Search Posts
Hey, just checking in. I see that Order #7780367 has shipped, but that was the edition of the Pathfinder Adventures subscription to my subscriptions. Does this shipment also include my subscriptions placed in Order #7939687 (the remainder of my 2nd Ed subscriptions)? Or will the two orders be shipped separately? Just want to know how many packages to be on the look for. Thanks. Rodger
I ordered subscriptions for the Pathfinder Adventure Path, Roleplaying and Campaign Setting lines. I selected the options to have the Adventure Path and Campaign Setting lines to start with the Age of Ashes and the Lost Omens guide respectively, but the system changed my selections to begin with the last issue of the previous AP and the Druma book. I would like the subscriptions to start only with the 2nd Edition material. Could you please update my subscriptions to start with the correct items? Please let me know if you require any other information to process this request. Thanks in advance. Rodger
My debit card information recently changed and, though I changed it in my Account Settings, I'm not sure the information is being correctly used for this order. Could you please confirm you are able to authorize my card with the new expiration date? Please let me know what I can do to verify my payment information is correct. Thanks.
I placed order 2385509 to ship with my next subscription shipment, and it was showing up on my subscription page, but it wasn't included in the email sent out this week about my upcoming shipment (order 2352256) Now, it's still in my Sidecart but listed as "Will ship with future shipment." I placed another order (2412932) and it says it will ship with my next order. Is there a problem with order 2385509? I want everything to ship with my January subscriptions. Will this be possible? Thanks.
My order confirmation states that this subscription order (plus one additional purchase) shipped out on Dec. 16th, but I haven't received it as of yet. I thought with the holidays, it would take a bit more time, though I'm concerned at this point. Is there any way to determine where the package may be? Thanks.
Just as the subject says. I wasn't sure if this was covered in any of the material, but given how intertwined humans and halflings have been throughout the course of Golarion's history, I'm sure it's come up. I have a player whose PC is currently stuck in a love triangle with his recent halfling lover and his returned childhood love. Due to some of his family history, the notion of having children is important to him and will influence his decision. Thanks.
Where in the rules is it stated that you must meet the caster level requirement of a magical item in order to craft it? I'm looking for the specific line of test. Also, if you do not meet the caster level, is it possible to overcome this by adding +5 to the check DC to create the item, as if this is a requirement that you do not meet? Thanks.
I'm confused as to why the Hunters' Maze is presented as a combat-heavy dungeon crawl. At this point in the story, if things progress as assumed by the pervious adventures, the PCs have forged an (uneasy) alliance with the other urdefhans in Ilmurea, and in fact, may need to continue this alliance in order to have enough of an army to successfully distract the growing serpentfolk forces, as Kline suggests. Based on the description provided in the write-up, the urdefhans stationed in the Hunters' Maze were inadvertently cut off from their brethen and underseige by the serpentfolk flooding into the city. However, when the PCs meet these urdefhan, there are no serpentfolk around to hold them in, and the adventure states that they attack anyone wandering into their territory, including the PCs. I can understand that these urdefhan would be on guard, but wouldn't it make more sense for the PCs to reunite the urdefhan and strengthen their alliance for the upcoming battle against the serpentfolk? As presented, the PCs have to destroy a signifcant force that could be of use to them, and who share with them a common enemy, in order to find the "weapon." Some groups, of course, will relish doing in the urdefhans and their daemon masters, but I don't understand how this section fits with the overall story. Now, of course, every group will handle this differently, and I know that the writers cannot know how every group will react. After GMing in Golarion for a few years, I greatly appreciate and love all of the work the Paizo crew does. This instance, though, just seems like a dungeon crawl for the sake of XP-gathering, and a large one that deflates the impending doom of the serpentfolk rise. I feel like this page count could have spent developing the world-crushing menace that is the serpentfolk, something that for most of the AP is played out in history lessons and ancient tales than actual interaction with these insidious snakes. I hate to complain. Just looking for some guidance. Thanks.
I believe there is some feat that allows you to wield a scimitar as if it were a light weapon (for use with Weapon Finesse, etc.), but I can't seem to locate the exact feat anywhere. It has something to do with the dervishes of Sarenrae, I believe. Anyone know what supplement I can find this in? Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
One of my players in my RotRL campaign wants a prestige class for his character. Here is my first draft of a prestige class based on the sorcerer's destined bloodline and the old WotC Fatespinner PrC. Please, any and all criticism is welcomed. Thanks. Spoiler: Hit Die: d6.
