RedRobe's page

The Button Pressing tables are nice to have on hand for the more chaos-prone groups like mine.

Session 3 was last Saturday. We still didn't have the full party in attendance due to work obligations. We (I) also had technical issues that delayed the game on Roll20. The cleric (of Mishakal) and ranger (of Chislev) finally completed their prelude and are now fully able to use their divine magic. We played some events at the Kingfisher Festival up to the beginning of the Battle of High Hill.

Some of the old free adventures on wizards.com were for the 1st edition of d20 Star Wars. Are they mostly compatible with Revised? I have the 8th-9th level Tempest Feud that was for 1st edition, too.

Last Saturday my group played two of the three preludes due to the absence of one of the players. It felt good to be back on Krynn with players from all three of my current groups who have each been in one of my Dragonlance games in the past.

My biggest challenge was figuring out how to diver the news of an NPCs death to each character when they all currently reside in the starting town. One even lives with one of the main NPCs. Also, I had to alter the order of the preludes since the (future) cleric was not present. We'll pick that up at the beginning of the next.

How are your games going?

My weekly group and my group for SotDQ will remain 5e until the whole mess shakes out. My weekly Iron Gods group converted to 5e from PF1e and will not be going back or converting to anything else. To us 5e isn't the issue, its WotC leadership. We have tons of stuff to play until things settle down.

That said, my SotDQ party is shaping up. We have a human psi-warrior fighter/Knight of Solamnia hopeful named Ben Gregor, a human hunter ranger, a human life domain cleric of either Mishakal or Branchala, a half-elf diviner wizard/Red Robe initiate, and a minotaur rogue with a subclass to be determined. I need to figure out how to best run the preludes. The wizard will be solo, the fighter and rogue will be together, and the cleric and ranger will be together. Has anyone started their campaign yet?

I'm not really sold on the portal or spelljamming ship being the open door for any race to appear in the world. What connection would they have to make them want to fight for the people of Krynn? Do any of your players want to play a race or class that doesn't fit the setting?

If I have one complaint, it's that the adventure doesn't mention many race options or how to incorporate classes that aren't typically Dragonlance. Even half-elves are only mentioned in one sentence in the Elf entry. My group is sticking to more "classic fantasy" options to keep the feel more old-school. We have a half-elf Red Robe wizard (tradition to be decided) and a human hunter ranger. The third will probably be a fighter of some type.

I converted every monster, dungeon and NPC years ago when I ran my PCs through it. You can find them all over at https://www.electric-rain.net/category/iron-gods/

Feel free to use/not use, modify to your hearts content!

I have been using more refined versions of the various monsters every since (like the guardsmen) and have updated versions of many on world anvil.

UNITY has become a staple of my home-brew setting - the original Iron Goddess was destroyed (at least as far as my PCs know) but an uncorrupted backup was rebooted on Luna and she is known as UNITY the Golden. In fact a PC in my campaign is playing a cleric dedicated to her and I have a 5e domain as well over there.

In my game my PCs obliterated silver mount using a nuke. The moon that The Golden controls (LN goddess) is one gigantic space stations. It's the mega dungeon of my campaign world, and to this day my PCs visit it to "raid" it for loot. In fact, they are there right now trying to find the "Church of Iron Flesh" (cybernetics lab).

Feel free to ping me if you need more help/info.

I've actually been using your conversions quite a bit in Valley of the Brain Collectors. The PCs hate the Valley, so once they decided to go straight to the Hive, and found the AI core, they never went to the decaying drop ship of fungal caves. I'll most likely keep using your conversions once we resume my campaign again. Thanks for your hard work!

After some nudging by Isuma to find more gear and supplies before they travel to the Dominion hive to avenge her kin, the party is about to visit Mad Paetyr. If they are able to cure him of his insanity/restore his wisdom, they'll level to 10th. As 5e characters are generally a level higher in power than 3.5/Pathfinder per the conversion guide, they should be relatively fine if they decide to head to either the Hive or dropship. I'm a little disappointed that the neurocam isn't even findable as written. I'll probably throw it in the dropship of they go there first.

