I was initially very excited when I first heard of the Words of Power system, and finally be capable of crafting my own spells. It brought to mind a sort of "sandbox" magic system.
After going over the playtest document, I'm a bit taken aback at the system. It seems very rigid and overly complicated, making spellcrafting custom spells more of a chore, and the end result wedged so hard within exact categories of what you can and cannot do, that it feels less custom and more like a stripped down compromise. What I would like to see is a simple system that flows to make spells quick on the fly without having to double check an obstacle course of point totals, limitations, and requirements that are difficult to keep track of in the middle of a fight. I would also like it to embrace the creativity capabilities, allowing for thousands of combinations of new spells. The current playtest has been released with the side note, "You won't be able to do everything you can with Words of Power that you can with normal spellcasting". My reply is simply, "Then why use a system that restricts us to limited spells?"
First is the complexity. I honestly think the best system is a sliding scale. Rather than having "Small/Medium/Large" lines, bursts, cones, etc, your maximum area of effect should scale with level. A burst would start with a 5 foot radius. Every other level the maximum radius increases by 5 feet, so that by 20th level you're flinging 50 foot radius bursts. Of course, this would be your maximum area of effect. A skilled spellcaster could still power it down and reduce the area of effect to any of the smaller radius that he knows. This reduces having to fiddle with Large/Med/Small mechanics for each target word. A single one to determine shape, then it scales with your level. Easy to figure out on the fly the sizes you can shape to. Costs could be scaled with higher areas as well, if needed for balance reasons, in exactly the same way.
Basic damage spells should also be treated the same. Instead of having a handfull of fire spells that all burn for different dice, just have ONE. Again, the damage would scale up as you level. A spellcaster can still put less spell energy into the spell and cast it with lower dice should he choose. Now, the only reason for multiple "fire" words would be for different "types" of fire, such as flame, lava, fire that was persistent, etc. Even non damage spells can benefit from scaling, such as a single Summon Servitor that scales with level.
A scaling system like this would go a long way to begin streamlining the system and make it simpler to work with.
The point system is a bit of a mess. Figuring out the points, then having to go back and figure out what level the spell is based on multiple criteria on number of words, point totals, etc... it's not /overly/ complex, but it defeats the fluidity of the system and can slow a combat turn to a crawl. I'm not overly excited about a point system for the words, but I don't have any superior suggestions handy at this point. At the very least, the level of the spell should be determined by it's total point cost. That's all, no other factors. Keep it easy and fast.
As for creativity, I see no reason for not including SCORES of words that cover everything from creation, to utility, sparkly effects, and moving things about. Give us the tools to create any sort of spell that we can think of. I would rather the Words of Power system do less DPS as a whole than standard spellcasting, if it meant I could have the capability of literally casting any kind of crazy spell I could think up. The spells don't necessarily have to have the capability to destroy worlds and move the cosmos, but they should be the players personal spells that they tinker, create, perfect, and OWN a part of.
Words of Power, as I see it currently, has HUGE potential, and I am genuinely eager to see what Jason Bulmahn and the rest of Paizo does with the system and how they develop it. As of it's current state in this Alpha, I see including it in my games as a GM only as a general framework that I would then use to heavily modify for my own houseruled system. As a player in other games, I feel that without the capability for creativity or slick on-the-fly tinkering with spells without having to refer to multiple charts and calculations, I would choose not to use this system.
Currently I'm running Rise of the Runelords for my group. I took a look through the Seven Swords of Sin module, and decided that it would make a great side-trek in between Hook Mountain Massacre and Fortress of the Stone Giants.
In reading through the Seven Swords of Sin, while I found parts of it to be deviously brilliant mechanically, the actual storyline, history, and reasons were horribly bad in writing. I love all of the Pathfinder writing, but I have to admit that this module is the worst written Pathfinder product. In addition to this, there is sadly only ONE reference to Thassilon during the entire module... the Seven Swords. So, I took it upon myself to rewrite the module in order to fit it into and more seamlessly integrate it with the existing story of Seven Swords of Sin.
So, for those of you interested in running Seven Swords of Sin in your Rise of the Runelords campaign, hopefully you can get a few ideas from this!
In my campaign, Nualia was captured alive and taken to trial, where she was released by Ironbriar (Who pinned all of her crimes on Lyria) and has been hounding the party ever since. After Hook Mountain Massacre wrapped up and the party had some downtime, the party cleric, who has a personal quest to track down, capture, and redeem Nualia to good once again, tracked signs of Nualia's passage from Fort Rannick through Varisia, to Kaer Maga. After returning to the party to inform them of her new "Hideout" in Kaer Maga and enlisting their aid, the party set off for Kaer Maga in full force.
For the actual Dungeon, I heavily modified the rooms and layouts instead of using Seven Swords of Sin's default map. For most of it i used the free "Map a week" wizards tower map released by Wizards here as a base template and heavily modified it for my use:
Level 1 is mostly newer architecture than the rest of the dungeon, but most of it is still abandoned and crumbling. On this level I placed rooms 1, 2, and 18 as an inner courtyard garden (long abandoned and overgrown).