Prerequisites:
Class Skills:
BAB: Slow
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Destined Disciples gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor. Spells per Day: At each level except 1st and 6th, a destined disciple gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming a destined disciple, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day. Greatness in the Blood: A destined disciple adds his level to his sorcerer levels when determining the powers gained from his bloodline. If the destined disciple does not have levels of sorcerer, he instead gains bloodline powers of the destined bloodline, using his destined disciple level as his sorcerer level to determine the bonuses gained. This ability does not grant bonus spells to a sorcerer unless he possesses spell slots of an appropriate level. Such bonus spells are automatically granted if the sorcerer gains spell slots of the spell’s level. Spin Fate (Ex): Destiny conspires to empower the destined disciple. At 1st level, a destined disciple receives a pool of fate points equal to half his destined disciple class level + his Charisma modifier.
Bloodline Feat: Upon reaching 2nd level, and every three levels thereafter, a destined disciple receives one bonus feat, chosen from the destined bloodline’s bonus feat list. Pulling the Strings (Ex): As the destined disciple continues on, he becomes more keenly aware of the workings of Fate. The insight bonus granted by his touch of destiny increases by an amount equal to his Charisma modifier. It Was Meant To Be (Su): At 3rd level, a destined disciple gains the It Was Meant To Be bloodline power, even if his level does not yet grant that power. Once his level is high enough to grant this ability through the bloodline, the destined disciple gains another use of this ability. Fickle Fate (Ex): At 4th level, a destined disciple more clearly comprehends how his destiny affects the lives of others. Once per day as an immediate action, he can force any other creature, friend or foe, to reroll a roll that it has just made. A destined disciple must have line of sight to the creature to be affects. That creature must abide by the result of the second roll, whether it is higher or lower than the original roll. Spin Destiny (Ex): At 6th level, the pull of destiny on the destined disciple strengthens. He can now add fate points to any skill check, attack roll, or saving throw that he attempts. In all other ways, this functions just as the Spin Fate ability. Flash of Insight (Su): At 7th level, the destined disciple has learned to peer past the veil of Fate to see its machinations. Once per day as an immediate action, he can select the exact result of one die roll before the roll is made. This effect can alter an action taken by the destined disciple only, and cannot be applied to the rolls of others. Within Reach (Su): At 9th level, a destined disciple gains the Within Reach bloodline power, even if his level does not yet grant that power. Once his level is high enough to grant this ability through the bloodline, the destined disciple gains another use of this ability. Seal Fate (Su): At 10th level, the destiny of the destined disciple becomes a vortex, affecting the ebb and flow of destiny for all around him, sealing the fate of a friend or foe. Once per day as a swift action, the destined disciple selects a target creature he can see within 30 feet with Hit Dice equal to or less than his. The creature receives either a -10 penalty or a +10 bonus on its next saving throw, as decided by the destined disciple. If the selected target has more Hit Dice than the destined disciple, the ability does not work but the use of the day is not expended. This effect only lasts for 1 round, so if no spell or other effect is brought to bear on the target creature during the round, the creature’s fate is no longer sealed.
Can a character take the Fighting Defensively action during combat without making an actual attack? For example, if the character has no targets within reach and decides not to move to engage, can he declare that he is fighting defensively and boost his AC in the event that something attacks him that round? This came up at my last game, and as GM, I ruled that my player had to make an attack in order to fight defensively and gain the bonus. My reasoning is that he had to take an attack action with the penalty to gain the bonus, otherwise he should use the Total Defense action. As I usually do, I assured my players I would get an official ruling before the next session. The relevant rules text is below. What does everyone think? From the PRD: Fighting Defensively
Total Defense
As the PCs headed to the Hambley Farm to investigate the "scarecrow" issue, I described that a number of the now-deserted farms had not been harvested. They took this to mean that Sandpoint may not have enough local food for the winter. I didn't discourage this and once the issue had been dealt with, the PCs took the Hambley funds and started a relief fund for the farmers around the town in case of a bad harvest. Going even further, the party's dwarf Wall Warden is looking to purchase the Hambley farm for his parents. His "Pap" is a bit of a failure at most things, and he is trying to give him something to better his father with. I think this is a great action for his character to take, but I'm at a lost as to the appropriate cost of the farm. So, what does a farm in Varisia cost? Any suggestions?
