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Hey fellow friends and gamers! I wanted to invite you all to check out the Kickstarter for 'Cantrips'! A web-series set in the fantasy kingdom of Los Angeles, Cantrips follows the lives of four young adventurers who are trying to become great heroes and adventurers but are having trouble landing even the most mundane of jobs. Its a sitcom comedy with a fantasy gaming twist! We're on Kickstarter and have just started our 30 Days to complete our fundraising goal before going into production. We've got a lot of very talented people working to make this the best show it can be!
Obviously, modern transportation changes the game a bit. But if you look at the people who live natively in a given region, it's a relatively steady, if not smooth, gradient of dark to light as you get farther from the equator.Well, unless you count the healthy racial diversity of the Roman Empire and its Greek predecessors. There is a grain of truth in what you are saying. It's just that, that grain is about 11,000 years old. I believe it took HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of years for human beings to evolve and adapt to their surroundings in various parts of the globe. At the time, the people were too far apart to intermingle and so distinct regional differences appeared. The Roman Empire is fascinating because it touched so many cultures so early in humanities cultural evolution. But just because Rome had holdings in Gaul and Ethiopia didn't mean that the populations were going to become fully integrated.
I would like a battle against the Spawn of Rovagug AP. But I have to demands to make of it- -Take a page out of what is working with Way of the Wicked, people clearly want to be able to play evil characters and its hard in most campaigns to make that work with any sort of party cohesion. BUT I suggest that instead of making this campaign about Good vs Evil to make it more about the law vs chaos. Restrict players from playing chaotic characters, but allow them to play anything else, including evil. This could still be a problem for some gaming groups, some people just can't play evil and not ruin the game, but you could offer the option to restrict evil characters but make it known that THIS is the game where you can play an evil character and work alongside good and neutrals in order to stamp out CHAOS.
I would give Bangaa a +2 to str instead of con. Also, maybe incorporate their near-blindness? I would change the -2 bonus on Viera to either Con or Str Seeqs im confused about the most... I would change their stats to be either +4 con and -2 Int , which is kind of a weird set up OR change it to +2 con, +2 Cha -2 Int, I always thought they were kind of charming in the games. They just dont seem dextrous or particularly Strong to me. I would try to nerf down the flying races as much as possible when it comes to innate flight, its a completely different game between FFtactics games and pathfinder when it comes to how flight works in combat. In tactics, its pretty useful, in Pathfinder, its holy crap amazing. Your including the standard pathfinder human as well I assume? Sounds like a fun project though,I love Ivalice
I forgot to add it to my pull list at my local comic book shop and they sold out before 2pm on Weds. I had to go to two other comic book shops to find issue three! My thing about the Pathfinder comic- I dont know if making the iconics the central characters was a help or a hindrance to an overall story. I can't help but wonder while reading it if there are real stakes to the story. Would they really kill an iconic in the comic? (Besides Lem) I really enjoy the modern takes on fantasy dress and attitudes presented in Rat Queens. The elements of basic fantasy are there, but we also get people with tattoos, hipsters, hippies, goths, ect. Not to forget to mention the entirely female main cast, huge plus. I just want more sword n staff fantasy overall in my comics, I don't feel like I'm asking for too much
I'm honestly not familiar with the Faerun setting, like I know its a THING but thats about it. And to be honest, if i didnt know any better, I could totally place an elf in my campaign 'Faerun Whisperwind' and no one would bat an eye.
if your going to do one of the APs that has pawns for it, I wouldn't recommend for a new GM to immediately go out and jump on buying ALL of the pawn sets. If your new, give yourself the time to really figuring out your own play style. Theres also the Combat Manager instead of stat cards. I've just started using it, but its my new favorite (and free!) toy. I would suggest maybe some modules to get started with as well, Dragon's Demand comes to mind. OR running your players through Thornkeep from the Online Kickstarter, which you can buy as a PDF. I would probably recommend something like Thornkeep, its a huge dungeon, really straightforward with enough roleplaying hooks to let yourself and your players ease into the comfort of roleplaying while also giving you some excellent examples of dungeon and encounter design. As for players, invite people you know. Almost everyone I know who I play with, I introduced to gaming. Just get your friends interested, if they're into video games, MTG, fanfiction, anime/manga, acting, etc. This game takes all sorts to be great. You gotta be the ambassador! Lastly, I think I was GMing for about a year before I got any good at it, and Im still learning. Its an ever evolving skill, something you hone and work on always. One of the best things i did to really learn how to GM was listen to some live play Podcasts, listen to excellent GMs do their thing, take their good ideas and make them your own! Ps- where is it you live? I've lived in major cities for the last several years and have had a fairly easy time connecting to players
I'm pretty much all for the inclusion of some new races in PFS, sure it can allow for powergaming, but your never going to be able to stop powergaming, if thats how people want to have their fun, cool. I mean, the real setup for what races are core and what races or exotic is fairly arbitrary and focused entirely on western concepts of fantasy. I'm pretty stoked about the creation of the Eastern races and use them frequently in my home games. I'd love to see Samsaran, Kitsune, Nagaji and Wayang added, as well as the plane-touched humanoids. I have zero interest in ever playing a halfling or a gnome but I find the Wayang to be pretty interesting and I would really like to roll up a bard or shadow summoner someday. So ya! love some new options. (25 this month!)
