up with regard to mass resist energy from the Spell Compendium:
I have a player who has requested for his wizard PC to gain use of this spell. My policy for this campaign is that PCs can learn a limited number of spells from the Spell Compendium through research (or treasure handed out by the DM, or purchased scrolls), and that as DM I have the power to veto the entry of non-core spells into the game, or modify them as I see fit.
The issue I have with this spell is that the SC rating of its power level seems way low: it's a 3rd level spell for clerics and druids, and a 4th level spell for sorcerers and wizards. I'd rate it as a 6th level spell, because the base spell is 2nd level, and it has the same target parameters (1 character/level, no 2 characters more than 30 ft apart) as the mass versions of other 2nd level buff spells in the PH, like bull's strength, cat's grace, etc. Based on the examples in the PH, the trade-off for making a spell mass is a four-level increase in power--this is true for both the ability buff series of spells and for the cure wounds series, and the only exception is mass invisibility, which allows a wider spread for its targets, but in exchange for a five-level increase (2nd to 7th).
My player argues that resist energy is more narrowly applicable than cure or ability buff spells, and that it would not be attractive at all to waste a 6th-level spell slot on a mass version of it when you could have another chain lightning or disintegrate handy. However, I don't see how the ability to affect 1 target/level can be worth 4 levels for cure moderate wounds or bull's strength but only worth 1 or 2 levels for resist energy. The spell may be more narrowly applicable, in the sense that you have to key in on one type of energy, whereas you almost always can use healing or an increase in strength--however, that narrow applicability is offset by an increased duration (10 min/level vice 1 min/level).
I've offered to consider some sort of compromise between the SC's rating and my own inclinations, but the bottom line is that I think this is a really powerful spell, and since our campaign features a lot of draconic enemies (the players know this already), offering the spell at the level-rating in the SC is liable to unbalance the game, because it will allow one 4th level spell to give the entire party a significant resistance to the breath weapons of most of the boss monsters.
Has anyone else had experience with this spell, or does anyone have a good reason why I should rate it below 6th level?
During the hubbub over the Previous Big Announcement, Paizo staff mentioned that those of us who aspire to publish something with them should think about submitting monsters for the Pathfinder books. We were told to wait until the dust settled, and there would be an announcement of how to do it.
Sorry if I've missed something, but has this announcement been made? If so, could you direct me to it? If not, is there any further word? I know you're all still busy trying to get the thing off the ground, so I'll understand if we're not there yet.
Well, Peruhain's peregrinations will be taking him to Winston-Salem NC for a year or perhaps more. Are there any Paizonians out there who live in the Winston-Salem-Greensboro-High Point area and have room at their table? I might even be persuaded to DM if I can use published material. Alternatively, suggestions on FLGS and other avenues for hooking up with local gamers would be much appreciated! I'll be arriving around August 10th.
You all modified a pending order for me recently, and since that happened, my shopping cart has been doing weird things. The unpurchased items that were in it when you fixed my order disappeared and were replaced by several downloads that I had already purchased some time back. I made another order yesterday, and in the process deleted the previously purchased items from my cart. Now a bunch of things that I had had in the shopping cart previously (but have not yet purchased) have reappeared in my shopping cart. Not quite sure what is causing this, but it makes me concerned that I might accidentally purchase something I already own if it keeps happening.
I'm reviewing the Serpents of Scuttlecove, and I have a few questions for the author, or editors, or those who have already run this section of the AP.
1. What is Harliss Javell's precise relationship to the Crimson Fleet? In the Bullywug Gambit, she was portrayed as a Crimson Fleet captain, but it is apparent in Serpents that she is not part of Cold Captain Wyther's inner circle--he didn't bring her to Lemoriax to be transformed, unlike his other captains. Serpents indicates that all of Wyther's captains faced a choice of serve the Big D or hang from a yardarm, and presumably this happened before the Crimson Fleet started shipping shadow pearls, so if Harliss were a Crimson Fleet captain as of BG, she should have been transformed into a Lemorian already. Should she be portrayed more as a smuggler who fences goods for the Crimson Fleet, or something like that? That would seem more in keeping with her ignorance of the shadow pearl plot during BG.
2. Where do the active Crimson Fleet ships anchor when they are visiting the Fleet's home base on Sekorvia? The creek that houses the base is only 10 feet deep in its deepest parts--a caravel (average draft 10 feet) would have difficulty maneuvering in these waters without running aground, except perhaps at high tide. And the layout of the docks is such that there isn't really enough lateral clearance to move caravels in and out. The caravels by D3 and D7 must have been pulled in at high tide and had the docks built around them. Is there an outer harbor where the captains ordinarily anchor their ships when visiting? How did the six ships that form the strange structure of areas E-I get where they are? By their dimensions, they were originally the size of greatships (draft 20 feet). Were they moved to their positions via telekinesis? They certainly could not have been sailed in, and it's unlikely that they could have been dragged in.
Perhaps I'm a bit too hung up on consistency and verisimilitude here, and I can certainly concoct my own answers to these questions, but I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of Rich, Nick, and/or James on these questions, if you have time to share.
On rereading HTBM, I find the description of the portal/trap in the "shrine of duplicity" (room 7 in the shrine of Demogorgon) to be a bit confusing. Let me see if I understand how it's supposed to be done:
1. Light north candle, sit in southern throne, touch north mirror, party must fight bestial image of character who does this unless the character makes his will save or is warded by protection from evil/chaos.
2. Light south candle, sit in northern throne, touch south mirror with similar result as above.
3. Once the south mirror is touched, party has 10 minutes to use mirrors as portals to room 8.
4. If south candle is lit first, the procedure fails. If both candles are lit before any throne is sat upon, the candles explode and then self-extinguish, resetting the trap so that the entire procedure must be started over.
5. Sitting in the north throne after lighting the north candle has no effect but does not reset the trap, so that subsequently sitting in the south throne will advance the process. And likewise for the sitting in the south throne after lighting the south candle.
Sorry for the weird title--couldn't resist, since the write-up says the mirrors have to be "touched appropriately"
The title of James Jacobs' most recent blog entry: "Raising the Runelords, or how to recover from a TPK and make it look like you planned it all along."