An interesting question came up among my players during some "downtime" in the campaign. What is the DC of a spell on a scroll? Is it the minimum amount that it could possibly be or is it set by the individual scribing the scroll? For example, a scroll of Fireball would have a minimum DC of 14 because it is a 3rd level spell and you only need a spellcasting ability score of 13 (+1) to cast it. But, if the scribe has a spellcasting ability score of 16 (+3), would the DC be 16? And if this is the case, would it also be affected by having Spell Focus (evocation)? I've scoured the rules, but haven't found anything covering this. The cleric in my game wants to scribe a scroll of Zone of Truth while under the effects of Owl's Wisdom to raise the DC. This seems plausible, if the DC is based on the ability score of the one scribing the scroll. Any thoughts?
I'm not sure if this has been officially answered yet, but I have several PCs in my RotRL campaign beginning to craft so I would like to have a ruling. My question is about the DC of crafting. In the Feats chapter, the DC is listed as 10 + the item's caster level. In the section of creating magic items, the DC is listed as 5 + the item's caster level. Which is correct? Also, the time to craft is 8 hours per 1000 gp in the items base price. I'm under the impression that the base price is the market value of the item (i.e. a +1 weapon has a base price of 2000 gp taking 2 days to craft), but my players think that the base cost is the amount paid to craft the item (half the market value, i.e. a +1 weapon would be 1000 gp taking only 1 day to craft). Which is correct?
Hey all, I recently upgraded to Adobe 9 and now I can't seem to retrieve artwork from the Paizo pdfs as I could before. Has anyone found a work around for this? I also tried scouring the interwebs for the version 8 installer, but to no avail. Any idea where I could find that version if that is the only way around this issue? Thanks.
I have a player with a cleric character in my Rise of the Runelords campaign who is looking to augment his channeling ability. I revised these feats from the 3.5 Complete Divine splatbook. I'd like some criticism. What works and what doesn't? Thanks. Augment Channel
Empower Channel
Profane Boost
Sacred Healing
Quicken Channel
I was reading Classic Horrors Revisted, which by the way, is just awesome, and I noticed that the sample Derro sorcerer has a feat named Derro Magister. Unfortunately, I can't find the description of the feat in the text. I'm not sure if the feat is described elsewhere. Was this something that was cut? Any chance of seeing the feat at some point?
I have just completed converting all of the haunts in the Skinsaw Murders to the PRPG rules using the guidelines provided by James on the boards and the info provided in Pathfinder #27. Please feel free to give me feedback. I had to take some liberties and make some guesses to make some of the haunts work under the new rules, and I'm not sure if the are as good as they could be. Thanks. Spoiler: Burning Manticore CR 3 XP 800 CN haunted area (area B2) - burning Caster Level 3rd Notice Perception DC 20 (catch a momentary whiff of burning hair and flesh) hp 6 Effects Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours) Effect Atk +8 touch (4d6 fire damage; Reflex DC 15 to avoid catching fire). The flames burn only the haunted PC and cannot spread to other creatures of objects. Worried Wife CR 4
Dance of Ruin CR 3
Iesha’s Vengeance CR 5
Frightened Child CR 3
Phantom Phage CR 3
Misogynistic Rage CR 3
Stricken Family CR 3
Suicide Compulsion CR 4
Plummeting Inferno CR 4
Unfulfilled Glories CR 3
Origins of Lichdom CR 3
Ghoulish Uprising CR 4
Vorel’s Legacy CR 4
I have just completed converting all of the haunts in the Skinsaw Murders to the PRPG rules using the guidelines provided by James on the boards and the info provided in Pathfinder #27. Please feel free to give me feedback. I had to take some liberties to make some of the haunts work under the new rules, and I'm not sure if the are as good as they could be. Thanks. Spoiler: Burning Manticore CR 3 XP 800 CN haunted area (area B2) - burning Caster Level 3rd Notice Perception DC 20 (catch a momentary whiff of burning hair and flesh) hp 6 Effects Trigger proximity; Reset automatic (24 hours) Effect Atk +8 touch (4d6 fire damage; Reflex DC 15 to avoid catching fire). The flames burn only the haunted PC and cannot spread to other creatures of objects. Worried Wife CR 4
Dance of Ruin CR 3
Iesha’s Vengeance CR 5
Frightened Child CR 3
Phantom Phage CR 3
Misogynistic Rage CR 3
Stricken Family CR 3
Suicide Compulsion CR 4
Plummeting Inferno CR 4
Unfulfilled Glories CR 3
Origins of Lichdom CR 3
Ghoulish Uprising CR 4
Vorel’s Legacy CR 4
I'm currently working on my Rise of the Runelords campaign, which will use the PRPG exclusively. I finished my changes for Burnt Offerings, and I'm now starting on Skinsaw Murders. The haunt rules presented use 3.5 obivously, and I'm having difficulty determining how to adjust them to PRPG. The Initiative Count and the actual mechanics of the haunts are fine and work without conversion. The issue is disrupting the haunts. With 3.5, each haunt is assigned an effective Hit Die total that can be used with the turning table to determine success. With Pathfinder, clerics and paladins channel energy instead, and given the amount of dice, would have a hard time generating enough damage to successfully stop the haunt in one attempt based on the Hit Dice listed. While I love the idea of the PCs experiencing every haunt, I want to make sure it's fair and that they don't feel that there is nothing they can do to prevent this. I know the Gamemastery Guide with have the new rules for haunts, but I'll be running this before it's available. Any suggestions?