I recently relocated halfway around the USA and in the move I lost my primary character's sheet and all his chronicle sheets? He was only lvl three and about half the credits on him were from GM credits, but I'm curious if I can just remake him to the best of my ability or do i have to retire him now that I've lost his sheets?
Fetches try to avoid places of intense heat or flame. As this can invoke their fear. If entering places like a volcano, the Plane of Fire, or any place where there is rampant fire the Fetch must make a Will save every round starting at DC 15 with a cumulative +5 modifier or become shaken, frightened and then panicked. Kind of an issue with this particular rule I think. I think this wording is fairly vague- what if a fetch is fighting a pyromancer? if he's surrounded by candles? near a controlled burn? forest fire? roaring bonfire? This leaves a lot up to a GM and could lead to some discussions over the term 'rampant'. Also- By making the Fetch make a will save EVERY ROUND when he's near fire, and there's a cumulative +5 to the DC. Most Fetch wont every be able to go anywhere near fiery places every. If every six seconds there's a chance theyll panic and flee. Its thematic and fun but if your playing a Fetch and you need to go somewhere that contains a lot of fire (which in a game of Pathfinder, could easily happen) you're going to probably spend the time sitting out while your less fire-fearing companions go off and have fun. and finally- How fire resistant is a Fetch's skin? Does it go up like kindling or does it behave more like human skin? If a Fetch has had its skin destroyed will a healing spell also regenerate it's skin? The 2 dmg per hit dice skin destruction mechanic...might be a little more complicated than it needs to be. Other than that, keep up the good work!
Don't let the size of the Core throw you off. Most of it isn't stuff you really need to read per se. But if your going to GM you should at least read all of 'Getting Started', the races and classes your players are going to play, 'Skills', skim through Feats but at least read the intro, skim through equipment, you can read the intro to each section and read up on the specific items as they come up, All of 'Additional Rules', 'Combat', 'Magic' and 'Gamemastering'. Skim through Environment, read what interests you or what you think you'll find useful to your game. Skim through creating NPCs, if youve made a character before it isn't too different. And then just read the intro to section of Magic Items and try to start familiarizing yourself with them. And then... oh, wow that is a lot of reading... Yay homework!
I do track XP in my home game, but its a homebrew exploration themed game where the plot is what the players make of it. In actuality I've never found XP tracking to be very difficult and it really helps me design encounters actually. But in your case and whenever I run APs, don't bother tracking XP. The APs will tell you what level your PCs should be when the go to X, Y or Z and its for the best to just follow along with that guide. One thing that I would like to point out is, with six players you may want to consider changing up and adding a little more difficulty to some encounters. The APs are written with a party of 4 in mind, so adding another two is going to kind of mess with some of the difficulty level. I'm more than sure that someone on these boards has created a guide to running RotRL with six players, I'd highly suggest reading up on that.