Room 1
I added lots of pillows, silk drapes, and throws similar to how the rooms of Xanesha and Lucrecia's dens were decorated. This room is where Nadina, third and oldest sister of Xanesha and Lucretia entertains her "guests" and deals with business with outsiders when she needs to.
Room 2
As written
Room 18
As written
Beyond the doorway from room 1, I included a long, circular hall that defines the perimeter of area 18. It is populated by four more thugs.
I added several empty rooms full of refuse and destroyed old furniture and crumbling remains. One room's wall has crumbled, revealing a hole into a dark hallway beyond. The hallway is choked full of debris and shows signs of being much, much older in architecture. It also has signs of Thassilonian origin. Much of the hallway is choked in debris, but a small side room is clear enough to enter. The floor has given way in the far corner, allowing one to crawl below to the next level.
Level 2:
I used the Wizard Tower 1 map as a basis for this level. The party crawls through a hole in the ceiling, finding themselves in the southwestern most room. The map makes for "clusters" of rooms in circular areas. The southern most cluster of rooms include rooms 3, 8, 11, 15, 23, and 26. The middle cluster of rooms include 9, 12, 13, and 24. The northern cluster of rooms include 16 and 17.
Room 3
I replaced the Gray Render in this room with a mechanical construct, set as a trap by the Thassalonian wizards of greed. I used the stats of an Owlbear, gave it DR 5, and construct traits.
Room 8
The largest room on the west side of this cluster, the Incinerator and smelting forge is currently inactive and sealed by large, heavy metal doors that cannot be lock picked. The room does not actually become active until the complex's power source (Room 12) is turned on. If the doors are destroyed in any way, they fail to hold back the flow of molten metal and stone when the power generator is turned on, flowing out to fill every square within 25 feet of the doors.
Room 11
The southern most room, the ventilation duct and it's controlling machinery is currently inactive until the power source (Room 12) is turned on.
Room 15
The Recycler is currently inactive until the power source (Room 12) is turned on.
Room 23
I replaced the vampire template of the guardian with the construct template and when active acts as if under the effects of a Brilliant Energy enchantment, (And thus safe from the falling blades). He still cannot pass through the walls and floor of the room. The guardian is set into an alcove in the wall, inactive. The slots on the floor and ceiling are clearly visible, but the room, including both the blades and guardian, are inactive and covered in ancient dust until the generator (room 12) is turned on.
Room 26
This is the northern most room of the southern cluster. This room's trap does not go off until the power is turned on (room 12). Fiddling with the switches does nothing and no traps can be detected. The alcove in the western part of this room is a lift that leads down to the lower level. It does not operate until the generator in room 12 is turned on, so until then the players have to climb down the 20 foot drop themselves.
Room 9
The northern most room, this room is as written. The hallway leading north beyond the door is a dead end, leading to crumbling ruin.
Room 12
The large central circular room is home to the Generator. The generator is on a platform in the dead center of the room and is what powers most of the defenses and mechanics of the complex. The room itself is a huge cistern of water, with an iron walkway going around the perimeter of the room just above the water. Another walkway bisects the room from east to west, giving access from the Eastern to Western doors, and allowing access to the generator itself for repairs and maintenance.
The Generator is currently off. Although the nearby room has a console that can turn on or off the generators, the main breaker switch located in room 36 is currently OFF. Once it is switched on, the Generators power up, and can be turned on or off from here normally.
I changed the cosmetics of the giant squid to look more like some ancient tentacled aberration or mutation long lost and forgotten. It remains deep in the murky water most of the time and stays idle. If a lone adventurer walks across the walkway above, he will attack as long as he has the advantage. If the generator is on, the electrical discharges, while harmless to him, still cause him pain, and he attacks anyone he sees on the above walkways to the death.
Room 13
To the east of the main central generator room is the Chaos Circuit. It is currently inactive until the generators in room 12 are turned on. Instead of a mephit, the Shock Sphere floats alone in the center of the room. The sphere itself is immovable. If it or any of the crystal spires are struck enough to do damage, the struck object discharges a bolt of chain lightning, regardless of whether the generator is on or not.
When the generator is powered on, electricity arcs between the crystals and does 6d6 damage to everyone in the room every 1d4 rounds, reflex for half.
The Chaos Circuit is capable of storing the energy of the generator much like a capacitor, so even if the generator is disabled or turned off, the Chaos Circuit is capable of still powering the crystals in room 35 for one hour after the power is shut off. If two of the Chaos Circuit's crystals or the Shock Sphere itself destroyed, the crystals in room 35 become inert.
Room 24
The Natural cave in the southeast corner is expanded, and the water flows through a grate into room 12. The water is normal and requires no save. Otherwise the encounter is as written.
