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Thank you for the comments. I can certainly understand your interpretation, since the spell doesn't make it clear if the damage keeps its type (fire), or turns into typeless damage. I'm inclined to keep the "both resistances apply" rule in favor of the players since this spell has some restrictions: - It costs an RP.
I have searched the forums but I haven't found an answer to this. I would like to know the correct order to apply the damage when this spell is active, and how the spell works when the caster/target have DR or energy resistance. So imagine the following: The solarian has energy resistance 10 to fire.
How do you break down the damage and apply the resistances? Solution 1
Mystic takes half of 20, thus 10 damage, and that is reduced to 5 due to energy resistance. Total damage received: 5 fire Solution 2
So far I have applied solution 2, as I think for a character to receive damage, you first have to go through its resistances/DR. I also see no indication that the mystic can't reduce the damage through this own DR/energy resistance. Thanks in advance! Shield Other: [SFS Legal] Shield Other
Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 377 Classes Mystic 2 School abjuration Casting Time 1 standard action Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels) Targets one creature Duration 1 hour/level (D) Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless) Description This spell wards the target and creates a mystic connection between you and the target so that some of its wounds are transferred to you. Casting this spell requires you to spend 1 Resolve Point. The target takes only half damage from all wounds and attacks (including those dealt by special abilities) that deal Hit Point damage, and you take the amount of damage not taken by the target. Only Hit Point damage is transferred in this manner; the target’s Stamina Points are damaged as normal. If you still have Stamina Points, you take the damage to your Stamina Points before Hit Points, as with normal damage. Forms of harm that do not involve Hit Points, such as charm effects, temporary ability damage, ability drain, permanent negative levels, and death effects, are not affected. When the spell ends, subsequent damage is no longer divided between the target and you, but damage already split is not reassigned to the target. If you and the target of the spell move out of range of each other, the spell ends.
Hi guys. In this order, the Starfinder AP volume 3 is not discounted, as it was in previous orders. Is this right? what's the reason? Thank you.
The mechanic in my game wants to take the Technological Innovator trick from the Armory. Technological Innovator:
Choose two mechanic tricks you meet the prerequisites for but don’t have. Once per day as a move action, you can gain one of these tricks for 10 minutes. Each time you gain a mechanic level, you can replace one of these mechanic tricks with another that you meet the prerequisites for but don’t have. The tricks he wants to take are Scoutbot and Quick Patch, both from the CRB Scoutbot:
You’re always crafting rudimentary bots in your spare time, and can use them to scout. It takes you 10 minutes and 1 Resolve Point to create a scoutbot. A scoutbot is a Small technological construct, its EAC and KAC are equal to 10 + your mechanic level, and it has 1 Hit Point per mechanic level you have (and no Stamina Points). It has a land speed of 30 feet, and you can control its movements with your custom rig as a move action. It has a camera that streams visual and auditory data back to your rig. The scoutbot uses your saving throw bonuses if necessary. It is untrained in all skills and has a +0 bonus in all of them, though you can use your own Perception skill when examining the feed from its stream. Once created, the scoutbot lasts for 1 minute per mechanic level you have before falling apart unless otherwise destroyed. Quick Patch:
When you attempt to patch a system on a starship, you reduce the number of actions required to do so by one. This does not reduce the time needed to patch a glitching system, but you can patch two systems with one action. For Scoutbot, I have one question. - It takes 10 minutes to craft the bot, wich is the same time that the mechanic hast the trick to use it, according to Technological Innovator. Can the mechanic build the bot given that both durations are the same? Does the bot keep functioning even after the mechanic loses this temporary trick? I think yes to both as it doesn't seem unbalanced, but what would you do in your game? For the Quick Patch trick I have three questions: 1st - adjudicating the temporary duration. According to the rulebook, starship combat rounds don’t have a fixed duration: pg.317:
Like combat between characters, starship combat occurs over a number of rounds until one side flees, surrenders, or is otherwise defeated. Unlike rounds in combat between characters, a round of starship combat doesn’t correlate to a specific amount of time. So, how much time should the temporary Quick Patch trick last in starship combat? 2nd- establishing how to activate the Technological Innovation in starship combat. Reading the sidebar “other actions in starship combat” (SCR pg.322), I assume the character will have to spend his turn in one of the combat rounds activating the trick (move action replaces the standard role actions), and on the next round he could start using the Quick Patch trick in the engineering phase. Does this sound right? 3rd - Finally, the starship the characters use in the game has a Slime-Patch system installed (from the Scavenger Slime in AA). Slime-Patch system:
While most spacefarers know better than to try and harness scavenger slimes’ technology, given the obvious dangers involved, the oozes’ ability to quickly adapt and repair systems has made them surprisingly useful tools for those starship engineers daring enough to employ them. Slime-patch systems can be installed in any starship for 8 Build Points, with no expansion bay or PCU cost. When a ship with slime-patch systems acquires a critical damage condition, the slime-patch system automatically turns on, spraying the damaged systems with scavenger slime material almost like a fire-sprinkler system.