Special: Flammable: When struck by a spell with the fire desriptor a Fetch must make a Ref save DC 15 Ref save or be set ablaze, additionally once set ablaze the Fetch must succeed at at DC 15 Will save vs fear to avoid panicing. (duh their afraid of fire) Alright, this is really shaping up and becoming very interesting. But there are some things that certainly can be a little tighter. The flammable trait is kind of killer and a few choices need to be made concerning it. The Fetch is A. Flammable and B. Afraid of Fire. There are a lot of options open to you mechanically but I'm afraid if you keep some of the language as is, you'll be making the race a less desirable choice. Now, to express the Fetch's flammability you have two pretty good options as I see it they could either A. Take more damage from fire attacks (Either they catch fire and need to make a reflex save to avoid it when hit by attacks OR they could simply take an extra d6 fire damage whenever they are struck by fire spells. I would suggest the extra damage route, it'll be easier for your players to remember and you wouldn't have to figure out the appropriate reflex save for each source of fire damage. A DC 15 one size fits all check is kind of bland. Think of it this way, a fireball hits a wizard, he's wearing simple cotton robes, but mechanically he isn't going to catch fire. I like that the Fetch have an elemental weakness, its really fun, but sometimes simpler is better, especially for players. In the fluff of the Fetch i would add something about how all Fetch are incredibly and sometimes incorrectly so, incredibly afraid of fire. Like how my girlfriend feels about spiders, all Fetch feel about Fire. They can't help it and it always freaks them silly. The problem i see in the current languange is that they go from getting hit with fire to panicked. Panicked is a pretty terrible status effect to be saddled with every time you get hit by fire spells. A more fair way to handle this would be something like "When a Fetch is dealt damage by fire they must make a Will save where the DC is the amount of fire damage dealt to the Fetch, if the Fetch fails, it is Shaken for one round. If the Fetch were to be damaged by fire and fail another will save while shaken it becomes frightened for 2d6 rounds." Something like that, you dont want to jump so quickly to panicked, and you want the chance of becoming scared to scale with the damage dealt. And lastly- Create Water, Eh Snooze. I would suggest something a little more thematic, like a Fetch can cast something like Entangle or Goodberry once per day as a spell like ability.
i still really enjoy this, i like the idea of a scarecrow-like race. However, I still am less than thrilled with the -4 to Con, Thats a huge hit to HP and Fort Saves. I totally understand you want to show that they have an innate weakness based on what they are made of but you;ve already given them a fire vulnerability, which in my oppinion, is a big enough weakness, seeing as how fire is the most common energy type that offensive spells will be dealing, a Fetch already is suffering for his construction and the -4 con penalty seems fairly stiff. I also enjoy the class restrictions on the divine, but i might lift the restriction off of Oracle, I've always seen the Oracle as being mysteriously divine, but not directly blessed by a god. I really like the reduction to falling damage, that's a fun ability.
You do know negative levels can be removed, right? Yeah, to me its more about the feeling of. "i'm dead!" Spell, spell, spell- I'm alive and all better! i feel like death should be bigger in a sense. Have some more impact. Gather some g%&*++n dragon balls or somethin...
Resurrection. I hates it. I feel like it takes away stakes from death and I've had games where players were non-plussed about out their characters dying since the cleric could just revive them. And i know there are drawbacks to the system, losing a level and so on, but that doesn't make it better for me, now I just have a player whose character is behind everyone else and they feel like they were cheated. There isn't really a great solution to this problem, since the alternative is just 'role a new character who just happens to be the same level as everyone else. I've taken now to allowing Breath of Life (Which i like for its immediacy and flavor) and that a expensive ritual that needs several cleric working in unison is needed to revive a dead character. But resurrection and reincarnation as spells- noooope.
Gretchen, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen. ...Now thats out of the way. I really enjoy the flavor of this, I'm a sucker for they fey, I wish it was explored more in PF than it is. I was kinda let down by Fey Revisted... I like this concept a lot, and i wonder where some of your inspiration comes from. I have a few questions- What does a fetch look like as an adult? I'm picturing a scarecrow of sorts- is that correct? Do Fetch only appear to human families or can dwarves and the like be given a fetch? Im less than thrilled with the ability scores, you come out with a -2 which fairly terrible for a race that someone might actually want to play, thats a huge reason to not want to pick it up. I like the idea of them being fragile but i can't help feel that they have straw for brains... and if they yearn for a divine connection i definately wouldn't give them a penalty to wisdom but would instead make it a bonus. Based off the fluff, I would probably rewrite them to be something like "+2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int" (This way you come out with a net +2 bonus, which is fairly stanard) Fetch sounds a little too much like 'Fetchling', other than that, very cool.
A:tLA is a great example of this, buuut I think at its heart, it's still a kid's show. And that's great, A:tLA is one of my favorite series and I'm really digging on Korra. But my issue is I would hope that a Pathfinder-based series could be a little more mature, a few steps further than Korra. (They've come a long way from 'Did Jet just die?' vs Fraternal Murder/Suicide in Korra) But I know as a fan I would like to see some blood and realistically depicted violence, some romance and sex, something just a little less silly and a little more gritty. Something you'd feel conflicted about letting 12 year old watch essentially. I'm just a little tired of not seeing real cartoon programming for adults outside of Fox animated sitcoms. There's a whole market of people who grew up watching anime and there's nothing produced this side of the Pacific that can fully take advantage of that gap. It'd be wonderful for Pathfinder to fill the niche.