Am I reading too much into this, or is there a little ironic double entendre going on here?
In any event, I heartily hope that James and co. can pull off their miraculous recovery from this near-TPK. DMing is good practice for real life, I suppose.
Hey, whenever I click the link on "Gamemastery" in the blue bar at the top of the page, all I get is a blank page. I'm curious about this new product line, so I hope you get this part of the site working again soon!
I asked this question in another thread, and it may have been answered, but my query has been buried in the flurry and I can't find it, so I'll ask again and beg forgiveness of the Paizo staff.
Are the core gods (Pelor, Wee Jas, etc.) OGL?
And, whatever the answer to question one, will the Pathfinder setting be developing its own set of deities and religions unique to that setting?
A third question: what about demon lords, archdevils, and celestial paragons, along with the outer planes? Are these OGL and will Pathfinder be adopting the standard "great wheel" setup for the outer planes, or developing its own?
Wizards wants to torpedo Paizo, which has become a competitor, both by successfully marketing the Adventure Paths and by keeping the Greyhawk campaign setting alive when they're trying to limit competition to Eberron and FR.
Rumor #2:
Paizo offered to buy the rights to the Dragon and Dungeon brands when Wizards communicated their intention to pull the plug, but Wizards refused to make a serious workable offer that would give Paizo enough editorial freedom to make the magazines work as independent brands. Probably this means that Paizo would have had no rights to publish non-OGL material from Wizards, and they were going to have to pay so much for the brands that they would make no profit for years.
Rumor #3
Wizards is planning a major marketing coup involving issuing a Fourth Edition. Fourth edition will no longer be a pen and paper game at all--it will be an online game--and this means that there is no place for a printed magazine in the D&D product line. Incidentally, this means that Wizards itself will stop printing those high-quality hardbounds with the nice artwork and force us all to buy pdfs if we want to keep up with the game. By killing Dungeon and Dragon, Wizards is assuring that the old edition can't compete with the new one by supplying material for the 3.5e gaming community. Their plan is to force everyone to switch over to 4e over a period of 4-5 years just as they did with 3e.
Rumor #4
Hasbro sees D&D as unprofitable in the long term and believes that pen and paper RPGs won't make the transition to the electronic age. They are planning to let pen and paper D&D die by strangulation, and the long-rumored 4e will actually by DDO ver. 2. Hope you like first-person shooters!
Rumor #5 (Perhaps best labeled conspiracy theory #1)
An investment fund backed by the so-called Christian Right has made a secret hostile takeover of Hasbro (or perhaps just threatened to). Their goal is to destroy Dungeons and Dragons to prevent us all from converting America to satanism. Further rumors hint that the Vice President is involved in the scheme . . . .
Disclaimer--these rumors are pure idle speculation, but I'll bet one of them is close to the truth. In any event, Wizards hasn't given us a plausible story to dispel these speculations. Please share your additions to the rumor-mill too!
Well, I'm a bit stunned by today's news, I must say--I mean, I remember buying Dragon back in the late 1970s. It seems to me to be shortsighted in the extreme to just terminate the brand--it's intimately wound up with the D&D playing experiences of such a huge part of the gaming community, and seems to me that an online mag is not going to generate the revenue or the attention that a paper mag does.
Anyhow, my big question about all this is, is Paizo developing a campaign world with the Pathfinder APs? Or is each one going to be in its own self-contained world? This would seem to be an opportunity to build a new campaign setting, and since the APs will need gods and nations and background NPCs (kings and famous wizards, etc. etc.), it might be advantageous to build a campaign world by accumulation--loyal subscribers would be rewarded by a certain amount of continuity that connects adventures, and some of the common denominators (like a list of the deities and such) could be kept in an online gazetteer. Of course, WotC might not like this, but as long as it's completely the creation of Paizo with no license involved except OGL, they really don't have much control over it. In theory, Paizonia could be competing with Eberron. (Of course, Paizo will want to keep the adventures somewhat generic and compatible with existing campaign settings, but I think having the APs unfold in a place that feels like a campaign setting, and not "the World of Generica" will make Pathfinder a more attractive product--at least to those of us who enjoy the worldbuilding aspect of the game.
I'm going to be bummed about the loss of support for Greyhawk that we got in Dungeon and Dragon--Wee Jas and Pelor and all that are owned by WotC even if all they do is sit on them and squash them flat--so aside from LG there won't be much happening in Greyhawk anymore. Unless WotC is planning to revive the setting, which seems rather unlikely.
So--I'll miss Greyhawk, but I'll be further attracted to Pathfinder if I get to watch the people I consider D&D's most brilliant minds gradually unfold a new and interesting world to explore.
Ok, a rules argument appeared in our game last night. When applying damage reduction to damage from a critical hit, do you first total up the damage from all the extra damage dice, then subtract DR from the total, or do you subtract DR from each damage die?
My DM is convinced that the latter interpretation applies, but this doesn't make sense to me. When I DM, I've always used the first interpretation (total all damage and subtract DR from it). However, I have been unable to find a definitive answer in the rulebooks.
Since the damage is all from one blow, an especially strong or lucky blow should be able to pierce strong damage reduction and do a significant (if somewhat reduced) amount of damage. Otherwise, you are really nerfing axes and picks, feats that improve one's critical hits, and by logical extension the rogue's sneak attack ability (since it functions in a manner analogous to critical hits, you would end up subtracting DR from each sneak attack d6, effectively negating virtually all sneak attacks that can't bypass DR). Conversely, you are making creatures with DR tougher.
So, I'd appreciate hearing how other people apply the rules in this situation, and if you've got a specific scriptural reference, I'd appreciate it.
The bat-god idol the PCs are supposed to retrieve from the ancient Olman city of Tamoachan represents Camazotz, "an ancient god of bats and night" (Dungeon #141, pp. 40-41). It is supposed to be placed in an alcove in the Shrine of Zotzilaha, the god of bats and fire worshipped by the Olman people on the Isle of Dread (#143, pp. 42-46). Are Camazotz and Zotzilaha supposed to be two names for the same deity? (Plausible, since both names contain the phoneme "zotz" and the two groups of Olman are separated by thousands of miles and nearly a millenium of history)? Or are they two different gods?