The slime, which is chemically treated to die within moments of its unexpected freedom, automatically begins repairing the system, reducing the number of engineering actions required to patch the critical damage condition by 1 (minimum 1). Does the action reduction effect when patching the systems stack with the action reduction effect provided by the Quick Patch trick? For example, let's imagine the starship has two systems with critical damage conditions. One is malfunctioning (2 actions to patch) and the other glitching (one action to patch). The mechanic starts with the malfunctioning system, that normally requires 2 engineer actions to patch. The slime-patch reduces this to 1 action, and the Quick Patch reduces it again to 0, allowing the mechanic to patch the two damaged systems with one action (per the trick text). Keep in mind that the slime doesn’t affect the glitching system, as it still requires one action. Thank you.
Guys, I have talked to my bank again, and they have authorized the operation with the following number on 25/09: 241501. I still don't have access to the Starfinder Society scenarios included in this order.
Hi. This order is still pending because the payment method was declined. Thanks.
Wingblaze, I think you misquoted me :-)
I am positive I know the difference between Starfinder and Pathfinder. It could have been a special ability. Either way they created darkness. My bad. I assumed you were talking about a spell. To answer your question, Wingblaze got it righ. You basically have an "aura" of sorts that starts in your square, and you count in all directions to see how much you can see. If you have darkvision 60 ft. range, and the bad guy that created the effect is 100 ft away; or the border of the darkness effect starts 100 ft. way, your darkvision doesn't reach that far and you can't see what happens inside the darkness area.
As there is no Darkness spell in Starfinder, I assume this is a question for the Pathfinder forums.
The monster/NPC creation rules is the best feature of the Starfinder system for me. Once you are familiar with it, you can create antagonists fast. Back on topic, I have realized Deldreg is missing the lvl 5 armored storm soldier ability (Enhanced Tank). This means you can add another armor upgrade to its Battle Harness.
In Starfinder, NPCs don't use the same creation rules as PC's. I would say Deldreg not having any feats is intentional. His tactics doesn' reference any feat either so it's ok. Be aware that there is an error in his statblock: the speed entry indicates 40 ft. but Deldreg is using a Battle Harness powered armor, so his maximum speed should be 30. Powered armor limits the base speed, and doesn't allow for increases, in this case, the +10 ft from Blitz Soldier.
Good thinking,breithauptclan. I have taken a look in the rulebook, and found this definitions of Attack: - From the invisibility spell: "For purposes of this spell, an attack includes any spell or harmful effect targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe." - From Attack in the Glossary at the end of the book: "Attack: This is any action you take that could potentially damage a target. Attacks in combat are either ranged, such as shooting a laser rifle or throwing a grenade, or melee, such as stabbing with a survival knife. Monsters often can make attacks with their natural weapons, such as claws, or they might have access to other special attacks. See page 240." So it seems the first definition would be closer to my option 1, and the second to my option 2.
