Reebo Kesh's page

Have you seen RPGChronciles It's an approved tool that will generate filled sheets after providing proof of owenership.

GM can put in info for players or players can put in their own info.

I have thanks. I just want to fill out the sheets in the Scenario's digitally.

I would be happy to create form fillable PDFs for Paizo for free so we can all have this feature!

With the move to strictly online play (thanks Covid) I've been looking for a way to make the Chronicle Sheets into Form Fillable PDFs.

Seems I can do this with any Chronicle Sheet for an Adventure Path but all the Chronicle Sheets for Pathfinder Society Scenarios are password protected (understandable) but I can't fill these out online and send them to players.

Can I download form fillable Chronicle Sheet for PFS Scenarios or is there a plan to allow this?

Here's the link for WOTC did a Pronunciation Guide for Icewind Dale: Rhime of the Frostmaiden.

It has 50 names all phonetically sounded out.

I do find it odd that the writers who are creating these names don't sound them out.

https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/idrotf/welcome-to-the-far-north#Pronuncia tionGuide

Thanks for the response James, I understand, it is a lot of work.

As you suggested maybe some folk can create their own pronunciation guide and post it here.

Each volume of Season of Ghosts covers one of the four seasons, starting with Summer in volume 1 and ending with Spirng in volume 4. Downtime activities play a significant role in all four volumes; there's not really big chunks of downtime between books as much as throughout each book.

Thanks James, looking forward to it!

Paizo doesn't do pronunciation guides anymore. Nobody will come to your house to shout at you that your pronunciation is wrong.

Let alone the fact that real-world languages have a pronunciation that's all over the place, tomato vs tomato, or ask anybody in Poland to pronounce "jalapeno" or "tempranillo", ideally with a Spanish speaker within earshot so they can get a seizure.

It's not about worrying that the pronunciation police will come along it's about having a guideline to sound out the names phonetically, rather than giving up and just butchering the name. It kills the immersion for our group. It would require minor effort at best from the writer who make up these names.

Considering the names they come up with in other APs you think they would include this as policy. Sadly it's something WOTC does better than Paizo.

Shame Paizo.

Also read on the Paizo blog that each book takes place during a different season.

So does that mean there's downtime between books?

Or does each adventure take 3 months of in game time to play?

Thanks
Reebo

I'm considering running this AP but I'm hesitant if it doesn't come with a phonetic pronunciation guide for all the Asian NPC/monster/place/item names.

I really don't want to butcher the pronunciation of these names and a phonetic pronunciation guide will help immensely with this.

Thanks
Reebo

Can someone point me to a product that details the Verduran forest in Taldor/Andoran please?

Reebo Kesh wrote:

... and Critical Hits from a bite attack vs a spell caster with low AC tend to remove the ability to Step away.

Cause they're at Dying 2.

This happened twice in that one combat.

"You carefully move 5 feet. Unlike most types of movement,Stepping doesn't trigger reactions, such as Attacks of Opportunity, that can be triggered by move actions or upon leaving or entering a square."

https://2e.aonprd.com/Actions.aspx?ID=87

Or you're saying that they teleported in and critically hit on the attack, which meant that the ability to AoO wasn't involved in it.

The general rule is AoO in monsters in rare in Pathfinder 2e and even rarer at low levels. Most players knowing this will assume a monster doesn't have AoO at 1st level and just try and move out of range which would lead to an AoO.

This specifically happened twice in that combat so I hand waved it for just this combat to save two to four players rolling new characters in session 2.

Yesterday we added a 5th player mostly because if someone can't make a session it's harder to 3 man an AP but also because there were several Dying 1 and Dying 2 moments (and one Dying 3) in Chapter 1 of Book 1.

In a combat last night with three Tamagyrs one the five PCs was down to 1hp. I'm expecting things will generally go better in Chapter 2 but I'll adjust as needed.

Thanks for your input.

Reebo Kesh wrote:

Yep AoO on a first level party considering the creatures can literaly jump out of shadow next to a squishy spell caster. Had to remove it. They almost TPK'd from it.