I'm running the finale of my Falcon's Hollow campaign tonight, and am looking for a ruling or informed opinions beforehand. My question is: Can a spellcaster under the effects of Time Stop use the hemisphere version of Wall of Ice to trap a creature? The wall doesn't directly target the creature, so can be cast during a Time Stop. Also, the hemisphere would be large enough to surround the creature without actually touching it or being adjacent to any of its squares, thus preventing the wall from failing as per the spell. Is this in any way against the rules? I ask because it seems like a very good tactic for my NPC (BBEG) to use on the party when they first attack: separate the group and make them waste time freeing their comrade so his ritual can continue. Timely repsonses are appreciated. Thanks.
Is a creature under the effects of Death Ward immune to the damage caused by Harm or any of the Inflict spells? Death Ward states that subjects are immune to negative engery-effects. Both Harm and the Inflict spells state that negative energy is involved without specifically stating that these are negative energy-effects. My guess is yes, but I thought I'd get some confirmation either way. Thanks.
In Chapter 4: Feats, the DC to craft a magic item is 10 + the item's caster level. In Chapter 15: Magic Items, the DC is listed as 5 + the item's caster level. I'm under the impression that the latter is correct, as that is what it was under Beta. This hasn't been addressed in the errata yet, so I thought I'd get an official ruling. Thanks.
So, this was brought to my attention by a friend, and I felt that it might be of interest to Paizo. There is some contest for a D&D shoe design (including a lot of artwork from WotC) and I didn't see anything official from Paizo about this. Seems like a possible infringement infraction, and I wanted to make sure the right people were made aware of this, just in case. Thanks.
I've begun the preliminary work on my RotRL campaign for my group, and I have calendar-related question. In Burnt Offerings, the synopsis states that the campaign begins on the day of the Swallowtail Festival, the first day of autumn. Now, in another post on the boards, James Jacobs has said that this would be 21, 22, or 23 Rova 4707. My choice is 21 Rova, since that is analogous to our calendar. Based on information in other APs, Chronicles, and such, does anyone know what day of the week this would be? I'm sure picking a day would be easy enough, but I was curious if anyone had an official answer. Thanks.
After reviewing the opinions discussed in the Sorcerer/Wizard playtest, and seeing Jason's suggestion of making casting defensively a Will save, I thought I'd add a simple solution. Instead of changing the system, perhaps Spellcraft should be keyed to which ever ability the class uses for casting. So, wizards use Int, Sorcerers/Bards/Paladins use Cha, and Rangers/Druids/Clerics use Wis. This keeps the system intact without creating a new mechanic, and boosts each class equally. Possible downsides exist, however. For example, if a character gains Spellcraft from two different classes (like a mystic theurges), which of the two abilities should apply? In 3.5, Concentration was a must have for any spellcaster as with the changes in Pathfinder, and with the current DC, anyone who kept it maxed could rarely fail. Would changing the DC to a Will save make things better? Or, would this change make spellcasting more difficult?
Of all of the classes, the sorcerer has the most dead levels. Now, I know that gaining new spell slots/spells known constitutes a gain at a level, but compared to the revised classes, and especially the wizard, the sorcerer falls behind. I think a few changes could alleviate this, while balancing power between the wizard and the sorcerer. First, increase the number of bonus bloodline feats gained from three to four. With Eschew Materials, this brings the number of bonus feats in line with the wizard. It may be best to stagger these feats at levels where a regular feat is gained (similar to what has been discussed about the wizard). Also, can we expand the bloodlines to contain one more ability? Something in line with effecting the sorcerer's spellcasting would go a long way to balancing with the wizard while also differentiating the two. Perhaps the bloodline grants one metamagic feat that can be used without increasing casting time as a bloodline ability. I'm sure more can be done, but I wanted to see what others thought. In my own Falcon's Hollow campaign playtest, the wizard, with his spell-like abilities and extra school spell slots, infringes on the sorcerer's niche, and I'd like to see it rectified.