And, is there more information on the Olman pantheon somewhere?
Apologies if this has already been answered, but I have a quick question about Zyrxog's mind blast. According to the MM, this spell-like ability is the equivalent of a 4th level spell, so its base DC is 14, plus charisma bonus. Based on this, it seems like Zyrxog's mind blast DC ought to be 20 (14 plus +6 cha bonus). The stat block lists it as 23. I don't see spell-like ability focus or anything of that sort to boost it further. Am I missing something or should the DC indeed be 20?
Hook: Singlehandedly slew four muggers in an alleyway outside the Sasserine Sleigh Ride
Background: Denia is from a cadet branch of the eminent Arabani family. Her father was a successful merchant captain, but his ship never returned from its last voyage. Two years after it was due home, when Denia and her mother had given up all hope, one of the sailors from the ship made it back to Sasserine and brought the tale of Captain Arabani¡¦s tragic end. The ship was captured by the infamous pirate Javellani Harshaw of the Crimson Fleet, who forced Denia¡¦s father to walk the plank and burned the ship to the waterline after looting its cargo and forcing the surviving crew to join her pirate crew. The young sailor eventually found an opportunity to escape and make his way back to Sasserine. After receiving this news, Denia¡¦s mother died of sorrow, leaving Denia nothing but a pile of debts and some of her father¡¦s old gear. Denia vowed to take revenge on Captain Harshaw and the rest of the Crimson Fleet pirates, and took to frequenting the taverns of the Azure District, crewing on local fishing boats when she needed money, and seeking every opportunity to try out her father¡¦s trusty rapier.
Shookt!alui
Data: Male Darfellan Barbarian 1 (CG)
Hook: Demonstrated his prowess with the harpoon by casting one completely through a barrel filled with sand from thirty paces away in an attempt to convince a whaling captain to hire him.
Background: Shookt!alui¡¦s family are refugees from an island far off in the remote reaches of the southern sea. They were sole survivors of an attack by Sahuagin on their village. Shook¡¦s father took work as a harpooner on a Sasserine whaler, and Shook grew up in the back alleys of the Azure district, brawling regularly with the human children who made fun of his strange appearance. His father was away for long periods of time, but when he was at home, he regaled Shook with tales of strange and faraway places, including his adventures on a tropical isle where he was once marooned for two years by a shipwreck, a place with huge reptilian monsters the size of houses that sailors of the South Seas call the Isle of Dread. Shook¡¦s father has once again been away from home for several years, and Shook is trying to get away from a life of doing menial work on the waterfront by capitalizing on his father¡¦s reputation as Sasserine¡¦s most expert harpooner to get himself hired on a whaler in a similar capacity.
Arrosselon Uwelmani
Data: Male Elf Swashbuckler 1 (CG)
Hook: Once served as a cabin boy on the Hippogriff. When Hippogriff was attacked by the infamous Crimson Fleet pirate Captain Blacktooth, a huge and fearsome Tuov barbarian whose sobriquet comes from his black-lacquered teeth. Arrosselon¡¦s quick thinking saved the life of the Hippogriff¡¦s captain and crew¡Xhe cut the ropes binding them while the pirates were busy drinking up the ship¡¦s supply of rum, and they were able to retake the ship from the drunken ruffians. Captain Blacktooth escaped, and now bears Arrosselon a very big grudge.
Background: An orphan, Arrosselon has spent most of his life at sea. With the Hippogriff¡¦s recent return to port, stories of the ship¡¦s narrow escape from the pirates have circulated, and Arrosselon is somewhat of a celebrity on the waterfront.
Sandra Absalee
Data: Female Human Wizard 1 (N)
Hook: Sandra comes from a minor noble family, but they are noted because for thirteen generations, her foremothers have been members of the Witchwardens.
Background: Sandra recently completed her magical training, and her mother has pushed her out of the nest, giving her a sum of money and telling the reticent young woman that she needs to learn about the city and the world and make a name for herself. Her mother has high expectations of her, hoping she can become the fourteenth Witchwarden in the family. She has been staying in a boarding house across the street from the Sasserine Sleigh Ride in the Azure District, trying without much success to acclimate herself to the crude sailors and laborers who frequent the waterfront. She is struggling with the inhibitions instilled by a prissy governess who shaped her upbringing. Sandra¡¦s great aunt is the eminent opera star Nylaria Absalee.
Turl Howerbass
Data: Male Dwarf Cleric 1 (N; Xerbo)
Hook: Recently placed on furlough from the Azure Cathedral for having a violent disagreement with one of the temple¡¦s wealthiest patrons because Turl gave him some business advice that did not work out. The disagreement turned into a brawl between Turl and the patron¡¦s retainers. Turl gave a good account of himself, knocking five of them out of the combat with his bare fists before the priests intervened and separated the parties.
Background: Turl is ugly and taciturn even for a Dwarf. Turl¡¦s father apprenticed him as an acolyte in the Azure Cathedral so they would not have to look at his misshapen face across the dinner table every evening. Although the priests didn¡¦t like him much, Turl¡¦s aptitude for arithmetic and instinct for smart investments earned him a place as the Priest of Xerbo¡¦s aide. Until recently, his investment advice was widely sought after, attracting many worshippers and patrons to the Azure Cathedral¡¦s congregation. Since being placed on furlough, Turl has made an indifferent living gambling in the Champion¡¦s District.
Indy Tamberlane
Data: Male Halfling Rogue 1 (CG)
Hook: Indy is wanted by the Cudgel Watch for breaking and entering. He was seen and recognized after he broke into the private quarters of the keeper of the Thrice-Born Phoenix. This innkeeper made the mistake of bragging that he had inherited a map of the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan from an adventurer uncle. Indy¡¦s plan was to purloin the map and undertake an expedition to this infamous ancient ruin in search of treasure. Now he¡¦s on the lam, having barely evaded the Cudgel Watch¡¦s pursuit by ducking through the gate into Shadowshore¡¦s twisted alleys. Now he is holed up in a rented room above the whorehouse known as the Velvet Hatch, counting how long his money will hold out and lamenting the failure of his plans.