The PCs managed to recruit Longdreamer to carry the escape pod from the Dusklight back to the Choking Tower.
After a couple weeks they converted it to a landspeeder. Specifically the Rebel Troop cart from Star Wars since I'm using that miniature. I adjusted the Chariot Command Speeder stats from pg. 199-200 of the Star Wars Revised Core Rulebook so it holds more passengers and is a bit slower. They arrived at the mouth of the Scar of the Spider after a tense chase by a pack of arumvoraxes.

Today is the day! We pick up with our 5e conversion and I’m pumped! I forgot how long it takes to pick out all the minis for an adventure path module. So much stuff to pack as DM, but I’m ready!

Hopefully you are overstating what will happen.
* - Increased diversity is a -usually- good thing. Yes, sometimes efforts to be inclusive can be a little silly (for example, Adventuring IS going to be ableist by it nature), but this is a game for everyone.
* - Alignment is a trickier issue. Racial Alignments (such as pigeonholing all Hobgoblins as LE) can lead to "justifications" for racism or even genocide. Chosen alignments such as Krynn's Orders Of High Sorcery, however, should remain important.

I agree that the alignment-based orders of High Sorcery should remain in place since the idea of balance is such a key part of Dragonlance.

The culture of the particular hobgoblin tribes recruited by the Dragonarmies can be evil, but I think others could be Lawful Neutral at least.

Didn't know there were so many Dragonlance fans here.

I gotta start reading my books again.

Still want to see more Taladas content though.

DragonLance was the first D&D novel series I read back in high school in the 90s. It's also the first setting in which I ran a 2e campaign. I'm looking forward to the new Weis and Hickman novel series next year.

RedRobe wrote:

Anyone running a DragonLance game in 5e currently? I just picked up Fizban's Treasury of Dragons, and the draconian entry has me itching to run a campaign there again.

Will Wizards do an Official setting book?

There are two more classic setting books on tap for 2022. Since Fizban's was released, and the first book in a new novel trilogy will be out soon, signs point to yes.

-The Worldwound has been closed. The resulting Sarkoris Scar remains teeming with demons that need to be exterminated for some time to come (Rise of the Runelords)

This should be Wrath of the Righteous, not Rise of the Runelords.

Our D&D 2e conversion of Night Below has diverted almost completely into a different storyline because the DM who took it over thought it would be too much of a slog as written. We're still playing in the setting provided by the module, but each of us, for the most part, have been given our own background side quests to work on during the campaign. My universalist wizard/loremaster, and Enigma of the College of Mysteries, will be retired soon. However, due to the responsibilities of a new addition to our family, I may not be able to play the final sessions. I'm ok with it, really. I kinda burned out on the character a while back. High level wizards are complicated. My Iron Gods campaign that has been on hiatus for a few years is on hold for a little while longer, but we have converted to 5e as our chosen system. My group made a deal that if they didn't like how the new versions of the characters play, we'll switch back to PF. However, they seemed to enjoy how they played pretty well during a short adventure detailed in the third book of the AP.

This should have said "Our Pathfinder conversion of the D&D 2e adventure, Night Below..."

I've only ever considered trying to convert my Iron Gods campaign to Fate Core/Fate Freeport Companion just for a trial run of the system to see if my players might want to use it for another campaign. It did not pan out. My groups are highly resistant to change, which is extremely frustrating.

My Iron Gods group has a Guardians of the Galaxy theme:
Peter "Astro Baron" Quill - m, human Numerian Scavenger rogue
Rocco - m, goblin spellslinger wizard
Grit - m/f, ghoran brawler

The other half of the group all have breakfast food names:
Biscuit - m, aasimar monk, twin brother to
Gravy - m, aasimar summoner
Lox - f, aasimar hedgewitch (and her familiar Rasher the racoon), mother of the twins and
07-CB aka Constellation Bacon - f, android warpriest of Torag.

Collectively they are known as the Guardians of Numeria.

Our D&D 2e conversion of Night Below has diverted almost completely into a different storyline because the DM who took it over thought it would be too much of a slog as written. We're still playing in the setting provided by the module, but each of us, for the most part, have been given our own background side quests to work on during the campaign. My universalist wizard/loremaster, and Enigma of the College of Mysteries, will be retired soon. However, due to the responsibilities of a new addition to our family, I may not be able to play the final sessions. I'm ok with it, really. I kinda burned out on the character a while back. High level wizards are complicated. My Iron Gods campaign that has been on hiatus for a few years is on hold for a little while longer, but we have converted to 5e as our chosen system. My group made a deal that if they didn't like how the new versions of the characters play, we'll switch back to PF. However, they seemed to enjoy how they played pretty well during a short adventure detailed in the third book of the AP.