I'm working on my Falcon's Hollow playtest campaign for Beta, and I'm updated and advancing some of the monsters and villains to be on par with my party. Currently, I'm updating Revenge of the Kobold King. I know that the Advanced Bestiary houses the templates for the dread wight and dread zombie, but I can't seem to find a listing for the book in the Paizo store. My fear is whichever company published it is now making 4e material and stopped the sale of the book. I was wondering if anyone could let me know who published the book, and where I might find any info for it. I doubt it would be possible to have the templates posted so that I might use. At this point, I'll take any info I can get. Thanks.
I am concerned about this order. The site states that the items shipped on July 10th, with an approximate shipping time of 4-8 days. Yet, I still have not received the books. Any idea what happened? I haven't had any problems with other shipments from Paizo and I just want to make sure everything is going to arrive at some point. Thanks in advanced. Rodger Graham
Every spring, the gaming group I belong to holds what is known as Megasession, and three day weekend filled with gaming. Being the newest member (I joined about two years ago) and also the youngest (at 25, the some of the group have been gaming longer than I’ve been alive), they nominated me to run after a previous successful Megasession I ran. I have been running several of the Pathfinder Modules, starting with Hollow’s Last Hope and currently Crown of the Kobold King, as one-shots once a month and wanted to expose the group to more of the world while testing the new Alpha rules. The group has been receptive to both the world of Golarion and the first Alpha releases and liked the idea of a playtest weekend. Wanting to give them a challenge and try something different, I selected Seven Swords of Sin as the module to run, with some modifications. I wrote an entirely new hook for the adventure, setting the party up as adventurers out for revenge against the main villain Tirana. At the start, the group has tracked Tirana to Korvosa where they know she is searching for something, but not what. The players elaborated on their relationship with Tirana, and with each other. After reading about the deadliness of the adventure on the boards and knowing that we would only have three actual players at the game, I adjusted the party’s level. Using the new Alpha 3 rules, the group designed 8th level characters with standard equipment for their level as per the Pathfinder rules. As for the adventure, I only updated those creatures and NPCs with character levels to conform to the new Alpha 3 rules. I left the monsters as written in the MM or the adventure, only adjusting 3.5 grapple to the new Combat Maneuver Bonus of Pathfinder. First Night – Character Creation and initial combat: The group definitely liked the ease of character creation with the Pathfinder rules. The players are very creative with character history, but usually found some trouble in translating their concepts with the 3.5 rules. Each of the players was incredibly impressed with the races and their new abilities, both in terms of mechanics and flavor. The revisions to the half-elf even sparked one of the players, who hated in the race in 3.5, to choose the race for his character. As for classes, the group couldn’t be happier. The players feel that the new options and redesigned classes give them the chance to fully develop their concepts as well as address several balance issue among the classes themselves. In 3.5, classes would become relegated to certain “standby” or auxiliary positions because of the lack of abilities or options, but this is no more in their eyes. Now, the players did have some issues with the classes, but I’ll address that during the play notes. By far the best part for the players had been both skills and feats. The revised skill system in A3 provides the customization of 3.5 while making the drudgery of skill selection and mathematics so much simpler. Also, not having cross-class skills allows for deeper customization without penalty. The fighter was very pleased that he could take ranks in Perception without having to pay some odd penalty. The new and revised feats also gave the group more cause for joy. These have to be two large successes. Our characters for the adventure: Teg, the Conjurer (human wizard 8) – Teg is the former lover of Tirana, spurned by her evil ways and now seeking revenge. Teg’s player wanted to try out the new class powers and spells, and loves the new additions. He used a ring for his arcane bond, but we would still like to seem some clarification on how to enchant it and whether or not the spell it cast has to be one the wizard has memorized or just has in his spellbook. The conjurer powers fit the school very well. Radomir, the Sunderer (human fighter 8) – Radomir is the proto-typical fighter, strong and brash, and may have also had relations with Tirana. Radomir’s player wished to play the hulking fighter, and loved the new Combat Maneuver rules some much that sunder became his thing. With Weapon Focus, Power Attack, Cleave, Overhand Chop, Improved Sunder and an adamantine greatsword, he rarely has worry about other weapons hurting him as they often end up broken on the floor (Broken condition is so helpful here). Khazar, the Varisian (half-elf rogue 8) – Khazar is a Varisian though and through. Khazar’s player loved the Varisian information I sent him and came up with an entire backstory about his Varisian family, and his usual conception by an elf trying to help a