Background: Indy was until recently a respectable journeyman cobbler in the Cudgel district. He has aspirations of escaping his dull life and being an archeological explorer. His great uncle, a moderately successful adventuring rogue, left him a sword, a whip, and a set of lockpicks, nourishing that hope. He has heard stories of the archeologists¡¦ society known as the Seekers and would do anything to join them.
Hey, I've just been creating a druid PC for a campaign I'm about to join, and looking up how wild shape works with the new errata, I think there are still some problems.
According to the errata on alternate shape (which is where the wild shape errata direct the reader for a description of the ability, now; no longer the polymorph spell):
1. You keep all the feats of the original form and do not get any of the feats of the new form. This makes sense in a lot of ways, but what if you change to an animal that ordinarily has Run, Multiattack, Weapon Finesse, or some other feat that involves the new form's basic physical coordination that it uses to move and attack? It seems to me that the wild shaped druid ought to be able to use such feats while in that animal's form.
2. You keep all your own special qualities and do not gain any of the animal's special qualities. It makes sense that you shouldn't get the magical special qualities of an alternate form, but this means a druid in dog form doesn't get scent, a druid in porpoise form doesn't get blindsense and hold breath, and a druid in cheetah form doesn't get sprint (to cite several obvious examples). Since such abilities are inherent natural qualities of the physical form in question, and are often integral to the way the creature moves and senses its surroundings in its natural environment, this doesn't make sense. Why change into a dog if you can't follow someone's scent? Why change into a porpoise if you can't stay underwater for more than a minute or two, and if you can't perceive your surroundings in the murky depths? Why change into a cheetah if you can't chase down your enemies? To me, this provision really nerfs the wild shape ability.
3. In wild shape, you keep your original skill ranks in all skills, but use the new physical ability modifiers. As far as I can tell, the new errata imply that you don't get to add the racial bonuses pertaining to the new form to your modifier for checks on physical skills, like jump, climb, swim, and so forth. I've e-mailed this question to the Sage to see his opinion on it, but if you can't add those racial modifiers this again doesn't make sense (a leopard is physically built to have a certain facility for climbing trees and jumping on prey) and further nerfs wild shape.
Anyone out there thought about these issues and have opinions on (a) how to interpret the current RAW on this subject, or (b) how the RAW ought to be modified to avoid nerfing?
James is probably used to me asking about minor details and nitpicks by now, so I'm sure he'll look at this thread and give me a clarification soon!
First--thanks for another excellent AP adventure James and Dungeon staff. I really dig urban adventures with lots of politics, intrigue, and skulduggery, and this definitely fills the bill, especially with the backdrop and player's guide which plant lots of seeds for ways to enrich the adventure for one's own campaign.
Second, a very small question. The hidden water entrance to the Lotus Dragon lair (I love this room--hidden entrance under the pier, and my first ever chance to use ixitxachitls! cool). I don't have the module handy so can't cite room number, but the description mentioned a secret door on the south wall. The map doesn't indicate one. Is there supposed to be a secret door hiding the entrance to the 5 foot passage into the rest of the lair?
I was just reviewing the final encounter in KoTR where Brazzemal the Burning takes the side off the phylactery vault and comes after the PCs.
This is supposed to be a climactic battle to conclude the adventure, possibly complicated by treacherous allies (Vercinabex Tor, Gazzilfek), and the entry of the vault's undead guardians into the fray. It occurred to me, though, that there is an easy way for the PCs to avoid this climactic battle, and some groups will be likely to take it: grab the phylactery (hopefully with gloved hands!) and teleport to safety before smashing the thing.
In addition, Brazzemal, who has teleport, might use the same tactic to deliver the phylactery (his primary mission) to his master.
Either way, you have a short battle.
Now, many parties won't want to back down from a fight unless it's clear they're going to lose, but Brazzemal is a pretty intimidating foe. If they do teleport away, Brazzemal as written has no easy way to catch up with them unless they delay destruction of the phylactery. His locate object will point him in the right direction, and he might be able to find the characters in a day or two if they teleport someplace close, like Alhaster or Magepoint. If they teleport off to someplace like Kuluth Mar, it might take him a week to catch up. I'm thinking of giving Brazzemal scrying and having him stash a focal mirror for the spell in a cave near Kongen-Thulnir--it seems reasonable, since he's supposed to be generaling the effort to find the phylactery. This would give him the possibility (with reasonably good rolls) of following the PCs within a few rounds of their departure, especially if he can wound one of them and use the blood on his claws to increase the save DC. But it's not foolproof, both due to possibility of bad rolls and the fact that a 19th level caster could theoretically teleport beyond his range.
On Brazzemal's side, he might snatch the phylactery then keep fighting the PCs, hoping to earn extra brownie points with his boss for destroying the pesky adventurers. But, he can only fight for a few rounds before the wisdom damage from holding the phylactery starts to make him much more susceptible to will-save type spells. Alternatively, he might snatch the phylactery, teleport to the Tabernacle of Worms, then teleport right back to finish off the PCs before they can escape or recover.
I was looking through the last adventure the other day, and reading through Lashonna's stat block noticed that she is a 17th level caster but only has spells listed up to 6th level. I presume this is an error? Is an errata posted somewhere?
I was going over several of the upcoming modules to familiarize myself with the tactical details this weekend, and I came across several stat blocs with the "Awesome Blow" feat or special ability. It sounds very familiar, but I can't find it listed anywhere. Could someone kindly point me to the source, so I can note it in my margins for future ref?
I'll be moving to the Utica area in two days and am hoping to find a new group to hook up with. I'll be in Clinton for about a year, it looks like.
I'm willing to join an existing group, or form a new one, and would be happy to DM one of the APs for a group on an every other weekend basis. I could drive as far afield as Syracuse, though that might get dodgy in the winter snow.
The campaign overview for STAP in #138 is very useful for getting a basic idea of the plotline and what kinds of PCs might work well. In AoW, Paizo put together a much more extensive campaign overview which ended up being published as a download, "Age of Worms Overload," after it ended up being way to big to put into the printed magazine. The "Overload" had a great plot summary which helped me plan some things out before seeing details of the later adventures, plus statted up NPCs, tavern encounters, rumors, and extra background about Diamond Lake region that I found very helpful. Will there be a feature like this for STAP?