I built a Jedi-type character as a human mind blade magus and picked spells and feats that would emulate the classic Jedi abilities. I was building toward the feat Cut from the Air from the Weapon Master's Handbook. It took a while, and if I tried it again, I would probably multiclass as a fighter for some extra feats and the weapon training class feature.

RedRobe wrote:

Are you planning on homebrewing a setting, or running an established setting like Eberron, Forgotten Realms, or even Golarion?

Gor!

Okay, seriously, I am planning to use the Princes of the Apocalypse sourcebook, which is set in the Realms.

Since Forgotten Realms is the default setting for 5e, all adventures are set there (except Ravenloft, technically), but should have blurbs about running them in other settings. If you do intend to run in the Realms, I recommend picking up the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

I would agree that Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything are essential. They both have additional useful rules including multiple new subclasses. Tasha's also included some updates and additions to the base class features.

Are you planning on homebrewing a setting, or running an established setting like Eberron, Forgotten Realms, or even Golarion?

I am currently running the Carrion Crown campaign on Roll20 and re-writing/customizing a bunch of the stuff to add in small details. I really like to provide a "wheels-within-wheels" nesting of sub plots... so something like encountering a poison needle trap as the party moves about a haunted town suddenly turns into something like...

** spoiler omitted **...

May I ask how you play Carrion Crown on Roll20? Since its not in the marketplace, how do you get the maps in Roll20? I'm currently trying to figure out how to run Iron Gods in there until we can get back to playing in-person. Thanks!

Most deities in 5e only have one or two domains now, though upon looking at the pantheon, some may have up to 3. For example:

Erastil - Animal, Community, Good, Law, Plant converts to Nature and Order (There are no analogs for Community or Good.)

Nethys - Magic converts to Arcana

Urgathoa - Death, Evil, Magic, Strenth, War converts to Death, Arcana, and War (There are no analogs for Evil or Strength)

How did you choose 5E domains for Golarion deities?

I found Zon-Kuthon's domains in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, and one of them is Death, so I just used the Death Domain in the DMG. Its the only one that has a 5e analog, aside from Law which would be Order in 5e. The others are Darkness, Destruction, and Evil. The mi-go cleric follows Shub-Niggurath that has the Animal, Chaos, Evil, Plant, and Void domains, so I just chose Nature for Animal and Plant.

Yes, this wonderful document.

Awesome! Thanks!

Dungeon Magazine #122 has a D&D 3.5 adventure called Root of Evil that is a dungeon in a sentient demonic tree that is taking over a city.

I ordered The Elf Queen of Shannara from a Scholastic Book Club order form in 7th grade. I didn't realize it was the third in a 4 book series, and part of the second series of Shannara books. I was completely drawn in, bought the rest, and couldn't stop. A couple of years later when I was 15, my parents allowed me to play Dungeons and Dragons. My first character was Yuric Sunrider, a half-elf bard inspired by Par Ohmsford from the Heritage of Shannara series. I have been playing roleplaying games ever since.

Like you, I just used 5E statblocks when I could find one.

When it came to monsters with no analog, I picked a statblock from the MM and reflavored their attacks (that way I knew the numbers would work) - 5E monsters generally just have one or two flavourful abilities, so that’s where I put my focus, relying on the D&D designers to have done the maths right.

For skill challenge DCs, I wanted something quick and easy I could just use on the fly. I found that (PFDC/2 + 4) was generally pretty good across all levels (with occasional tweaks, if something seemed off).

For traps and such, I used the above DC conversion for skills and saving throw numbers but the D&D DMG guidelines for damage.

Your calculation worked very well last weekend during my adventure. Thanks!

Should my original post have been in Conversions?

I am currently in the middle of playing solo through Crypt of the Everflame converted to D&D 5e in an effort to better learn the system and to scratch the gaming itch when Skyrim won't cut it. I know the module pretty well having GMed it 3 times in the past, plus I have drawn the maps so its not a chore if I need to teach new players. Combats do run much faster. I also have to rely on the PC rolls to determine how/if they uncover any secrets. I find it reminds me of when I used to test adventures in AD&D 2e in high school before DMing for my friends.