Varisian couple bare a child. A two-weapon finesse rogue, Khazar’s player loved the new rogue abilities and the Acrobatics skill. Khazar’s player is not a big fan of casters because of the amount of work 3.5 entailed with spell lists and such. However, he selected both the Minor and Major Arcane Talents for the rogue, and had a veritable spellbook of wands stashed in his bag with the help of Use Magic Device. These options let him try something he otherwise never would. Thank you, Jason for giving him the opportunity. Also in the group is Wen Histani (human cleric of Abadar 8) as an NPC as we were short one player. I built her as a combat medic with Selective Channeling and some prowess with a crossbow. The extra healing came in handy and allowed me to use spells to buff my main characters and not steal the spotlight in any way here. For hit points, we used the racial bonus and each player though that was a great addition, and made the most sense in-game as well. Given the deadliness of the adventure and advice from the boards, I rolled hit points but skewed them for higher results. Our human fighter with a great Con and Toughness at 1st level, wound up with 101 hit points, and he was going to need them. Gear was done as per the Pathfinder rules, and this was also a good change, giving the players more options for more slots. With the characters assembled and the players fairly confident in the new system, we began. Initial Hook – Elder Minotaur combat: The characters found themselves in Korvosa, having followed a trail of rumors to the city. Searching for Tirana after she purloined an ancient text bearing a seven-pointed star from a museum in Magnimar, the party began searching for clues as to her whereabouts. Diplomacy rolls here were low, so no such luck. However, a Know (local) check by our rogue garners some strange info about the Church of Abadar: the church closed early today without any obvious reason. Checking this out, the party went to the church and interrogated two very annoyed justicars who just wanted to finish their late shift. Satisfied that the guards weren’t under Tirana’s control, they retired to a nearby inn. During the night, they are awakened by the loud knock at the door. The rogue, fearing the worst, draws his blade, throws open the door, and sees a beautiful southern woman standing in front of him (Wen). Not giving any info, Wen demands that they follow her to Tirana, and, being the foolishly trusting sorts, do so without complaint. When it becomes apparent that she is leading them to the Church, the group kicks themselves for not staking out the place. Now, the doors are ajar and guards from earlier are dead. Inside is even worse, with guards and priests alike scattered and bleeding on the floor. Wen leads the group to the stairs to the vaults below, and then leaves (running to find Archbanker Tuttle, but the group didn’t realize this at the time). Feeling like they’re being setup, they cautious descend while noting all possible exits, just in case.
The party headed into a small side passage away from the main vaults, and found a two-five-foot statue of a beautiful, nude woman bearing a double-headed guisarme and holding the Sword of Lust. They also found eight more charmed guards, Tirana, and her elder minotaur bodyguard (from Classic Monsters Revisited). I can’t tell you how satisfying it was to see the player’s faces when, instead of charging, the minotaur created a wall of stone to protect himself and Tirana. What was supposed to be an APL+2 encounter turned out to be somewhat simple. The party made short work of the guards using grease and stinking cloud. Tirana retrieved the sword and fled via the convenience of teleport, while the minotaur tore into the party. Here, the fighter’s use of Mobility and subsequently Overhand Chop really paid off and both seem to be very balanced as combat feats. In general, we found that the benefits of the combat feats were balanced by the fact that a player could only use one each round. Also, this made the fighter look at the combat from a much more tactical view, and added to the player’s enjoyment. For our rogue, the best moments for him involved using Acrobatics to pull of some great maneuvers. For example, at one point the rogue wished to jump over a guard during a movement, while not provoking any attacks of opportunity. A great cinematic scene that would have resulted in multiple checks of different skills in 3.5 was reduced to one, speeding up play and simplifying the adjudication of the rules. When avoiding the minotaur’s attacks of opportunity, the Acrobatics DC of 15 + opponent’s BAB worked very well, giving a better challenge but nothing that the rogue couldn’t overcome, failing only once on several checks. The wizard was able to dominate the field using the new school abilities granted in the Alpha rules. The wizard’s player was very impressed with both the flavor and usefulness of the abilities, and being able to use spells with a bit more liberty really helped. Throughout most of the adventure, both the wizard and cleric were able to keep up with the others in terms of resource management and subsequently needed very little rest. After dispatching the minotaur, the party decided leaving was probably in their best interest, before the Korvosan guards showed up and got the wrong impression. Unfortunately for them, not only were the Korvosan guards already on the scene, but some Sable Company marines were flying overheard while a small group of Hellknights began poking around. The party quickly surrendered to the guard and wound up imprisoned in Castle