Room 16
In the empty room nearby is another flesh golem, same stats as The Scarecrow from Book 2 of Rise of the Runelords, the Skinsaw Murders, which the Doctor will run to aid him if he feels threatened. Included with the Doctors possessions is a note from Xanesha thanking him for his handiwork.
Room 17
As written
Level 3:
I used Wizard Tower 2 as a template for this level. The southern cluster of rooms include rooms 5, 6, the bottom shaft of room 8, and 21. The central round room is 22, and the northern cluster includes rooms 20 and 25.
Room 5
As written
Room 6
The books in this library are entirely in Thassalonian. Among them are handwritten notes, research data, magical theories, and reports. Some of the less boring books and of particular interest are on the subjects of magical power generation, Demons, controlling and binding outsiders, studies on extracting magical essence from Demons, A report on an extensive list of failed experiments with Oozes and slimes (From harnessing them as a potential power source, to creating sentience and cheap labor.), Research and plans on Constructs as well as experimental research on both very small and very large constructs, A detailed series of research books and data on tapping into alternate realities and planes for strip mining of raw resources and indigenous labor, and various theories and experimentation with raw magical energy through arcane crystals. A DC 20 perception check will notice that quite a few volumes and reports are recently missing from the shelves, leaving areas free of dust where they once were.
A caster of 3rd level or higher who studies the books and research here can learn the feat Inscribe Rune (Page 57 of Sins of the Saviors) if he has an available feat slot. In addition, for each day spent studying for at least 8 hours, they can piece together the magical formula to cast certain ancient Thassalonian spells. For each day spent like this, they can learn these spells (In the order given): Rainment of Command, Blood Money, Deathwine, Swipe, Covetous Aura, Unconscious Agenda, Sign of Wrath. All of the spells are detailed in "Magic of Thassilon", page 56 of Sins of the Saviors. The library contains limited knowledge on the Thassalonian culture and can give +2 on one knowledge check towards Thassalon history.
Room 8
The largest western area here is inaccessible on this level. It is the bottom of the incinerator shaft from the level above, however a heavy reinforced magical window portal looks into the shaft here. If the generator is off, you can see the remains and scorched items of the adventurer detailed in the description. If the generator is on, all that can be seen is roiling fire, bathing the surrounding area in a red glow. The window is reinforced to withstand extreme temperatures and is practically unbreakable.
Room 21
As written
Included in the rooms in the southern cluster I added a room full of clockwork and construct parts. The remains of two constructs, now long worn out and broke down, lie in heaps on the floor. A third construct still remains, however he is in heavy disrepair and currently is endlessly searching through the neatly stacked piles of parts and then re-stacking them, searching for a missing part that is not there. He is friendly and if attacked he does not fight back and will only try to flee. The Clockwork servant has the same stats as the Clockwork Librarian on page 46 of Fortress of the Stone Giants, only he currently has 5 hp. He only speaks Giant and Thassalonian, but if a party member can communicate with him, he will ask with what service he can be of aid with. If asked he can give them basic information on the layout of the complex, and that it is one of four magic research complexes spanning the width of Shalast. He knows little else. A nearby storage room contains more parts, including enough to fix the Clockwork Servant along with a few mending spells or relevant skill checks (Such as Knowledge: Engineering or Craft: Construct). He can be convinced to follow and assist the party (or even taken as a Cohort) but will never willingly fight in combat, preferring to flee to safety first, fighting back only if fleeing is not an option.
Room 22
The circular, large room is filled with water with only small platforms along the southeast and northwest sides. Water courses down the walls draining from area 12 above. The walls are also scarred with huge verticle gashes in places. The water itself is dark, but someone near the center of the room with a bright light source would be able to make out the outline of a huge submerged object in the very center.
The submerged object is the room's guardian. Instead of a Casuval, I replaced him with a Huge size Iron Golem construct. He is heavily rusted and is made of armor that is strikingly similar to that worn by the "sleeping giant" in Hook Mountain Massacre. Instead of the Iron
Golem's gas breath weapon, it can spit acid (retaining the stats for Casuval's breath weapon). He is inert when the generator (room 12) is off and appears to simply be a huge statue sitting underwater. When the generator is on however, he is active and casts off an inner glow that shines through the seams and slots between his metal plates, which can be seen from the surface. If anyone attempts to cross the room (whether by boat or any other method), he stands up, rising out of the water to stand waist-high. He then asks in Thassalonian for the pass-phrase (now long since forgotten to time) before allowing them to pass. When none (or the wrong one) is given, he summons the water elemental, then attacks. He will not leave the room, but will try to prevent anyone from crossing it. If the generator is ever turned off again, he will become inert once more.
Room 20
I removed the infested thug. Otherwise, as written.
Room 25
As written. A shaft of light can be seen far above.
Level 4:
This level uses rooms 10, 25, 27, and 28. I drew the level out by hand, tracing out the same three circular rooms from the previous maps. I then connected them with a snaking hallway, forcing you to pass through all of the rooms but 10, before connecting to a stairway heading down.