I suppose this is a question for the sage, or one that the sage has already answered, but it's come up several times in my AoW campaign recently and I'd like to get other opinions. When a creature with improved grab (like a giant constrictor snake or giant octopus) grapples someone as a result of a successful melee attack, does it immediately apply crushing damage, or does it merely apply crushing damage the next round? If the latter, on the next round, are all of its natural weapon attacks (tentacles or whatever) dedicated to grappling the opponent, or can it deal crushing damage and continue to use its other appendages to attack the rest of its enemies? If the latter, does it take the -20 penalty to grapple checks for "holding a creature at arm's length?"
Thanks in advance--I'm trying to make tentacled creatures appropriately challenging, but not overwhelming.
Numerous people have complained on the boards about the way Eligos is handily killed off and quickly brought back to life--it's a plot hook that seems very forced to many of us, even those who are used to regular raisings of the dead.
I just had an inspiration that will eliminate this hiccup in my campaign without messing up the attached plot hooks, and thought I'd share, for those who are still looking for a satisfactory alternative.
encounter description-- When the PCs arrive at Eligos' house, they find that no one answers the doorbell. The exterior doors are locked, but a first floor window on the side of the house shows clear signs of a housebreak. Inside, the PCs find Pollard lying dead in the kitchen, with his throat cut. A pie is baking in the oven and a cucumber lies on the cutting board, half of it cut into thin slices. Pollard's master is nowhere to be found, but he must have been in his study recently, as a candle of sealing wax still burns at his desk, where he was writing a letter. There is a copious puddle of fresh blood on the floor, and a bloody trail of footprints leads across the room, ending in front of a tall scroll-rack. *encounter description ends.
The letter on the desk is the unfinished letter to Allustan, and next to it is the pile of evidence that he was planning to return to the PCs this evening. Okoral beat them by a few minutes. Eligos was badly wounded, but survived Okoral's death attack, and used a teleport scroll he had handy in his study to escape to Magepoint. At the DM's discretion, Okoral might still be hiding in the house. This would be a good encounter--potentially deadly but not excessively challenging. If you need a mansion floorplan for the combat, use the one in the Mad God's Key (Dungeon # 112 IIRC), removing the features that make it a run-down and abandoned gang-haunt instead of the well-maintained mansion of a respectable citizen.
This solution avoids the need to have Eligos resurrected, but preserves the incentives for the party to travel to Diamond Lake (assuming they don't already know Allustan used to be Manzorian's apprentice--but news of Ilthane will almost certainly trump an early trip to Magepoint), and on to Magepoint afterwards. It also reminds the PCs that just because they killed the Ulgurstasta doesn't mean they won--there are still people who want them dead, which means there are still important secrets to which they must discover the answers. And it adds a potentially interesting additional encounter, if the DM wants it. Maybe Okoral knew the PCs were coming to Eligos's house and planned it all so that he could take care of two problems at once. He's ready for the PCs when they arrive, and after he strikes the first time, they have to find him before he catches the next one off guard! (If you choose this option, you can have him hide Pollard's body and use disguise self to get the drop on both Eligos and the PCs, then use invisibility to escape and set up his second ambush.)
Anyone have any good inspirational reading for this upcoming seagoing campaign?
Besides getting yourselves a copy of Stormwrack, I recommend the following, at the risk of being obvious:
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
C.S. Forrester's Hornblower series
Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders series
Morgan Llewelyn, Grania
Patrick O'Brien's huge series, one of which was inspiration for the recent movie Master and Commander, has a big following, but I haven't read any yet, so I can't give a personal recommendation.
For those of you with more serious literary tastes, you might find the dark, brooding work of Joseph Conrad, especially "the Heart of Darkness" to be inspirational.
Melville's "Moby-Dick" falls into the same category, but if you want lighter Melville reading, try Typee and Omoo, two autobiographical novels inspired by Melville's sojourn as a deserter in Polynesia.
Historical or biographical works on Columbus, Magellan, Drake, and da Gama would of course be worthwhile.
I have a humble suggestion to make for the upcoming AP3. Could you do a backdrop article that, instead of detailing a land-based urban site, details a variety of ships and their crews that might be encountered sailing the waters that will be haunted by the PCs?
I'm thinking not so much the special encounters, but an article that provides some basics for the DM to have a certain merchant ship anchor in the harbor, or to have a notorious pirate's ship appear on the horizon, or to pull in to a coastal cove and witness a slave ship onloading its cargo, that sort of thing. (Of course it might be fun to throw in a few more extraordinary vessels as well--the ship of a notorious sea witch or that of a druid who defends a particular patch of sea from the depredations of whalers, etc.
The idea would not be to provide fully fleshed out combat encounters, but roleplaying opportunities and brief but effective descriptions of the kinds of seafarers and ships or boats the party might encounter, to make the campaign richer and increase verisimilitude. If the DM wants to pass along a rumor about the latest doings of an important NPC, perhaps the slaver captain invites the PCs aboard for a drink when they pull in to the cove he's using, dropping the rumor in the course of conversation. As I envision it the article would not be providing detailed deck plans, but enough description so that the DMs don't have to think it all up themselves if they want to drop a random ship into the adventures somewhere. Instead it would focus on what the ship looks like, the motives of the captain and the traits and situation of the crew, and a brief mention of any other noteworthy NPCs.
Come to think of it, I should have a little free time this summer to work on such a project. Should I put in a formal proposal? (No, I don't have a track record of publishing in the industry, but since I'll be done writing a Ph.D. dissertation in a few weeks, I do have an idea of the basics of good writing, plus a good knowledge of maritime history and naval operations (8 yrs in the Navy, taught these subjects as an ROTC instructor), plus a newly purchased copy of Stormwrack to help with making it fit standard D&D supplemental rules for these things.)
So, I just looked up the MM explanation of the lich's phylactery, and it notes that the lich reappears "1d10 days after its apparent death," but does not specify where it reappears.
If for some reason the PCs don't destroy Dragotha's phylactery, but they manage to destroy his current form in combat, does he reappear at the location of his phylactery? (This seems to be implied by adventure background wording I remember reading somewhere--explaining why Dragotha is afraid to get himself destroyed as a means of locating his phylactery.)