GM fudging to make things more challenging or cheating aside, it's never ok to read a module or AP without your GM's consent. If you hadn't read, would you even know if the GM was changing encounters?

I would recommend picking some 2nd- and 3rd-level characters from the NPC Gallery in the Game Mastery Guide. Two caravan guards can become two volunteers from the Torch town guard, Darryl and Rolo. A cultist with some changes in alignment, spells, and weapon can become the strongest assistant cleric from Joram Kyte's temple of Brigh (Brigh's favored weapon is light hammer). A wanderer can become a traveling bard who volunteered and joined Khonnir's expedition rather than a riskier expedition. Khonnir Baine and Gerrol Sonder finish up a six-person expedition.

Alternately, level-appropriate characters can be chosen from the NPC Guide. I LOVE that book!

I really like the Fate Core system. However, I have only played in a demo session at our FLGS, and a failed one-shot with my regular group. I have run the city and character creation for the Dresden Files RPG with two groups, and a brief adventure with the second of these two. I had fun, but unfortunately only a few players from both groups are open to trying it again. One of the groups adamantly does not want to play anything but fantasy d20 games, so its a lost cause with them. The other group may be up for another try, but I have two Pathfinder campaigns to finish before that happens.

I feel like the biggest issue with the system is getting used to narrative control and the flow of Fate Points. I really want to play more so I am better equipped to run it again.

I received my Wave One lot yesterday. What a great start to my birthday week! Thanks again, Steve!

CrystalSeas wrote:

It's good to remember that the PF1 line is still in production (APs, Player Companions, minis, etc) until August 2019.

It's also good to remember that the blog is about the Playtest for PF2, not about PF2 itself.

Since the minis won't be used in the playtest, it's not likely that they're going to use up blog wordage discussing them.

At the earliest, new minis for PF2 won't be released for more than a year, and I expect that staff will give us information about them in a timely manner. It's just that "timely" is a year away.

It's not like we can't use the PF1 tokens for PF2 unless things radically change in sizes over the playtest. Besides I just use whatever I can.

Seriously, I have an old game called Hero Quest that I yoink models/pieces from because I have nothing else.

I love Hero Quest pieces! Those were the first miniatures I used when I started playing in high school. I still use the dungeon dressing pieces to this day! I even painted the elf and dwarf to match how my character and my best friend's characters looked in our first campaign.

The Pathfinder Tales novel Reign of Stars is directly tied to the AP. Its pretty good. The tech mentioned in the book isn't really like anything found in the adventures, however. At least how it is described.

Visually, the scenes of Rey exploring the wreck of the star destroyer on Jakku in the Force Awakens is a pretty decent visual for Silver Mount or any other Numerian ship-dungeon.

My changes had to do with incorporating Star Wars flavor into the Androffan tech, and allowing the Force-related bits from Star Wars Saga Edition. I've been using Star Wars minis, so the robots have all looked like various droids (for example, Gearsmen became super battle droids). The PCs encountered a "J'dai monk" shortly before entering the Choking Tower. One of the players took the Force Sensitivity feat for his Numerian Scavenger rogue after learning about how to unlock Force potential from the J'dai and his recently-found holocron. I am currently reading Star Wars Outbound Flight, which is what I am drawing inspiration from to change the backstory of the Androffans' extra-galactic voyage.

I've always done homebrew worlds, even when I was quite young and inexperienced. For me the creation of a unique world has always been one of the more appealing aspects of DnD.

That being said it would often be years between campaigns, so new worlds were being created all the time. It wasn't until a year and a half ago that I found a half decade old map, resurected that setting and began building a cannon that stayed consistent.

The continent of Syrix became a lot of fun for me, and felt like a home away from home. Kings, nobles and prominent PC heroes from the past formed an increasingly complex and interwoven cast of characters. It was really cool to be able to reference historical events and heroes, to understand the continent not just as a series of names on Index cards and words on maps but as a living breathing place.

My third campaign in Syrix is when everything went downhill. Despite a fun start with more role playing and out of combat fun than I've ever had, there was a disruptive character. My brother's ranger, established in the previous campaign as an honored war hero, showed psychopathic tendencies for the first time and for no discernable reason. First he threatened to murder a helpful shopkeeper, and when This act got the party outlawed and living in a cave, he threatened the bandit captain who had been letting the party live with them, ending in his trial by combat and death.