Room 10
Added as a side room along the hallway. The door itself appears to be trapped, but when inspected seems to focus a Magic Circle against Chaos spell bound into the door frame, preventing any chaotic outsiders from passing through. The room contains two podiums with large tomes open on each, one next to each portal. One reads like a bestiary and exploration log, while the second one contains a resource and materials ledger, specimen inventory, labor count, and also details numerous alternate-pocket-reality experiments. Otherwise is as written.
Room 25
The northern most circular room is the bottom of the stairwell. To the south the doors exit into the hallway leading toward the other rooms, to the West a large thick steel door bars passage into a 10x10 metal lift that lowers down to the lower level. Both the door and the lift are inoperable if the generator (room 12) is off.
Room 27
The southern most circular room. The traps are inoperable (and undetectable) when the power is off. Otherwise as written.
(Optional): In room 27 I had Viorian Dekanti (page 50, Spires of Xin-Shalast) enter from behind the party. Her weapons are sheathed (She wields a masterwork scimitar currently and does not yet have Chellan), and she appears to be nonthreatening in posture, largely ignoring the party. She will ignore any conversation, and if prevented from walking towards her destination (room 36) will warn, "Get out of my way now, or suffer my blade.". She does not care to fight and has much larger business at hand, and will only attack those who stop her or attack her directly. If forced to attack, she will focus on downing the one person as quickly and effectively as possible, then shoot a look of warning towards any others who wish to cross her.
Having a bit of a twisted cruel streak in her, if she is forced to attack anyone, being a highly skilled warrior, she will pull any fatal shots, leaving her opponent unconscious but alive. She will leave her sword impaled in their body with the final shot (letting go and not pulling it out) and say, "You can keep it. I won't need it anymore now.". She will then pull a knife out and scar (or if the campaign is more gritty, scalp or remove the ear of) the unconscious PC before proceeding to continue on to room 36.
Room 28
The large central room has a circle of glowing runes in the very center of the floor. The runes surround a faintly glowing shaft of energy that appears to be containing roiling smoke. Brief glimpses of movement can be seen within the smoke. Spaced evenly along the outer wall are six crystals, five feet in length, each topped with a humanoid skull. When the power is off, the skulls radiate no magic, and the barrier is impenetrable.
Once the power in room 12 is turned on, the barrier can be dropped by the controls in room 36, releasing the Vrock inside. The center of the room fills with thick smoke, giving full cover. The rest of the room is choked with light smoke, providing partial cover. The skulls radiate magic and focus a colored beam of light on the Vrock and empower it with spell buffs (instead of the cultists). Each crystal has hardness 8, HP 50.
Level 5:
On this level are rooms 29, 30, 35, and 36.
The stairs to this level leads down a short hallway and then opens up into a large circular room. The floor is carved with the sihedron star that glows when the generator in room 12 is on, and doors leading in all four cardinal directions. West leads to the stairs up, North to room 29, East to room 30, and South to a small study (description below).
Standing in the center of the room is Nualia, holding Garvok, sword of wrath in a locked gauntlet. She will fight until she reaches half hit points, then attempt to flee to room 36, using Stoneshape to seal the hallway behind her to aid in escape. There she will attempt to heal up.
The Study, the room south of the sihedron chamber, is filled with a few stacks of books and notes taken from area 6, along with hand-written translations and notes in common. The books and notes seem to be mostly on the Seven Swords, but also partly on Demon experimentation, and the specifics of dominating or controlling constructs.
Room 29
This room is largely rewritten so much to almost be a completely new encounter. The room has chains hanging from the ceiling in various spots, connected to rails that allow them to slide along the ceiling. Most of the rails all join up and lead down the hall to the west, towards the room of the Dormant Army. Some of the chains have large pieces and parts of various construct components hanging from them, and large parts and plates lie piled about the room. In the center of the room is an Iron Golem that looks like a giant warrior donned in Thassalonian armor. Within it's chest is a glowing sphere of roiling smoke, that sometimes appears to hold something within. It is under the control of Nadina and allows her and her allies to pass. It attacks PC's on sight.
To the east is room 35/36. To the west is the hallway that leads to the Dormant Army.
The Dormant Army is a massive Hall that extends out of sight, filled on either side of the walkway with rows of the same Iron Golems as in Room 29. Near the entrance to the hall is a great steel door. This door leads to a lift that connects to room 25. The lift and golems are all inoperable and lay dormant as long as the generator (room 12) is off. Once it is switched on however, they come to life. They stand idle and will ignore the PC's unless they enter too far into the room, or draw attention to themselves, after which they will march forward to attack.
The golems are under control of Nadina through the console in room 36, however Nadina is currently researching a for a way to control them without it.