Just to clarify, I'm the GM in my group. I wanted to know how other GMs use this spell in their games. Thank you for your imput. Much appreciated.
Hello, I have received an email telling me that Paizo requested autorization to charge for my order, and the transaction was declined. I have checked my credit card statement, and I see the 7,98$ authorized by my bank. Could you please check this? Thank you.
I was reading this spell and I’m not sure how to interpret a very important aspect of it. When a creature affected by the spell is attacked, it attacks the attacker back; or if it rolls on the table and gets the 76-100 result, on its next turn it “attacks nearest creature”. The problem is, the spell doesn’t explain what “attack” means in this context. I have looked through the forums and only found some answers regarding the PF1 spell (wich is nearly identical), and there is a lot of table variation. How do you apply the effects of this spell in your games? To provide some examples: 1- You use everything to attack the creature. If you are a spellcaster, you use the spells in your repertoire in the best way possible to damage or disable your “enemy”. If you don’t have spells, you make one or more attacks or use special attacks (like trick attack), depending on the circumstances. In both cases, you use daily resources, items and resolve points if it makes sense, in a tactical way, to give you a better chance to kill your enemy. 2- You attack using your best weapons and may use multiple attacks/special attacks if it makes sense given the circumstances, but you don’t have to use daily resources, items or resolve points. Casters don’t have to use spells. 3- You only make one attack using whatever weapon you have in your hands at that moment. In these three examples I assume the confused character/creature can move to attack if that is beneficial (to avoid cover, or to strike with a melee weapon) and the action economy allows it. Also, it is questionable if the confused creature can use abilities that not only attacks/damages the intended target, but also other creatures. For example, a confused dragon using its breath weapon/a character throwing a grenade to damage not only the nearest creature, but also other creatures nearby (be they allies or enemies). As a sidenote, it is weird that the spell doesn’t use the confused condition, that has mostly the same text with some extra lines that clarify that the creature treats everyone as its enemies. Thoughts? Confusion Spell:
Confusion Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 344 Classes Mystic 4 School enchantment (compulsion, mind-affecting) Casting Time 1 standard action Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level) Area 15-ft.-radius burst Duration 1 round/level Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes Description This spell causes confusion in all creatures in the area, making them unable to determine their actions. Any confused creature that is attacked automatically attacks or attempts to attack its attackers on its next turn, as long as it is still confused at the start of its next turn. Note that a confused creature will not make attacks of opportunity against any foe that it is not already devoted to attacking (either because of its most recent action or because it has just been attacked). For confused creatures that have not been attacked, roll on the following table at the start of each affected creature’s turn each round to see what it does in that round. D% Behavior
A confused creature that can’t carry out the indicated action does nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking a confused target.
Confused Condition: Confused You are mentally befuddled and can’t act normally. You can’t tell the difference between ally and foe, and thus you treat all creatures as enemies, even your closest friends and family, if applicable. An ally who wishes to cast a beneficial Spell on you with a range of touch must succeed at an attack roll against your Energy Armor Class, since you cannot be considered a willing target. If you are attacked while you’re confused, you always attack the creature that last attacked you until that creature is dead or out of sight, unless it is otherwise impossible for you to attack it that round. While confused, you can’t make attacks of opportunity against any creature or thing that you aren’t already committed to attacking. If you are not devoted to attacking a target, roll on the following table at the beginning of your turn each round to see what you do in that round.
If you can’t carry out the indicated action, you do nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking you.