So if it's still in the vault at Kongen-Thulnir he reappears in the vault? Or does he reappear at his place of death?
(I don't have Draconomicon available right now--but I assume the wording for dracolich phylacteries is the same).
When doppelgangers change shape, can they imitate equipment, clothing, etc.?
It seems to me that they're kind of limited if they have to beat up a party member and steal his clothes and equipment in order to replace him, since their supposed to be able to read someone's mind and quickly imitate the form of another person whose presence or arrival is expected. On the other hand, it also seems a bit unfair to let them create any piece of working equipment out of their own flesh.
I seem to recall reading somewhere that all of the enthralled doppelgangers in HOHR carry Zyrxog's brand (depicted in the illustration on 49). But now I can't locate this statement. Do I recall correctly? Are the drow also branded?
Zeech (b. CY 553) begins his adult career as a paladin and Knight of the Holy Shielding, younger son of the Viscount of Alhaster, a Shield Lands noble and a senior Knight of the Holy Shielding. Zeech was quite spoiled growing up, but was sent off to Admundfort at 16 to train with the Shield Knights. After toughening up and proving his worth in skirmishes against raiders from the Bandit Kingdoms, Zeech was called home (ca. 573, about age 21) to assume command of Alhaster’s naval forces, which were then locked in fierce struggles to suppress the pirates and smugglers who used a number of marshy creeks and small islets along the north shore of the Nyr Dyv as bases.
ca. 575 Zeech comes to power. Lashonna has something to do with it—via an ally of hers who was a powerful Erinyes Fiend of Corruption, Evralanya the Ravishing, in the service of Hextor. Evralanya was looking for a place to start a Hextor cult in the western Flanaess, and when Lashonna became aware of her presence in Alhaster, she cut a deal with her—she could operate on Lashonna’s turf, but she had to bring Zeech to power and manipulate him so that he would be receptive to Lashonna’s plans.
Lashonna had been posing as a noble gray-elf sage from Celene, and had been enfeoffed as a baronet by Zeech’s great-grandfather and served as a minister of state for several generations. Zeech’s father did not like some of her advice, which seemed morally dubious to him, and dismissed her from office, but was afraid that a move to divest this popular noble of her title and property would have grave political repercussions, so he let her keep her estate and noble title. Knowing she needed to keep a foothold in Alhaster or see her long-cherished plans to usher in the Age of Worms go to naught, she began plotting on several fronts after her dismissal. On the one side, she brought Mother Maggot in from the Wormcrawl Fissure to help her set up a fraudulent underground cult known as the Ebon Triad, whose leaders claimed that their goal was to perform rituals to merge the evil deities of Hextor, Vecna, and Erythnul into a great overgod. On the other side, she cast about for a way to regain her influence with Alhaster’s ruling family. Evralanya proved the perfect ally.
Evralanya appeared to Zeech in the form of an angelic being, and convinced him that she had been sent by “a divine champion of Law” to aid him in his mission to extirpate the pirates and smugglers. Meanwhile, she used Lashonna’s knowledge of Alhaster’s underside to find and bargain with the most powerful pirate leader. The end result was that Zeech was extraordinarily effective in a short period of time at putting a stop to the sea-criminals, who surrendered to him. Evralanya convinced Zeech that mercy was the best policy, so he put the surrendered pirates to work as “privateers.” In fact, the letters of marque he issued authorizing them to waylay other pirates and smugglers gave them the means to range further afield on the Nyr Dyv, waylaying legitimate merchants in the name of the Viscounty of Alhaster and accusing them of “smuggling.” Meanwhile, Zeech’s “angelic” advisor flattered Zeech into thinking she was in love with him, and seduced him. Over the period of a year or two, she gradually corrupted him into a secret follower of Hextor, and encouraged him in a variety of private perversions to seal him to this evil deity. Just before Zeech’s rise to power, she gave birth to Hemriss. She secreted this deformed girl away in a country manor house as the ultimate blackmail tool.
In 575, Zeech’s father died, and his older brother Zered inherited the title of Viscount. Zered, even more than his father, was a strict Hieronean, completely uncompromising in enforcing the law. He had several of Zeech’s “privateers” arrested when they pulled into Alhaster with their prizes, punishing them with hanging for abusing their letters of marque and killing innocent merchants and their crews. Meanwhile, rumors flew that Zered planned to move against Lashonna and her allies, whom he suspected of treasonous connections with several of the Bandit Kings to the north. Zeech figured that his brother had it in for him, and, his paranoia fed by Evralanya’s whisperings, he secretly conspired with Lashonna to have his brother killed in a hunting accident (late 575 or early 576, depending on the needs of the campaign). Zeech, of course, inherited the viscount’s coronet. After his rise to power, Zeech restored Lashonna to her post as chief minister of the viscounty. Evralanya also became a key advisor, posing as heiress of a minor noble family from an area of the viscounty overrun by Reyhu bandits.
This question came up yesterday after our gaming session--an argument between our DM and a player who had just rolled up a warlock and was plotting what feats to take as he advances.
Can the "point blank shot" feat tree be used to enhance magical ray attacks? The PHB specifically states that Weapon Focus can be used with "ray," but does not mention whether Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Precise Shot, etc. work with magical ray attacks. DM argued against--but I'm not certain I agree. DM feels ranged touch attacks are already easy enough and don't need feats to boost accuracy. (Far Shot may be problematic because ranged touch attacks don't have range increments, and multishot is obviously problematic for everything besides regular bows (plus IIRC there's a feat somewhere for splitting rays). However, I don't see any reason why a spellcaster couldn't practice enough to get better at close-up shots or shooting into melee or shooting off rays while he's moving or riding a horse.
The DM is always right, but since I DM as well as play, I'd like to have a good answer for this question. Any considered opinions on this?