Room 35
Removed Upar. Changed the stones to appear as crystals topped with humanoid skulls. The skulls can emit their magic fields for one hour after the generator is turned off. If two or more crystals of the Chaos Circuit are destroyed, they cease to function. Otherwise as written.
Room 36
This room is rewritten as filled with pipes blowing steam (instead of the geysers) and intricate consoles along the walls, with the Seven Swords altar in the center. A swirling portal to Xin-Shalast is open next to the altar.
Changed Tirana's race to Lamia matron, and her name to Nadina. She is the older sister to Xanesha and Lucretia. She was sent out to gain power for Karzoug's army and has been here over the past several years collecting the swords and researching how to take control of the Dormant army, to add to Karzoug's forces. She has since recruited the aid of Nualia to help recover the last of the swords, who in return will get another chance to kill the PC's.
Viorian stands next to the altar and every round takes one of the swords and fastens it to her belt under her cloak. After she has taken five of the swords (Leaving Gorvak for Nualia and Asheia for Nadina), she steps through the portal and returns to Xin-Shalast. The following round Nadina closes the portal and begins focusing her attentions on the party.
Nualia (or Nadina) immediately activates the breaker on the console that turns on the generators in area 12. Doing so also activates the magic barriers of room 35. If the PC's flee or attempt to return to room 12 to deactivate the generator, Nadina will free the Vrock from it's prison in room 28 with the controls on the console. In the event that Nadina feels she is losing the battle, or the PC's are escaping with one of the Seven Swords, Nadina will attempt to cause chaos with the Dormant Army Golems by activating them from the Console. If this happens, or if the console is destroyed, the Golems will begin, one by one, going up the lift into area 25, then climbing the shaft up out into the city. They will attack anyone they come across. Shutting down the generator in area 12 will deactivate them once more.
I cut several rooms from the original mod as I felt they were entirely unnecessary or went against the overall feel of the dungeon and storyline, or any sense of coherency. The rooms i did not include were rooms 4, 7, 14, 19, 31, 32, 33, 34.
How to make your own Seven Swords of Sin!
I've seen a lot of unanswered discussions and questions regarding the rest of the swords of sin. Hopefully this can help people make suitable swords to fill their own campaigns.
In trying to create the stats for Garvok, sword of wrath, I took a real careful look at the two existing stat-blocks for the swords of sin. After a bit i noticed several consistencies and was able to develop these basic rules:
1) An enhancement bonus relative to the level of the adventure.
2) A weapon enchantment
3) A spell-like effect of level 1-3 activated on hit. This must be of a corresponding school to the sin of the sword, ie lust=enchantment, wrath=evocation, etc. The DC of this effect is 20.
4) A spell-like effect of level 4-6 activated on critical hit. This must be of a corresponding school to the sin of the sword. The DC of this effect is 25.
Here is my example.
Garvok, Sword of Wrath
+3 Bastard Sword
Bane (all). The wielder may spend a standard action to change the Bane type to another of their choosing. Only one bane may be active at any time.
Whenever it strikes an opponent the sword produces an effect similar to a Sound Burst, as per the spell, centered on the opponent struck. The DC for this effect is 20. The wielder of Garvok is always immune to this effect.
Whenever Garvok scores a critical strike on an opponent, Garvok unleashes a devastating blast as per the spell Sign of Wrath. This effect is centered on the foe struck. The DC for this effect is 25. The effective caster level for this effect is the wielder's character level.
Ok, I'm slightly desperate here and I'd be grateful for anyone's help.
In the campaign I'm running, Nualia was captured in book one, then released in book 2 and has become a recurring thorn in the player's sides. I've set up an epic showdown now between the players and Nualia for our next session, which is today. The problem? I've completely lost my stats for Nualia. And it's 2am.
I'm throwing in the towel and getting some sleep before the game. Could anyone possibly stat up Nualia (PFRPG rules) to level 12? I remember I had her specializing in slaughtering things with her sword and had extra channeling. That's about all i remember at this point, my brain is fried. Any help, even a quick job, would be most appreciated. Otherwise i'll have to resort to stalling the encounter or winging it, both of which I really prefer not to. So if any kind-hearted DM would lend me a hand while I get some much needed rest, may the gods bless you!
Recently one of my players hit level 9 and took the Leadership Feat. He calculated his own Leadership score and said it was a 15.
Level 9
Charisma mod +2
Great Renown +2
Owns a Keep +2
Total 15.
I told him to hit the brakes, and that his leadership score was 11.
Level 9
Charisma mod +2
Owns a Keep +2
Moves around a lot -1
Caused the death of a party member -1
Total 11.
He normally goes along with my rulings, however he feels i'm throwing him under the bus. We discussed it for some time, and he still feels his number is correct. I decided it would be best if I got a second opinion on things, and so I would like anyone's thoughtful input on this situation.
The three disputed modifiers are:
Great Renown
Moves around
Caused death of a party member
Great Renown
His character he is playing is a ninja (Rogue/Monk/Assassin). The current campaign, if you are familiar with it, is Rise of the Runelords, and the party has reached the halfway mark of Book 3, Hook Mountain Massacre.