Volshyenek. The party had some time to stew and discuss what happened before being broken out of jail, I mean rescued, by Wen, accompanied by Archbanker Darb Tuttle. From here, the roleplaying allowed me to get out more of the backstory and set-up the adventure as it was written. The PCs struck a deal with the head of Abadar’s church, and with Wen in tow, attempted to escape the city without being spotted. Chase Scene – Escaping Korvosa: Using a similar set-up of the Shingles chase scene from the first volume of the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, the party had to escape the city while being chased by a group of Korvosan guards and two Hellknights. This was a great opportunity to test the skill system. I used fifteen cards, each with two different skill checks listed, to simulate the chase. The characters could move forward one card each round as a standard action or attempt to make the checks to move further as a full-round action. My problem in developing the encounter came from the consolidated skill list. The original chase scene uses Tumble, Jump, and Balance in addition to Climb and such to add some variety to the checks, ensuring that a given PC would be able to make at least one check on each card. With the consolidated list, some of these options were not available and I was afraid that the checks would devolve into just Acrobatics. However, this just forced me to be a bit more creative and create other situations, such as bluffing your way passed some concerned citizens or knowing the layout of the city to find a shortcut. I added these skill checks to the mix. I unveiled the encounter to the players and they were pleasantly surprised. The new skill system from Pathfinder allowed each character to customize their characters more fully than the penalizing system of 3.5, and this came in very handy. For example, the fighter was able to put enough ranks in Perception (a non-class skill) to feel effective with it. The “class skill” bonus works to reinforce those skills that should be important to the character without giving the appearance of penalizing a character who selects a non-class skill to raise. Each player felt that they could make choices for their character that fit the concept without worrying about extra costs or feeling like the character was lacking in some areas. The characters took off in the chase, and after some stumbling and great leaps, out ran their pursuers. The players enjoyed the encounter and felt vindicated in their skill choices instead of punished. In the end, using social skills, knowledge skills, and the original physical skills made the encounter more challenging, more diverse, and more rewarding with the new skill system. Second Day and Night – Seven Swords of Sin The group met again earlier the next morning and gamed well into the wee hours of the morning, to the end of the adventure. Once out of the city and on their way to Kaer Maga, I used the adventure as written, only adapting those creatures/NPCs with class levels to the new Alpha 3 rules. So as to not spoil the adventure for anyone who may play in the future, I will just share my notes, observations, and questions from this point on. 1.) There is a rise in power level with the new rules. With the addition of more feats, more hit points, and new and better racial and class abilities, the new power level of the party is substantial. Now, since the adventure is touted as “extremely deadly” and many on the boards suggested it, I allowed the players to make 8th level characters and above average hit point totals, but this only made the jump more noticeable. Now, is this a bad thing? Well, there are still some issues with challenge ratings for encounters (see below), but my players were more enthralled with the added options than concerned by any power creep. 2.) There does not seem to be consistency in the new encounter levels and actual results. As in the above example with the minotaurs and the guards, an encounter that is APL+2 seemed a bit too easy for the party. Later encounters in the adventure, like a certain mummy with a 3.5 CR of 9 was a cakewalk for a group of just three PCs. The encounters that gave the group a challenge were upwards of APL+3 or +4, such as the fight with the vrock and his cultists, the dinos and their goblin riders, and the black dragon and his watery friend. With the nearing of Beta, I would like to see some better examples of encounter building in this system in order to find the right challenge balance. 3.) With the new abilities, the party only had to rest once during the entire dungeon, from opening the doors to the final battle, and they completed every room. Resource management for casters is so much better with the additions. The wizards was not running low of spells until after completing the second level of the dungeon. With the new channeling rules, I was able to keep the combatants healed without spending spells best used to buff the group. Very nice here. 4.) CMB is great for PCs. The clarifications to combat maneuvers are fantastic and the players felt more encouraged to use these even without the use of “improved” feats due to the new ease of use. Though, we still have questions regarding grapple, such as whether or not the creature or character being grappled needs to make a check in order to act. As written, the players interpreted the rules to mean a creature that is being grappled does not need to make a check to do anything unless he wants to take control of the grapple. However, the grappling creature must make a check in order to take any action listed in the rules. I do not know if this is the intention of the rules. Some more clarification is needed here. 5.) CMB is not so good for certain monsters. As mentioned during Alpha 2 testing, those creatures that are solely built around grappling are at somewhat of a disadvantage with the new rules. The shambling mounds and the giant squid had lower CMBs than their 3.5 predecessors and this took some of the sting out of them. I’m not sure how this could be addressed without more testing. 