Hi everyone. What the subject says. Up until now, I have only added the photon mode insight damage bonus to damage rolls from melee/ranged weapons, but RAW it seems the bonus should also apply to photon powers with damage rolls, such as Supernova, Corona, Stellar Rush, Blazing Orbit, Sunbolt and Particle Wave (Armory). I have searched the forums but nothing has come up regarding this. The relevant text: When you enter photon mode, you gain 1 photon attunement point and become photon-attuned. Some of your stellar revelations are photon powers and get stronger if you’re photon-attuned. While photon-attuned, you gain a +1 insight bonus to damage rolls (including damage rolls for your stellar powers). This bonus increases by 1 for every 6 solarian levels you have. What do you think about this? Should the damage bonus apply on the powers I listed? Thank you!
What do you think about the second part? "I believe that when you first activate the circuit with a swift, you still only have one action, because negating the slow effect doesn't give you back your full set of actions (move and standard). Am I correct?"
Hi Sam. Thank you for your help. Even though the payment method may be ok, just now I have received a communication from my bank saying that I have a charge from Paizo, from two hours ago. I still see Order 8104924 pending, and I have no new pdfs to download... Is this charge ok?? Thanks.
Hi all, I have questions regarding how these two game elements interact. Before that, I would like to quote the relevant information: Spoiler:
Haste Circuit (Magic) Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 205 Item Level 8; Price 9,250 Slots 1; Armor Type Light, Heavy; Bulk L Capacity 10; Usage 1/round You can activate the haste circuit as a swift action to gain the benefits of a haste spell until you spend another swift action to deactivate it or it runs out of charges. A haste circuit’s charges replenish each day. This upgrade can be installed only in light or heavy armor. ----------- Slow
------------- Countering And Negating
Many times, these same spells note that they negate one another as well. This means that a successful casting of one spell on a target under the effects of the second spell undoes those effects, and the effects of the first spell don’t occur. Ok, so imagine a lvl 9 mystic is fighting an assasin that has the haste circuit installed as an armor upgrade in whatever armor is wearing. The circuit has 10 charges. The mystic casts the slow spell on the assassin, and it fails the saving throw, so for nine rounds it is slowed, as per the spell description. As the assasin is staggered, on its turn it can use a swift action to activate the haste circuit. - I assume this situation is described in the last paragraph of "Countering and Negating", so the haste negates slow. But what are the effects of negating, exactly? a) Does it mean that the entire 9 rounds of slow dissapear, as if the spell didn't affect you, and the following rounds (as long as you keep the circuit active) you act hasted? b) Or does the circuit only cancel the slow for 9 rounds, acting normally, and the tenth round you are hasted? (as slow would have expired) - I believe that when you first activate the circuit with a swift, you still only have one action, because negating the slow effect doesn't give you back your full set of actions (move and standard). Am I correct? Thank you.
Hi guys. I have changed my payment information adding a new credit card and deleting my older debit card. The problem is, your system asked for the card verification number, I typed it, and the website told me the card was declined. I have checked with my bank and everything is ok. For the record, this also happened the last time I changed the payment method. Please check this, I don't want any problems paying for my subscriptions. Thank you.
I have a player in my Dead Suns campaign with Slow, and just as SuperBidi said, it is an incredibly useful spell. It basically ends encounters.
Thank you everyone for helping me out with this.
Hi all, I've looking for an answer in the core rulebook and online regarding how to apply damage in case a character has both energy resistance and temporary hit points, with no success, so I hope you can help me with this. An example: A character has resistance 5 to acid and 10 temporary hitpoints. An attack hits the character, dealing 15 acid damage. How do you apply damage correctly? a) The character resists 5 points of damage due to its resistance, and the remaining damage (10) is applied to the temp. hitpoints, reducing them to 0. b) The caracter first reduces damage using temp. hitpoints (10), leaving 5 acid damage that is entirely blocked by the resistance. I think the correct answer is a), but I haven't found anything specific in the rules. Thanks!