He argues that he has Great Renown, through one of three possibilities. (first two are spoiler-ish)
Possibly small Rise of the Runelords spoiler:
1) Adventuring heroes as part of the module, having even been hailed as saviors of Magnimar in public by Mayor Grobaras.
2) Saviors of Turtleback Ferry, having saved Fort Rannick from Ogres.
3) As a renowned member of his Ninja Clan.
My argument is that Great Renown is just that... fame on a large scale. Someone with Great Renown should be largely recognizable or at the very least heard of in most of the region/nation that they occupy. It's Rock Star status. I feel that he is not widely known. In fact, quite the opposite: He has used a false name and disguise since day one. Every time he arrives in a new city, he adopts a new disguise and name, and stays low key. In Magnimar, he was introduced to the Mayor Grobaras as "The Cleric's Torch-bearer" and no one of importance. Even if he had the chance of cultivating enough fame in Varissia to become greatly renowned, he has hid his identity the whole time. While Turtleback Ferry might be greatly appreciative for his actions, it's a tiny backwoods town. And his own ninja clan? They operate in Cells with no central hub, each cell being given its own orders independently of each other. The nearest cell that he reports to is in Magnimar, and it consists of a dozen or so ninjas and trainees. Keep in mind, that he's supposed to be a NINJA. Someone who operates on not being seen, not on being famous. If he was Ask A Ninja i'd let it slide, but he's not.
Moves Around a Lot
His argument is that he now has a base of operations, his fort. It's a single spot to base out of. He wishes to take mostly ninjas from his clan cell as followers and a Cohort, and move the cells headquarters to his fort.
My argument is that he's moved around a lot himself. Back and forth between three cities in the last month, Turtleback Ferry being quite remote. He's also planning on MOVING his proposed followers once they are recruited in Magnimar. I allowed for removing this modifier entirely after its proven that the fort indeed becomes a central spot, and the followers aren't moved around more.
Caused the Death of another party member
His argument is that this isn't even a real modifier in the book and i'm making this up to penalize him. He also feels that he was not responsible for the death. The party member killed was neither a follower nor a cohort, and he was raised anyways so that the death shouldn't matter. Also, that If I am liberal about making new modifiers to the chart, I should add modifiers because of his heroic actions in Sandpoint/Magnimar/Turtleback Ferry.
My argument is that those modifiers under the leadership feat are a guideline, and that more modifiers not listed could apply. I feel he was responsible, albeit indirectly, in the other party member's death, and that may deter a small portion of people who would look up to follow such a leader. Rather than giving him a -2 modifier (as is the case for cohort death), I decided on a -1 penalty because the fallen party member was not under his leadership. The resurrection of the fallen party member should matter little to this penalty, unless he is willing and capable of raising every Cohort and follower of his who dies. (He has not stated so, nor the current liquid assets to do so, so I assume this is not the case.)
Situation of Party Member's Demise:
While the party was fighting an evil spellcaster, nearing it's eventual demise, she cast a spell and her body fell down, limp and comatose. A few moments later, the party Diviner suddenly stopped the Druid from "finishing off" the body, and told the Druid that if she harmed the evil spellcaster's body, he would kill himself. The Ninja immediately stealthed, moved into a position where he was not in direct line of sight of the Diviner, and beheaded the spellcaster's body. The Diviner did not see this. The ninja then moved in and stunning fisted the Diviner, and subdued him. It was too late however, as the "possessed" Diviner was now fine, and posession had already jumped to the Barbarian, who was standing next to the beheaded corpse. The Barbarian spit a foul curse at the party for beheading the spellcaster's body, and committed suicide.
While the player of the Ninja feels he is not the cause of the Barbarian's death, I feel this is a case of the big red "Do not Press!" button. He was warned not to do something, immediately did said action, and a players death resulted.
So what are your thoughts on this?
Is he Greatly Renowned?
Does he deserve the "Moves around" penalty?
Did he cause the Players Death? Should that result in a penalty?
I'm looking for second opinions and work-arounds that I haven't thought of yet in my Rise of the Runelords campaign. We've just started Hook Mountain Massacre and the party just cleared the barn and is about to enter the house of the Graul homestead. Currently the party consists of;
The issue I have is that with his new level and equipment, the Bard has Min/Maxed himself out ridiculously to the point that it's causing a huge problem with the party makeup, and as a result has skewed CR difficulties. The Bard is the party archer, and has Min/Maxed to the point where he deals 1d8+13+1+2d6 per arrow. Combined with a full round attack using manyshot and rapid shot, he's pumping out 4 arrows on a full attack option. That's 4d8+52+4+8d6, a damage range of 68-136, average 102 damage on a full attack option. Considerably more on critical hits. This is a bit much for a level 7 mod.