Ok, so they appear next to a spell caster (something that they can only do once a day), and make at most one attack. On their turn the spell caster Steps away (doesn't trigger the AoO), and then either strides further away or casts a spell, neither of which triggers as they are out of reach.

I don't see the issue.

Critical Hits from a bite attack vs a spell caster with low AC tend to remove the ability to Step away.

Cause they're at Dying 2.

This happened twice in that one combat.

For previous debates on the topic see here, here, and here.

Thanks breithauptclan. I guess we'll wait to we hear from Paizo

Hoping for an Official response...

Does the "You can't act while stunned" line in the Stunned condition literally mean your turn is over?

Then next turn you reduce the Stunned condition by 1?

Reebo Kesh wrote:

Event 2 on page 17 has the potential to TPK a 4 person party because of the abilities of the enemies.

Ran this the other night and by Round 2, one PC had 50% hp and two others were Dying 2. Ended on a cliffhanger so I'll update with the results.

It's worth mentioning that I removed one of their abilities before combat started because 1st level PCs shouldn't have to deal with that particular uncommon ability (yeah you know what it is).

What ability are you talking about? I'm reading the creature right now to prepare for this week game, and i don't see anything that look broken.

Yep AoO on a first level party considering the creatures can literaly jump out of shadow next to a squishy spell caster. Had to remove it. They almost TPK'd from it.

I ran the tamagyrs and my party took them down with no issue at all, even when the ones with Attack of Opportunity went for the backline.

I second that the shillelagh users + complex hazard was a much scarier encounter, the hazard hits very hard and I was lucky the shillelagh druids missed a lot of their attacks.

It's all very cool so far though and Bolan just ran away on the zipline

I removed the AoO and they almost TPK'd the party.

The hazard was easily bypassed by the Witch.

My players stomped the shillelagh users.

Event 2 on page 17 has the potential to TPK a 4 person party because of the abilities of the enemies.

Ran this the other night and by Round 2, one PC had 50% hp and two others were Dying 2. Ended on a cliffhanger so I'll update with the results.

It's worth mentioning that I removed one of their abilities before combat started because 1st level PCs shouldn't have to deal with that particular uncommon ability (yeah you know what it is).

There are no illustrations of the dream invader, since the exact appearance should vary from dream to dream, but if you want greater details...

** spoiler omitted **

Ah ok, that makes it easier, I'm new to Golarion so wasn't sure what that looked like. Now I have a better picture in my head (with a quick Google search). Thanks James!

The sidebar covers all the information you would need

** spoiler omitted **

Yeah I get that, be nice to have a picture to show them since I'm sure they will see it eventually.

Reebo Kesh wrote:

Interesting because there are monsters that appear in the AP that don't have images in it nor in the Bestiary where they appear, so I'm curious to see what they do in this case.

Some creatures that don’t have art in the Bestiaries because they are part of a multi-creature entry have art from the pawn sets or battle cards.

Example from The Seventh Arch:
** spoiler omitted **

Presumably they will get used for tokens, though I don’t use a VTT myself, so I am just guessing.

I have the Foundry module and can confirm ALL the Monsters/NPCs have art but the treasure piles use the Moon Knight symbol so I've manually changed them.

I ran it with 4, and they're more roleplayers than powergamers. There were definitely harrowing moments, and one of the players dropped frequently due to a truly astonishing ability to roll ones, but I think there was only one fight where they actually came close to a TPK.

To my thinking, that makes it about right: hard enough to worry the players, not hard enough to kill them all. But every group is different, and your mileage may vary! (For instance, I saw somebody say there's not much opportunity for roleplaying in this adventure, and I can see how that could be—but also, my group roleplays EVERYTHING. Their plan for handling the first encounter in this adventure involved seducing Oakstewards, performing a rock concert, and arranging a sponsorship deal with a local melon merchant, complete with new product jingles. :)

That's good to hear James and what I expect from RPGs. TPKs should happen for two reasons - the dice behave really badly that night OR the PCs make a stupendous tactical error which kills them.

Groups shouldn't have to add 1 or 2 players to APs that are balanced for 4 players.