I'm starting to run this module and got some questions. - Even after Jason explained the Foundry map on page p.29. I'm still confused. Areas D1 and D2 are supposed to be at the ground level, and D3 above them. But the corridor near the D4 offices has a door north and south, and the map implies that the northern one opens to the outside, but that door doesn't have a stair to reach the ground safely... that basically means that you open it and fall to the ground if you keep walking? that doesn't make any sense. I look at the map and think that the whole structure is supposed to be on the ground at the same level, but for some reason the D1-D2 areas aren't connected to the rest of the building. - How high is the balcony were Xavra is located in area D7 of the Foundry? the adventure doesn't say. How did the kishalee accessed this balcony? there are no stairs or elevators that go from the ground floor. Also, does the floor extend below the balcony, so there are 10 ft. until you reach the wall at the ground level? it's not clear looking at the map. - What creature is depicted on page 38, a the Istamak section of the book? looks like a cross between a worm and a drake. Can you give any details about it? I would like to create a statblock to use in the adventure as a random encounter on Istamak. In case it helps other GMs out there, I looked through the alien archives and Pathfinder bestiaries in search of monsters thematically apropriate for the adventure, to add or replace some random encounters. So far this is what I have: - mucilaginous clouds, 3 of these can work as a surprise encounter on a foggy day on Istamak.
Xenocrat, What I would like to know is how would you adjudicate in your table the part of the rules that allow a spell with targets to work by touching them, since it isn't explained. I have looked through the CRB and found nothing on it. This is not an attempt to accomodate my player, but to work out a seemingly viable alternative provided by the rules.
Hi all. So in a few sessions my party is probably going to face a glass serpent (AA2 pg. 64) on Eox. I foresee a problem with my mystic player and I want to ask you about how to approach it. The maraquoi mystic usually uses mind thrust against enemies, but as the serpent can turn invisible temporarily, this is not possible acording to the rules. From the CRB in the Magic chapter: Targets
Mind Thrust doesn't have an attack roll, so you need to see the target or touch it. The problem is, the rules doesn't explain how to touch a target with a spell that doesn't have a range of "touch". I'm trying to come up with an alternative to use Mind Thrust on those rounds that the serpent is invisible. So far, this is what I have: - First, the character must be near enough the serpent to touch it. In this case, the character has a 5 ft. reach, so that means it has to be adjacent. - Once adjacent, the character casts the spell, provoking an attack of opportunity as usual. - If the casting is successful, as part of the same action as casting the spell, the character can attempt a melee attack against EAC to touch, taking into account that the serpent has a 50% concealment. - If it succeeds, the spell takes effect as normal. If it fails, I suppose the spell should be lost, as it's not a touch spell, so you can't hold the charge. So, what do you think? Thanks!
Thanks for the replies. I have the Escape from the Prison Moon module but forgot about the bulk rule regarding creatures.
Hi all. I hope you fellow forum members can help me understand better this two items. Planar Runeplates: after reading the description, I'm not sure if the plates are supposed to give their benefits against creatures that have an alignment subtype opposed to the plates' alignment, or against creatures that simply have some part of their alignment opposed to the plates. So for example, in the first case if you have Chaotic Good plates, you can use them against demons, wich have the evil subtype (opposes good) but not against a chaotic evil goblin (doesn't have alignment subtype). The full description: Cultists and religious artificers forge planar runeplates, as do the demon-worshipping drow of Apostae. Each set of planar runeplates is dedicated to a specific powerful being native to the Outer Planes, such as an archdevil, a demon lord, or a god. Devotional symbols on the plates might convince others you’re aligned with the being in question, even if you’re not. You wear the plates by affixing them to clothing or armor; they count as a worn magic item unless you install them in armor, taking up a number of upgrade slots equal to their mark. Each set of planar runeplates has the same alignment as the extraplanar entity to which the plates are dedicated, although no plates are created with a neutral alignment with no other alignment components. While you wear the plates, they have several effects. If a creature with an alignment component opposite any of the plates’ alignment components attacks you, the plates alert you to the creature’s opposing subtypes. If the attack hits, as a reaction you can force the creature to reroll the attack and use the worse result. If you fail a saving throw against an effect created by such a creature, as a reaction you can reroll the saving throw and take the better result. Once you benefit from a given set of planar runeplates, you can benefit from a different set only after 24 hours have passed. Null-Space Chamber: The mk 1 type has this description: You can close up to 25 bulk in this device’s pocket space, a 3-foot cube. It can hold enough air for one Medium creature or two Small creatures for 10 minutes. I honestly don't know how to calculate how much bulk a character or creature is worth (aside from what they are carrying), so basically I can't determine if a specific medium or small creature can fit inside the chamber when it already has some of those 25 bulk occupied by items and such. Is there any way to do this? Thanks!