His to hit is +11/11/6 when doing this. (Also, none of the to hit/damage calculations are taking into count the possibility of Precise Shot feat, which would add an additional +1 hit/damage to every shot.)
This means that when he is facing off against Jaagrath Kreeg, captain of the Kreeg ogres, he needs to roll a minimum of 4/4/9 to deal that kind of damage to him. If he did exact average damage, Jaagrath, including his damage reduction, would have only 12 hp left after one volley from the Bard, with a very very good chance of being one shot entirely. Dorella and Gragavan would be downed in one full attack. Gorger and Chaw has a good chance of being downed in one round by the Bard as well. Lucretia ACTUALLY has a chance of lasting more than a single round with the bard needing to roll a 17/17/20 to hit her. Grazuul, at 140 hp, barring a critical hit, would survive until the SECOND round before splatting... assuming the Bard solo'd him. Party support could still drop him in the first round. For the most part, the Bard could solo the entire module at this point.
Every other lackey Ogre is even easier, the Grauls encountered already such as Crowfood have been single shot before they got within range of the party.
I'm not throwing this mod at them without a challenge. I refuse to play a mod as a cakewalk for them. Unfortunately, i'm really stretching for ways to counteract the MinMaxer without blatantly invoking rule 0 all over the place ("Uhh.. yeah. ALL ogres have DR 10 in my world." *eyeshift*) ("Oh sure, Ogres are wizards all the time. So about that Windwall..") or upping the CR's to a point where it starts eroding any sort of "safety zone" in standard encounters, making it so that a series of bad rolls could easily flip things towards a TPK.
Yes, i've talked to the player and it's how he chooses to play his character in the party. His entire character "concept" revolves around practically firing missiles from his bow, so the problem is now on me as a DM to deal with it.
Short of DM wrath, what are some better options for me here? Specifically, how can I alter Hook Mountain to up the challenge against the Bard without TPKing the rest of the party, and keep the entire module from being cakewalked?
We currently have a disagreement on the rules regarding greater grapple.
A character with greater grapple is currently standing in melee range with two opponents, one of which is currently grappled. On the characters turn, as a move equivalent action, he harms his grappled opponent. Can he then, as a free action, drop the grapple and then use a standard action to grapple the second opponent, thus completing his turn?
I see nothing in the rules that would prevent this, but our GM says multiple opponents can't be grappled in the same turn. I agree that multiple people can't be grappled at the same time, but this action is only grappling one person at a time. Which call is correct?
I am currently running a Pathfinder campaign and have been trying to stick to Pathfinder Core books as much as possible. However, one of my players is playing with rules for the Ancestral Daisho from Oriental Adventures. He wants to give it the "Assassins" property, similar to that of the Assassins dagger.
1) Is this even possible? It seems to me that an assassins dagger is specifically unique and only comes constructed specifically as a dagger. He cites that under crafting rules you can "change what slot a magical item takes up by a 50% increase in cost", and wants to pay the additional 50% sacrificial cost for the Ancestral Daisho to awaken the assassins property in it. Is this legit?
2) Even so, there are no rules for assassins property on other magic weapons. I see this as further evidence of the dagger being unique. If not, would 'assassins' take up a +1 or +2 weapon bonus?
3) Are there any Pathfinder rules in any of the books that are similar to the Ancestral Daisho or Assassins blade? I would much rather convert as much as possible to Pathfinder rules on this. If i had some Pathfinder reference for this, perhaps it would be much easier to rule on.
Not sure if this is a general rules question, or a homebrew question, so i'm throwing it here first.
I've been able to find zero information on Swarm Animal Companions. Searching the forums here, i've found lots of references to players using them, but no actual rules on them. I've scoured the books in Pathfinder and even a few 3.5 splatbooks for info on this and the closest I can come across is a tiny reference on a wizards.com article where he adds them on a companion/level chart but leaves no rules, and the two feats in the Campaign setting, Vermin Heart and Vermin Companion, While those feats do cover vermin species (The most used type of creature in swarms), they don't cover swarms themselves.
So what rules are there for Swarm Companions, existing or homebrew? Is there a way for a swarm companion to be balanced and not overpowered? How would a swarm companion level up?
I've been researching and trying to think up some good houserules for this, but I can't seem to get any good ideas myself without it being overpowered.
Currently i'm DMing a game that has been running since December, and while the players seem to be enjoying the game very much, NOBODY seems to want to choose one character and stick with it. Constantly they are remaking their characters and swapping in new ones on a whim, and the party has just now hit level 5. We did recently have a few players drop due to real life circumstances, but even before then they were character swapping too.
I tried having rules in place to discourage this, but it's not slowing them down. The party breakdown is like this:
Player 1: Bard
Player 2: Ranger > Druid
Player 3: Summoner > Monk/Rogue
Player 4: Priest/Paladin > Fighter
Player 5: Cleric > Sorcerer > Warlock > *dropped*
Player 6: Barbarian > Witch > Back to the Barbarian > *dropped*
The players won't stick with a single character and it's driving me batty as a DM, and i'm at the point where I'm sick of it and not even bothering to work new characters into the storyline and just railroad them into the party. "Bob went back to town and doesn't come back, you meet Bill on the road. Introductions, and off to the dungeon."