Of course as others have mentioned but mileage may vary from group to group.

Some of the first APs for 2e were too difficult at times (Age of Ashes, Agents of Edgewatch), but from Abomination Vaults onwards the balance is spot on. Since APs are indeed designed for 4 players, try using the encounter building rules to balance them for more players (because encounter budget increases with each additional player).

I hear you but in my 9 months experience playing in APs (AV and BL) with 5-6 players, nothing the GMs are doing makes a difference, the party curb stomps encounters. I'm seeing this on message boards as well.

Adding more monsters, making them Elite etc it's just not working. It goes back to Action Economy, the same issue that plagues that other game system. Either groups need to limit to 4 players or Paizo needs to make APs for 5-6 players since when GMs try to do it, it's not working.

I'm about to run Gatewalkers for 4 players. Let's see what happens.

I'm excited to get started with this one, really been enjoying reading through the pdf. Any idea when the foundry module will be released? I have a game tonight, and as long as it doesn't release too late in the day, we would love to get started on this.

I've asked the same question in the Gatewalkers thread, no response so far.

Just wanted to drop in and say thanks for the kind words, folks! I was really excited to get to write an adventure focusing on several of my personal favorite aspects of the setting. (As soon as I finished writing, I turned around and started a Gatewalkers campaign with my home group, and we've been having a blast!) Huge props to Patrick Renie and James Jacobs for masterminding such a fun project!

Hi James, are you running with a 4 person or 5-6 person party?

I'm new to PF2e and everything official I read is that APs are for 4 PCs but players and GMs I talk to say they end up running with 5-6 players cause the APs are too hard. Then they complain the APs are too easy.

How is your group finding the difficulty?

Interesting because there are monsters that appear in the AP that don't have images in it nor in the Bestiary where they appear, so I'm curious to see what they do in this case.

We strive to include downtime opportunities in ALL of our Adventure Paths, particularly in between volumes, but often also in between chapters. That said we do also often include specific suggestions or even entire sections that are about downtime, so that more literal-minded GMs are reminded that Downtime is an important part of the adventure. It's easy to forget that when the whole adventure is something you can read right through, I guess, or the players are just super eager to continue to the next plot point.

But talking a bit more about crafting opportunities when they're above (or alternately, below) this expectation is a good bit of feedback to include in Player's Guides, that's for sure. Thanks for the suggestion!

As always, thanks for the reply James.

Will the Foundry VTT module for Gatewalkers have token images for the monsters in Book 1 that currently don't have images in the Bestiaries?

Hey guys, will the Foundry VTT module for Book 1 be released tomorrow?

If not do you have a release date?

With the upcoming release of the new Treasure Vault, with it's updated Crafting rules, I'd like to suggest something.

I feel we need future Adventure Path Player's Guides to mention whether their will be Downtime opportunities to Craft in the Adventure Path or if it will be non stop go, go, go with little or no chance for that.

I hate having to tell players if they take Crafting because they want to make stuff in downtime that there will be hardly any downtime.

I get that the GM can slot downtime whenever they want but sometimes it might not fit in the story so a little guidance from the writing team might go a long way.

Thanks

Side trek about Player's Guides:

** spoiler omitted **

That all said, if you really don't want to take any of the backgrounds offered in this player's guide, you should absolutely work with your GM to decide how you'll get your deviant powers. I didn't write this player's guide or develop the adventure path (I just wrote part 3), so I don't have much further insight into it than that, alas.

Ok thanks James, I'll let the players know.I'm going to use the Deviant Powers but some of them asked what would happen if they chose a different Background

All of our adventures assume a 4 person group. If you've found that 5 people groups work better for your table, though, then absolutely that should be your standard for games you run!

Thanks James, that's what I thought. Honestly I prefer 4 as a GM and player because I feel 5 or more makes the AP too easy.

Also I asked about the Backgrounds in another thread, if you could chime in that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again.

It would be odd, I think, for a player to miss out on getting their mutant power in an adventure about special deviants exploring the origin of their mutant powers.