Pathfinder is a system of mechanics.It's also a campaign setting and an ongoing storyline. Saying Pathfinder has to be all about the mechanics is like saying Game of Thrones has to be all about lots and lots of words on thin paper. That's where a distinction needs to be made- are we talking about making a show based on the mechanics, classes, races and handling of the system or are you talking about making a show set in Golarion? I would think those are two very different things and could lead to entirely different products. As a product, a Golarion-based cartoon would be the best way to go, the animation would be able to capture the magic and excitement a live action show would be unable to accomplish. HOWEVER, I would agree that it should be aimed towards late teens/adults and should focus on action, story, character and humor, leaving out morality plays of genre television aimed at younger audiences. Problem here is, I can't really think of any action cartoon show produced in north america and aimed at adults. The obvious model here is most anime, something akin to the storytelling level of Full Metal Alchemist or Attack on Titan. But I can't think of any production company making a cartoon that wasn't a total comedy for a mature audience. Could they be the first to do it and total change that market? Maybe, cuz it'd be awesome. You also, for the sake of it, probably don't want to translate entire Adventure Paths into seasons of a show, that would certainly ruin the mystery and kill sales on that path. Plus you can probably trust good writers to come up with fun plots, adventures and ideas that have been inspired by what's come before without completely replicating it.
Youll want to check out the Dragon Empires Primer and Gazetteer, both of which are incredibly useful and exciting. They give us the foundation of the continent of Tian Xia. Also worth checking out is the Heroes of the Jade Oath by Rite Publishing. I'm currently running an Asian-based campaign using these materials and having a blast. Allows the escape of the traditional Elf dwarf and gnome parties into Tengu, Samsaran, Kitsune, Nagaji and Wayang. Having a total blast!
I played through Second Darkness with a White Necromancer/Magus. Was a whole bunch of fun. I would frame it as bringing back bodies to either 'right the wrongs they committed in life' or 'call upon the body to fight one more time'. It depends on how you view your zombies and undead. But I highly recommend a flip through the Kobold Quarterly #19 for a look at the White Necromancer. It's a very iconic idea, raising the dead and using them for battle. Sure its stereotypicaly an 'evil' thing to do, but what is more fun than subverting expectations like that?
My party just recruited a NPC Tanuki to join them while they search an island for thieves and warring Kappa tribes. The Tanuki is willing to go along with the party and plans to play merry pranks on them along the way but does ask that they buy him expensive whiskey to keep him around. This is all very fun but the Tanuki is a CR 4 creature and my party only just hit level two so i dont want the Tanuki to over shadow them but provide for fun entertainment and extra help. How much should they be paying in gold weekly to keep the Tanuki around? Is there a system to how much a hireling should cost that I don't know about?
I've been toying with the idea of reshaping and reediting my last homebrew into a sandbox campaign setting and making it available to everybody. I spent a lot of time creating this world and it occurs to me that there's a chance that other people may find it compelling and I want to put it out there for a little feedback. The concept at first was simply "We want to play a game of thrones game but we wanted to keep playing Pathfinder". That was the jumping off point and over the last few years I've developed a very complex and I'd like to think interesting lore concerning this world and its denizens. I started by coming up with a few noble houses and regions and over time they evolved and changed in exciting ways. My idea is I'm going to start with posting some of the general information concerning the setting and world. I'll need to make an updated map and a more in-depth map of each region. I had decided that rather than every noble I created being a variant on the Aristocrat class that nearly every highborne NPC (which was most of them) would have levels of a PC class. This resulted in an enourmous file, filled with names and notes. It seemed like a shame to let all that work sit around on my computer. So I'll be retweaking some of the lore, the stats, given circumstances and hooks into something digestible and fun. I will start releasing updates on each of the main families, full stat blocks for every member, information on their lands, their bannermen and their relations with the other nobles of Bygaria. Bygaria is a Kingdom ruled by an elderly king who has left the kingdom weakened after spreading resources too thin during recent war. The other high nobles have all begun vying for more power through allegiance and secret dealings. Everything I've written is still very much open to change, I'm certain there are glaring inconsistencies out there, but I'm wondering if this is up anyone's ally? I'm currently just using a simple google blog for this project. Come check it out.