Alaxsim Delaluç A tall, strong young man, fifth son of a minor noble family of the Nyrstran region of the Duchy of Urnst. At 13, his elder fraternal twin brother ran away with a travelling minstrel who visited the family manor. (The two brothers have the Suloise fair skin and blue eyes that Urnst nobility are noted for, but have brown hair, inherited from their mother, who was born into a Nyrondal noble family of Oeridian ancestry from Hammensend. Mother is a Talnith, and her family are a branch of the Talniths who control the Barony of Woodwych in Nyrond.) Not long afterward, Alaxsim expressed a desire to leave home to seek his fortune. (As youngest of five sons, he hasn’t a prayer of inheriting the family domain.) His father used connections with Count Reichart Petrides, the Duchy’s ambassador to the Free City of Greyhawk, to gain young Alaxsim a spot as a neophyte in the Sanctum of Heironeous there. After two years of training, the High Priest, Jaikor Demien, a veteran of many campaigns in the Shield Lands against the forces of the evil demon-king Iuz, deemed young Alaxsim ready for his first assignment. After an all-night vigil, he was ordained a Sacred Warrior of Heironeous and posted to his first assignment. One of the Heironean paladins at the Free City Militia garrison at Diamond Lake was slain in battle by Lizardfolk, and Alaxsim was sent to replace him. He performed his duties at the garrison for several months, becoming familiar with the community and its surroundings, when one night he had a chance encounter with his brother Alandrin, who had wandered to town and had hired on as a performer to entertain the crowds at the soldiers?tavern known as the Spinning Giant.
At the risk of being a fan-boy, allow me to be the first to congratulate James Jacobs on an earthshaking penultimate adventure in the AoW series!
Several weeks of foot-tapping came to an end today when I got home from work and found #134 in my mailbox. (Proximity to the Paizo printing subcontractors seems to be one of the few advantages to midwestern living!)
One of the greatest things about this AP is the way it consistently blends role-playing opportunities with throw down the gloves no-holds barred combat, and this adventure once again succeeds. Bards can shine in almost all of the adventures, yet there's enough hack and slash to keep the fighters and clerics happy. I completely dig the goth lillend and her "amorous" lich admirer--this is a dyad for the ages. A quarter century from now, when our kids are editors and designers, they'll be figuring out cool ways to work references to these two legends (along with Lashonna and Prince Zeech) into AP XXVII.
I haven't finished reading yet, but if I may ask a couple of minor technical questions:
1. The description of Zulshyn's tower places the apocalypse golems in "room 4." From the map, though, it would seem that they are supposed to be in room 2, which has the five west facing windows cited in the text and appears to be facing west (there's no compass rose, so I assume left is west). This would also be the more logical place for them--in her gallery rather than the storeroom. Is my understanding correct?
2. The description of how Bucknard's spirit fragments work once they are in Dragotha's presence and bond with the PCs (p. 70) confused me a bit, perhaps because I'm still not that familiar with "immediate actions" and how they work. Do I understand correctly that if Dragotha flamesprays the PCs, PC #1, bonded with the "artist" fragment, can make his save using the luck bonus, then pass it to PC #2, who makes his save and passes it on around the party? If so, this seems quite a powerful effect, and also, it might be simpler just to say that a bit of each fragment infuses each character in the party--since the mechanical effect on the game will be the same and less time will be spent discussing who's passing which fragment to whom. Where are the rules for "immediate actions" detailed?
Anyhow, you've pushed the bar up another notch, James, and I can hardly wait to see the grand finale! Keep up the outstanding work!
Peruhain
P.S. I assume that's a preview of the cover art for #135 on p. 14? I guess that means that Kyuss is back, and the Age of Worms is truly upon us. Bwahahahaha!
I just found a cool map of the Bandit Kingdoms and Rift area on Cannonfire--for those of you who, like me, want to know exactly where the characters are and want to avoid the "you teleport right to the front door of the dungeon" syndrome. The map has Alhaster and the Rift on it, including the Wormcrawl Fissure. It doesn't place Kongen-Thulnir, but that is easily remedied. Here's the url:
1. Do you allow characters to take multiple prestige classes?
2. Do you assess multiclassing XP penalties when a non-human combines a non-favored class with a prestige class and the class levels aren't close?
I'm interested because it seems to me that I have seen an awful lot of characters with triple or quadruple class combos involving PrCs mentioned on the boards here, and even a few statted up in the pages of the Dungeon. Impressionistically, such characters as PCs seem to correlate strongly with rants about how easily PCs knocked off high powered encounters, and such characters as NPCs seem to correlate strongly with TPKs.
My own thoughts are that the PrC is supposed to be very SPECIAL. It is an unusual discipline that the character has chosen to devote himself to, and must be pursued single-mindedly. Depending on the PrC, I may let the PC keep adding levels in the original base class, but usually would encourage maxing out the PrC first. And I would almost never allow addition of another PrC--the player would have to give me an ingenious roleplaying justification before I would allow it.
On the other hand, I don't think PCs should ever be shorted experience points for chosing a PrC--in my mind, if they take a level in a PrC, it effectively becomes a second favored class.
I haven't seen any explicit statement in the RAW to back either opinion. What is everyone else's thinking on this issue?
I was giving more thought to the long term treasure satisfaction (and survivability) of my party today, and realized that the AP has very little of the prime treasure that keeps wizards going--spellbooks!
OK, sure, in the first two adventures, they potentially face five wizards--Merovinn Bask, Filge, and the Faceless One and his two Acolytes (with similar spellbooks mostly overlapping with their masters). So the lower levels of their spellbooks will be fairly nicely filled out by the time they head off to the Free City.
After that, though, pickings are slim. In HOHR they face Telakin, who (if I understand correctly) has access to the daily prepared spells of the wizard whose brain he consumed, but does not possess said wizard's spellbook. Telakin has a measly scroll of fireball--which almost any fifth level wizard is going to write into his spellbook at the top of his third level spell list. In the arena, they face Khellek, but the rules make it unlikely that they'll get even his scrolls, let alone his spellbook, unless the party saves his bacon against the Ulgurstasta and this NE character somehow finds the gratitude to pay his wizardly counterpart back by sharing some arcane spells with him. Allustan might let a wizard character plagiarize his spell book in gratitude for his rescue from Icosiol's tomb, but that covers nothing above 4th level. After that, the only treasure that can possibly expand a wizard's spell-book is the three mid-level illusion scrolls possessed by Krekie the kenku assassin on Tilagos Island, assuming she doesn't use them. If the your party wizard merely takes the spells he gets for level advancement, he's not going to have access to all that many mid- to high-level spells for the nasty combats in the last four episodes.