Because only one player in the group makes his own sheets, I gave My brother a backup sheet as was tradition when someone dies. This character was a full on murder hobo who died within fifteen minutes, and the third sheet I gave him, apparently trying to avenge the murder hobo's death, became a murder hobo but was Julius Ceasar'd by the party and died.

One session. Three disruptive murder hobos. What really bothers me is how this degraded the story. In fact the thought of my continent bothers me now, the cannon is ruined, like an episode of GoT interrupted by three Tasmanian devils tornadoing Gregor and...

Why would your homebrew's canon be ruined by three characters? They were killed off. What specifically bothers you about the thought of your continent now?

I have a setting based on Celtic, Norse, and Hellenic (Greco-Roman) culture and mythology. At least that was my initial intent. Eventually it became a traditional fantasy setting with that flavor. I use the Norse and Greek pantheons from the 3.0 Deities and Demigods along with a cobbled-together Celtic pantheon pulled from the 1E Deities and Demigods book. There are 6 (mostly) defined countries/kingdoms (2 for each culture), a crossroads/central territory, a former country fallen due to elemental and planar disaster, and 2 outlying undefined areas each claimed in part by two other kingdoms. My biggest issue is finding a shtick for the setting. I don't really have any ongoing conflicts or wars or cataclysmic events. I also have incorporated bits from my favorite settings such as Shannara, DragonLance, Dresden Files, and Eberron. I took a break from my homebrew to run Iron Gods in Golarion, but have recently started a PBP Savage Tide campaign set there and have been thinking about it again.

I tried following the a&&&@!! to the East Indian Trading Co.

But then I had to pick the lock to get in which meant the guards weren't happy, but I don't want to kill everyone (they were quite specific about not killing the a*%@@~#). Which led to a frantic non fight of me paralyzing everyone I saw while trying to stay hidden and follow him. Eventually I lost him though and just reset it.

F@!& this, too much effort for one shout (which is literally the only reason I joined them in the first place).

There must be a fort somewhere nearby I can rampage at to get out this pent up rage from all the not killing I was doing.

Once you pick the lock without being caught by the Solitude guards, you can kill the East Empire guards inside all you want, just avoid killing the Argonian til you get the info you need. Save often!

Also, between all the masks, and wall o' hurt staves i've been collecting, what I really need is something to increase my carrying capacity.

Have you found the Steed Stone yet? It's up around the Thalmor Embassy.

I believe there are doomsday devices in the Technology Guide.

But it sounds like you want something more narrative.

Maybe schematics for a Death Ray from the Technology Guide. :-)

That's closer to what I'm thinking. Perhaps plans for the Extinction Wave Device in the hands/claws/tentacles of the Dominion?

This is the gameplay thread for the Savage Tide adventure path set in my homebrew campaign setting.

The two of us are shacked up in my tiny cottage in the swamp trying to figure out our next move. Have to find some magic bow that can shoot out the sun or something

This sounds like how both my gaming groups summarize plot points in my campaigns...

There is also the 3rd party conversion that was done for Pathfinder Modern that I can't remember the name of.

Would that be Modern Path?

There is also Cernunnos who is statted as an Empyreal Lord.

To allow my players to experience the d20 Modern rules prior to jumping into the linked adventures in the back of the a Urban Arcana book, I am building some of the Pathfinder iconics with Modern classes for them to play through a one-shot adventure. So far I have Amiri as a Tough 3/Thrasher 1, Lem as a Charismatic 3/Glamourist 1, Kyra as a Dedicated 3/Acolyte 1, and Valeros as a Strong 3/Soldier 1. I will also have Harsk as a Dedicated 3/Explorer 1 (from d20 Past), Merisiel as a Fast 3/Infiltrator 1, and Ezren as a Smart 3/Mage 1. I am looking for a 4th level Pathfinder or D&D 3.5 module to run for them. I have considered the Enigma Vaults from the Thornkeep book or possibly one of the 4th level modules from one of the APs I have: Jade Regent, Carrion Crown, Iron Gods, Wrath of the Righteous, Shackled City, or Savage Tide. I will post an update after we have completed the playtest adventure.

Uh, they scavenged them.

No need to over think it.

Exactly. The creature descriptions for these guys even mention that their guns look like they were peiced together from scrap.