I have a situation coming up in my game and I would like to ask the boards their advice with how to deal with this in the most fun and positive way. We had a player leave the campaign recently, not a huge deal. (He was barely ever able to make it in the first place) And my roommate is joining the game as an gnome alchemist. I'm pretty pumped to finally see devices get disabled in this game and I want to find a way to fluidly introduce a new PC into the game. Last game:
The party slew the Flame that Sings and Suchandra, with only three of them, a half-orc antipaladin, a tiefling cleric of Apollyon, and a human wizard/diabolist (And his boyfriend, Trik), they barely defeated the phoenix and were left feeling fairly vulnerable after the last encounter, their first encounter to go so poorly in a long time. To introduce the new PC I want to create a prison where this evil gnome has been sealed away for a century for crimes against humanity and Mitra. I think I'll have one of the prisoners tell Night Mane about this secret prison and the monster who patiently waits inside. Now I want to do a fun encounter that will give the alchemist a chance to kind of show off and experiment a little with his bombs. I want to make his jailers thematic and challenging to the lvl they are currently playing. Any suggestions for jailers in a forgotten place in the Vale?
I've been running homebrews and a few adventure paths for the past several years but I've always kept a steady hand on the story and characters. I give my players lots of choice and freedom, but only to an extent. For my next campaign I've been toying with the idea of doing a homebrew Sandbox adventure off the coast of Tian Xia, I feel like I have a lot ideas and am really excited to getting to the game but I also feel a little apprehensive about what running a sandbox could be like. I've read through Kingmaker, leafed through Serpent's Skull and have been combing the forums for opinions but I have some specific queries that I think would be best answered by those with experience on the matter. When I prep for a game I'll design the dungeons, the encounters, traps, NPC's and so forth for the particular adventure I'll be running. (I like to premake my encounters by putting each enemy NPC on an index card with their stats, abilities and hp, then roll their initiatives during prep to save time and organize it all) But i see the problem with wanting to do that in a sandbox...that seems like it would become a MASSIVE undertaking, even if the game were just set on a small island, I'd still need to have all the maps, traps, quests etc lined out before a player rolled a dice. Am I just over thinking this? How do others keep up with a Sandbox game? Do you just create as you go? If that's the case, how do you keep up with the design of interesting encounters and dungeons? Is there a different systems other than the hex explorations a la Kingmaker? Any and all comments and advice would be most helpful.
Ummm...if i was going for Miranda as she is in her initial form, probably like a level 8 expert? With ranks in Knowledge Local and Profession Tailor. But if i was to make a fantasy version I'd probably do a Human LN Iconoclast Inquisitor of Shelyn. Subdomain- Protection I dont see Miranda as Evil per se, but committed to her art and cut-throat against anyone in her way.
The Daemon Domained Evil Cleric gains Whispering Evil at eighth lvl as follows: Whispering Evil (Su): At 8th level, as a standard action, you can whisper a hypnotizing litany of empty promises. Each enemy within a 30-foot emanation that can hear you must succeed on a Will saving throw or become fascinated for as long as you continue the litany. You can use this power a number of rounds per day equal to your cleric level, but these rounds do not need to be consecutive. This is a mind-affecting effect. What then is the save DC for the will save based on? is it 10+Caster level?
Random encounters arent super fun anyway unless you've already come up with some really interesting encounter ideas. If you need your players to wander down a old mountain crevice where they are then attacked, or anything else. Keep in mind, you always have the advantage. Enemies can fly, ambush, chase, dispel magic, teleport and a varierty of other things to nab at fleeing PCs. Also- your alchemist giving out fly potions? A, kind of expensive to keep up. B. Part of his character, an encounter with an enemy doesnt always mean battle, it can mean running away as well. You don't want to just nullify the ability entirely. Fly is something you'll have to prep for.
I'm currently working on a Asian-influenced sandbox campaign and had decided early on that I wouldn't want to use any of the traditional western gaming outsiders (Demons, devils, angels, archons) and wanted to focus on the new or redone outsiders that had been released in the subsequent bestiaries. I've been mostly playing with Rakshasa and Divs but learning more about those groups and realizing how much material exists on all the other, less talked about outsiders groups got me thinking. How is everyone using the 'other' outsiders? How do you guys run Demodands? Qlippoths? Aeons? Kytons? Inevitables? Proteans? Nightshades? Agathions? What sort of flavor are these creatures being given? What fun ideas have people come up with when structuring adventures and/or whole campaigns around these creatures? Most of all, what new things have these creatures given us?
Quick question on the fates of your daemonic allies: Hex N Vex: I've read through the modules and, unless I really missed something I don't know what to do with Hexor and Vexor after the destruction of the the Horn. Do the daemons join the betrayal during the last five days? That hardly makes any sense. But I also can't really see my party of devil-worshippers carrying a couple of daemons with them forever. But so long as they have the true name items they can keep the guys around forever, right? Or am I missing something?
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