6.) Some concern/questions about specific combat feats: Cleave says that the targets must be adjacent. Does this mean their squares must share a side or can they just share a corner, such as being with 5 feet of each other diagonally? Also, the fighter player felt that Backswing was a great feat at low level, but really lost its appeal at higher levels. He thought that increasing the Strength bonus to just full instead of half might rectify this. 7.) Arcane bond – Object: Both myself and the wizard’s player would like there to be more clarification about how the object functions in regard to the spell it can cast and how it can be enchanted. Does the spell have to be one memorized for the day or can it be one from the wizard’s spellbook? When it comes to enchanting, can the object be enchanted with any ability/bonus, like a ring with a bonus to Constitution, and does the object follow the extra pricing for uncustomary space limitation? 8.) Notes about the character sheet that may have been mentioned before: Disable Device should be Dex, Spellcraft should be Int, and Swim should be Str. 9.) Huge successes so far include the skill system and feat availability and additions, as mentioned above. Though remembering some of the skill breakdowns was tricky. I often found myself asking for Spot or Listen checks instead of Preception (sight) or (sound), though I chalk this up to habit. It is somewhat odd that Knowledge and Perform skills are actual, separate skills while Perception is once skill with five different subtypes (though I don’t know how this could be any different). 10.) Revisions to spell and magic items seem solid and did not cause any issue during play. 11.) New adjudication for negative levels is great. The fighter’s player was concerned about losing a great deal when hit by an enervation spell, but when I explained the changes, he was both relieved and still concerned. The player didn’t have to basically undo his character, while he still had a challenge to overcome. The simplicity allowed the players to quickly adjust to the penalty without feeling like their characters had been destroyed by it. 12.) The new damage reduction rules work. No longer needed is the golf bag of different weapons, a major relief to our rogue player who had to deal with this with his fighter during our Shackled City campaign. During this adventure, the weapon enhancement rules gave the party a better grip on certain encounters with the creatures with special material restrictions, but were still challenged by those with alignment-based DR. This system seemed balanced. 13.) The four base classes we playtested seem to be balanced and well on their way to feeling complete. Again, the new features added more than enough options to make the players happy. Even the rogue’s player, generally not a caster or spell fan, felt that the spell abilities of the rogue fit the class and made great choices. Though we did not have the opportunity to playtest the other classes, the players liked the proposed changes to some classes while not liking others, but that is beyond the scope of this post and I will leave that to more playtesting. All in all, I’d call this playtest a success. After the first night, the players were incredibly excited with the possibilities they saw in these changes and their actual results. The following day continued the excitement until late that night when the party entered the final floor of the dungeon. At this point, the dice ran cold and the challenge of the adventure finally caught up to the party’s level. I also think that the grind of the adventure finally caught up with the players as well, but this is an issue with the adventure’s nature, not the rules. I spoke with one the players this morning, and he is very confident in the direction Jason and Paizo are taking with the rules, and so am I. I want to thank you for all of the hard work, and a fantastic and deep world to adventure in. If there are any questions, I would be more than willing to answer as best I can. I hope this post helps. Rodger 
A friend on mine is trying to explore some different fighter characters and I remember an issue of Dragon that included some variant fighter classes. Basically, the changes were to the skills and proficiencies of the fighter class with the addition of other abilities. The one in particular I'm interested in the is "Pugilist." Can anyone tell me which issue number this is? Thanks
I picked up the Skinsaw Murders adventure and absolutely want to run it. The group I game with though likes to have everything covered in case a problem arises, and while I find the haunts mechanic to be fun and interesting, the players may feel like they are being targeted without the options of battling/avoiding the haunts. Last week, I believe, the writer of Skinsaw Murders posted an article on the adjudication of the haunts feature in the adventure. Does anyone know where I can find it? I believe it will have the information I need to use the haunts effectively, while giving the player I can chance to interact with them, as opposed to being interacted with. Thanks in advanced. |