Hello everyone. I haven't found any threads on this, so I'll ask: Do you think the mechanic trick "Overcharge" works with a projectile weapon with the "energetic" fusion applied? A player of mine wants to use it on a breaching gun (uses shells as ammo) From Aon: Energetic
Overcharge (Ex)
So basically when you apply the fusion to a projectile weapon I think you fullfill the "needs to use a battery" requirement for the trick to work, but not the "ranged energy weapon". From a rules standpoint, an energy weapon is one that deals energy damage (fire, cold, electricity, acid, sonic) and usually targets EAC except where noted. The energetic fusion doesn't change the type of AC targeted (KAC) or damage dealt (physical, not energy damage). Any thoughts? Maybe I'm reading too much into this... Thanks.
Hi, It seems your system is trying to charge me again for starfinder society scenarios 1-22 and 1-23, along with the new ones 1-24 and 1-25 in my subscription. I alredy paid for the first two in order #7475977 (yeah, the same order number as this one) on september 26. The first order where those scenarios show up in my subscription is order #7443243. Also, the payment option the email shows is not correct (I have changed my payment method yesterday). I don't understand why I have two different order numbers with the same items and being charged again for something I already paid. I have sent you an email about this, please check it out as soon as possible. Thank you.
I've looking into this because my party is currently suffering from a disease that inflicts conditions. I don't think the remove condition spell works. In the afflictions section on pg. 414 it says: "Some afflictions cause the same effects as a condition (such as sickened; see page 277). Effects that modify, prevent, or remove those conditions do not apply; only effects and immunities against the appropriate affliction apply." To answer the question, IMHO: the target regains the sickened condition immediately.
So Scorpion, think you'll update Areelu or others with some of the new options (or updated classes in Vorlesh's case) in the Book of the Damned? Hi, I don't have BotD and since right now I'm not playing Pathfinder anymore I doubt I'll update the statblocks any further.
The statblock for the Greater Thanadaemon in Demon's Heresy lists the melee attack as, "Melee +3 quarterstaff +31/+26/+21/+16 (1d6+15 plus energy drain plus forgetfulness plus stun)" but I can't figure out where the stun is coming from. Was that just a misprint? It's a way to represent the powerful blows the Thanadaemon can do with its staff. You can find the save DC in the Special Attacks section of the statblock.
It's the name for the rot grubs that manifest inside a creature struck with the stone scythe if it fails the Con saving throw. Check the "Stone Scythe" ability description.
@JohnHawkins, Yeah man, no kidding. Those fights in books 5 and 6 take hours to resolve. For the soul foundry I thought Terendelev was more than enough and I'm happy to say it was the right call. We had enough time to run the combat and do a lot of RP when the party found the Suture and fled from Khorramzadeh. For Threshold, well you know what combats I did. I got rid of all the filler stuff (aeons, the new demons, shemhazian and kalavakuses, raspers and dragons, etc) because they add nothing. In my game all those forces were devoted to attacking the crusader's cities. Deskari knew that only the strongest of his minions could pose a challenge to the heroes of Kenabres. Please tell us how your fights go!