Completely agree with you. I'm hoping James chimes in with it or someone who has read Book 1 can confirm if it's possible.

Just like the title says

This particular question plagues me every time I GM or play in an AP.

From experience a 4 person group seems to struggle while a 5 person group has an easier time of it. A 6 person just ROFL stomps encounters even when you Elite all the enemies.

Action Economy which plagues that other game seems to rear its ugly head here too.

So for anyone who has been lucky to read the PDF of Book 1, is this a 4 person or 5 person Adventure Path?

Soooo, our group is playing Blood Lords and naturally we're ALL Undead.

We're in Book 2 and encountered some Wraiths... which according to the rules cannot damage any of us.

Are we interpreting the rules incorrectly?

Thanks for the reply James. I'm really curious about this AP but something about the Deviant powers didn't sit with me. I'll be subscribing from this AP.

Any chances there will be rules for running it without the X-Men powers and just keeping the amnesia and rest of plot?

"Now that they can choose items that heal HP, we needed to add a limit for perpetual healing items to keep out-of-combat healing from careening out of control."

What does that mean, you nerfing out-of-combat healing?

The recently announced Kingmaker 2E Foundry module will not come out in October of this year, but will likely come out either Q1 or Q2 of 2023.

Can you point to a source where you read this?

Unless I'm missing it completely but I cannot see the location of the Cradle of Quartz on the map on page 2 of Book 2: Cradle of Quartz?

Will this get a Foundry VTT release?

Maybe it's just me but I cannot find where it mentions what is the maximum level Item the PCs can purchase in Alkenstar?

Anyone?

Reebo Kesh wrote:

Anyone know when the Foundry VTT version of this will be released?

Currently running Book 1 and having a frikken blast!

Presumably on or after the release date.

Looking forward to it. Thanks

Anyone know when the Foundry VTT version of this will be released?

Currently running Book 1 and having a frikken blast!

I'm doing the same. This is our first Foundry and Pathfinder 2e game ever! We're all former 5e players.

Party consist of:-
Human Gunslinger (Drifter)
Ratfolk Rogue (Thief)
Halfling Cleric (Cloistered)
Halfling Monk (Tiger Style)

Session 1 - they got the mission and did all the legwork before the heist even getting the bank tellers keys. They also learned that the Bank Manager worked late nights and sometimes slept in her office.

Session 2 - they decide to break in via back door at night and fight the outside Brokers. This alerted the bank manager who hid in her office.
They went inside, went to her office and the Rogue got shot but it was just a scratch. They killed the manager.

Session 3 - they open the vault and fight two more Brokers making quick work of them (the gunslinger's critical hits are crazy).
They flee to the scrapyard and meet the Goblins. They deal with the Cockroach Swarm but both it and the Rust Ooze cause problems and the Ooze almost kills the Rogue. They decide restock and rest with the goblins until morning.

Session 4 is this week. So far we're having a blast and can't imagine going back to 5e.

The first book says this at the end of it:

OoA1 wrote:

If you and your players are up for it, consider using the time between this adventure and the next to conduct a few side quests or minor missions around town before Dunsmith returns with her next lead.
Characters can also use the time until the next adventure to perform downtime activities or pursue their own private agendas throughout Alkenstar. [...] When the party has finished their individual tasks or your players seem ready to proceed with the story, the characters can continue their work for the grand duchess in the next Pathfinder Adventure Path volume, “Cradle of Quartz.”
As for now, the characters have a rare moment to rest before the next crisis. As Dunsmith suggested, they might as well sit back, take it easy, and enjoy the show.

So there is some downtime available for certain.

Thanks for that!

The Clockwork Handlers have an ability to Grab a target on a successful Strike with one Action then Hogtie them using two Actions.

So basically if it succeeds on the Strike it can basically tie up one character per round without them being able to resist the effect until they can Escape?

That seems OP, am I missing something?

Someone on Reddit mentioned you need to Restrain someone to tie them up. Since the Clockwork Handler auto succeeds the Grab it can't roll a Critical Success to Restrain the target. So how does it ever use the Hog-tie ability?