Since spellbook plagiarizing takes time, it might be hard to find a realistic way to let the wizard make us of, say Bucknard's traveling spellbook, if they should happen to find that item while exploring the Wormcrawl Fissure--my understanding from the overload is that the party pretty much has to go straight from defeating Dragotha (if that's even possible) through the gate to Alhaster to save the day against Kyuss--perhaps with one night of rest to recover spells and hit points.
So if your party has a wizard, you may want to include as part of Manzorian's gift a few free visits to his library of spellbooks--maybe let them copy 10 or 20 levels of spells of their choice on each R&R visit to Magepoint. (And I'd have the party return to Magepoint after LLR, if possible, and maybe after KotR as well. Otherwise, maybe have them do a side quest against an evil wizard, or let them stumble across a captured spellbook in Lashonna's cache in the Overgod's chamber in Alhaster, or somewhere in KotR or SLS.
Otherwise, figure out a way to slow down the pacing so that the wizard has lots of time to do research!
My trivia curiosity machine was going today, and for some reason I got going thinking about where different monsters in D&D came from.
OK, so we can all guess that the froghemoth is purely a creation of game designers, and we all know nymphs and dryads come straight from greek mythology. But there are a lot of other classic DnD monsters that have obscure origins in old fantasy/scifi novels, or are ultimately derived from folklore/mythology but the D&D version is modeled on a specific literary antecedent.
For example, trolls are ubiquitous in Scandinavian folklore, and come in both large and small sizes. The medieval Icelandic sagas recount battles with trolls (I was struck by the description of one entering a house in the middle of the night to attack the inhabitants in Grettir's Saga, an otherwise starkly realistic narrative, when I read it in a medieval lit class in college). They've been used by many fantasy authors (Tolkien, Terry Brooks come to mind). But the only fantasy (or folklore) troll I've encountered that closely approximates the D&D troll (green skin, regeneration, etc.) was in Poul Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. So I suspect that's probably what Gary Gygax (or whoever invented the original D&D troll) used as primary model for the D&D troll. (Incidentally, surfing wikipedia a while back I discovered that the word "drow" is derived from "troll"--Orkney islanders applied the Norse word to the Celtic dark elves that supposedly lived in subterranean places--in present-day Orkney dialect the word is "trow" (rhymes with "throw").
We can thank Tolkien as the immediate source for halflings, orcs, goblins, red dragons, balor demons (clearly modeled on the Balrog), stone giants, and possibly wights and wraiths--although obviously Tolkien himself was drawing on medieval literature and folklore. ("Orc," for example, is an Old English word used in Beowulf to describe the monster Grendel--it derives ultimately from Orcus, a Roman deity of the underworld, and thus shares the same root as "ogre.")
But I'm curious, is there a literary source for "gnolls"? What about dragons that spit lightning, acid, or poison gas, rather than the more ordinary fire? What about elves that are 5 feet tall? (Tolkien portrays them as looking more or less like extremely beautiful humans, with no noted size difference, while folkloric elves vary tremendously, covering a wide range of "fey" types as well as something more closely approximating the D&D elf.) What about ogre mages?
So, consider this an invitation from your pedantic local bard to trade a piece of monster lore over a pint of ale, and boost our collective knowledge (dungeoneering) scores.
Well, after all my woes with late issues last two months, I was flabbergasted to find Dungeon 133 in my mailbox this afternoon, the day after advertised shipping date--in MI. Did you guys start overnighting these things, or did you buy a teleportation device?
I think I forgot to mention that this NPC database is not solely AoW, but has sections for all the major campaign worlds and for SCAP (and generics)--so it's a useful resource beyond AoW.
In case anyone is interested in more backstory on the "rival party" for Kuluth-Mar, here it is. If not, you can skip the rest of this post.
Party encounters a rival party when they arrive at the ruins of Kuluth-mar (or perhaps 1st time they retreat outside the obsidian circle to rest and recover). This party will initially be suspicious, perhaps come to blows with the PCs, but may ultimately be willing to ally with the PCs to find their missing member, Deyram. One or more may be willing to enter the Ziggurat to investigate the ruins if the party needs help, and Thelyani may be willing to offer healing, for a barter price of some sort (in my imagination, no coins in the Amedio Jungle, the natives use cowrie shells).
Thelyani the Wormscarred (F Wild Elf Cleric 8 (Sehanine)/Wormhunter 5)
Madranji the Wormborn (M Wild Elf Ranger 2/Sorcerer 6/Eldritch Knight 5)
Bayarali the Serpent (F Half-elf Ranger 6/Hexblade 6)
Deyram Sarrivin (M Human Rogue 12)*
[Stats posted on the website listed above. Bayarali was inspired by the Hexblade illustration on Complete Warrior p. 5]
Deyram and Bayarali were slaves of a Scarlet Brotherhood agent in the Hold of the Sea Princes, but escaped when they were brought to Cauldron by their master. Bayarali led them to her mother?fs tribe, the Mangaroo Marsh sept of the Tiger Grugach. They found the tribe under siege, having encountered a number of minions of Kyuss recently. They joined two of the tribe?fs heroes on a quest to find the source of the scourge of worms plaguing the tribe. Thelyani was once nearly transformed into a spawn of Kyuss, having received a Kyuss worm but discovered as her mind was being dulled by the gnawing worm that cure disease would kill it. She was able to restore her intelligence, but was deeply touched by the taint. Madranji was touched by Kyuss while still in the womb, as his mother was infected by a slow worm and transformed into a Kyuss zombie while giving birth to him. Madranji was strongly infused with necromantic powers from birth, but bears a deep hatred for Kyuss. While investigating a series of sites connected with the strange green worms, they found a copy of the apostolic scrolls, learning of the prophecies of the Age of Worms. Later, Deyram inadvertently ingested a thrall worm, and he is now fighting its effects. [The "thrall worm" idea is still under development, will post when it's done; meanwhile, backstory can be easily altered]. Under the influence of the worm, he left the party 15 leagues away and came to the ruins. His fellows tracked him to the area and are looking for him.