The only original party member left, the Bard, has even submitted a new character for me to approve for him to swap to at a later date. The dynamic of the group makeup is constantly changing so that no clear strategy can ever be pinned down for the group to use, and as such encounters always evolve into messy affairs. Currently the party has zero healing (Druid rarely memorizes heal spells, as it's not part of his character concept). The added fact that i'm trying to run them through an Adventure Path is making it hard, as soon there will be no original characters left, the original hook is going to be moot. Since the entirely new party will have none of the previous experiences, they can say "Why are we even here doing this?".
It's slowly starting to dissolve the campaign and I don't think they realize it. I want everyone to keep having fun, but this is going too far. How can I get the players to pick a class and stick with it?
I've never played an illusionist in all my years of gaming because they always seemed very limited in combat situations, and rather lackluster as a concept as a whole. I've recently thought of a very interesting character concept for an illusionist that actually got me excited about trying to play one. In it i'd focus more on out of combat illusions, bieng a master of deception and trickery, and perhaps a bit of a shyster. Why fight that tribe of orcs guarding the magical artifact when you can look just like them and walk right in? Become anyone in a crowd, and essentially never have your own identity. Make others believe whatever you want, from experiences with the divine to simply not seeing what's really there. A fun change of pace, i thought.
Wrong.
Illusionists are worthless beyond the needs of instant flashes of brief trickery. Most illusions only last as long as you concentrate and do nothing else. At higher levels you can have them last a few seconds longer after you break concentration. At 9th level you finally get an illusion spell that lasts more than a brief blip... 1min/level. Then at level 11 you finally get one that lasts... permanently?
The curve is way off there. Why can't an illusionist cast an illusion that lasts for a few minutes, then a few hours, then a few days before jumping straight to permanent? They have to wait until level 11 to get an illusion that lasts more than an hour, and by then the duration is moot.
But what irks me the most is the complete lack of 'self' illusions. Disguise self is rather limiting, and please correct me if i'm wrong, it's the only 'self' illusion in the book. If they want to look like anything other than "a slightly different looking person", I see no real spells backing them up. Transmuters can polymorph and really become whatever they want, but an illusionist can't just LOOK like any creature? Even so, if I stick with Disguise self and roll with it, it lasts embarassingly short. 10min/level. At level 20 it lasts 3 hours, 10 minutes. An epic level illusionist and he can only fool people for a few hours before he has to leave. Ok, so the spell is highly circumstantial and meant only for one shot, pre-prepared encounters that last very briefly.
There's no "staying power" for an illusionist. They make a bright flash, some pretty colors, then move on to a different encounter. What am I missing here? Are they nothing more than glorified street magicians with no... mythical illusiory power of historic myths and legends? "Poof! Oh wasn't that pretty! Well, gotta go!"
I have a 3rd level Ulfen Barbarian that i've been playing. I've made him to be a tough guy, (Con 20) able to take anything thrown his way, and is always ready to get his meaty fists into a brawl. As part of his concept, he specializes in Grappling and Unarmed Combat, with a dash of Catch off Guard thrown in. Who needs big fancy weapons when your fists, or anything else nearby that's not stapled down, is handy enough?
Yes, I know fighting bare fisted is far from optimal. No, I don't want to play a monk... monks aren't the only people who get into fistfights in the world.
Now, the problem that i'm running into is that Unarmed combat and grappling just seems to be not just underwhelming, but drastically so. I was expecting to be cutting my potential short by going the unarmed route as a barbarian, (Hey, i'm going for fun factor, not Min/Maxing) but i'm finding in most encounters I rarely amount to anything more than a doorstop and damage soak. Instead of bieng just average to sub average, i'm bordering on useless. My standard damage range while raging is 6 to 8, with critical hits doing 12 to 16. As far as I can determine, this will stay pretty much the same all the way until i hit level 20, save for the minor rage stat increase along the way. Grappling is worse, as it takes 2 successive grapple checks, 1 opposed grapple check, and two rounds to deal 6 to 8 damage. The party Summoner has an Eidalon that does 15-20 damage on an average hit, attacks multiple times, and can take 70 damage before bieng unsummoned. I had a party member literally say that the summoner is a better tank than me. Ouch.
I don't want to be some ninja-spy-superhero who blows everyone away with my fists, I just want to be MEANINGFUL in combat. I've combed the rules and feats looking for ways to improve my combat capabilities with unarmed or grappling, and can't seem to find any. A way to increase fist damage to 1d6, tactics i'm unaware of, anything? What can I do to just keep pace with the party, or is my character pretty much just a novelty and is most useful as a warm body to prevent flanks?