Thanks guys! @Pnakotus: No, the players didn't have Terendelev or Pyralisia by their side. Both NPCs remained in Drezen and Kenabres respectively to protect the cities, as the demons launched an all-out attack while the PCs were exploring Threshold trying to close the worldwound. The players decided this was best, as both creatures lacked mythic power in their standard forms and were no match for the enemies the heroes would have to face (a sound choice, in my opinion). The players had the two solars against Areelu, and Legion (the flaming solar created from the sould freed from the temple of Baphomet inside the ineluctable prison) was gated in the final battle against Deskari.
Hi everyone. Yesterday we finally finished the campaign, and the final battle against Deskari was a blast! I still have to write about Areelu's combat at Threshold's Roots so I'll start there. Basically the party appeared at the center of the chamber, with enemies on all sides (they knew where they were going to appear, so...). Enemy team started with an all-out attack since the players didn't roll well on initiative, so most of the enemies went first. Most of the bad guys were under the effects of mythic haste, mythic heroism and Sister Perversion's bard song. This combat lasted about 3-4 rounds (can't remember exactly). On the second or third round, the paladin summoned Nocticula (basically sacrificed his soul to save his friends, wich she did). Just so you know, the paladin had a love-hate relationship with Nocticula since they met on the midnigh isles, and in my opinion has made the campaign much more interesting :-) Even then, the huge number of enemies put a lot of pressure on the party, and it took them several turns to retaliate. All the PCs died at least once, and several miracles and wishes got used to revive allies and remove damage/effects. Anyway, on to the combat: - Areelu started using evil eye on the sorceress (she failed the save), and then mass-suffocated the party. With the buff from the devastator's aura (+5 to spell DCs), only the inquisitor saved. Since all of the players were flat-footed, they couldn't surge. The paladin also removed the effects by spending one use of mythic power on his turn (he didn't have to breathe for a number of hours, so I ruled it nullified the spell's effects). With her arcane metamastery x4 ability, she mazed the sorceress. After Nocticula was summoned, she was dominated and commanded by her to attack her allies (khorramzadeh and the titan got mass hold monster'd, remember she overcomes mind-affecting immunity and bonuses). She also commanded her devastator to stand down so it didn't defend itself or Areelu. She failed both will saves against Nocticula's domination ability, and that was her doom, but I think it was pretty cool. After all her allies fled/died (only Gimcrack remained), we stopped the combat and I described how Nocticula put a bolt through her head, killing her. - The 2 solars attacked the PCs until the dwarven cleric used his gift from Iomedae (see herald of the ivory labyrinth) to free them, no questions asked. Then they played as support, casting healing spells on the party and keeping Gimcrack focused on them. They were key to the party victory, since they could cast miracle once each to revive all fallen allies. - Gimcrack attacked the inquisitor with full-attacks using titan's bane, until a natural 20 came up on the die and he decapitated Beloc. After that, he started attacking the solars because one of them rolled a crit against him on and opportunity attack (true seeing), and he was VERY pissed. - The devastator heavily damaged the cleric and the inquisitor, and at some point killed them (the crits from the soul beams hurt a lot). After Nocticula appeared, she started attacking it and it retaliated of course. The player controlling Nocticula then thought about ordering Areelu to "deactivate" the devastator, wich she did. It remained deactivated after Areelu died. - The titan only acted once, but its full-attack against the entire party caught the players by surprise and did lots of damage. He died after failing the save against Areelu's mass hold monster and getting coup de grace'd by the inquisitor (god of war style). - Anemora had a grudge against the dwarven cleric (Kurt), and tried to energy drain/implosion/disintegrate him with varying degrees of success. Kurt got a lot of negative levels from energy drain, and it made him fail several saving throws (I think he got 7-10 negative levels). She died after the sorceress got revived and finally casted an extremely lethal mythic meteor swarm. - Sister Perversion acted as backup, dispelling the PCs buffs, making their life harder. After Nocticula appeared, she removed her blessing inflicting several negative levels on her. She panicked and fled the battlefield. - Khorramzadeh was the bad guys' heavy hitter, killing at least three PCs (one of the by decapitation). After he got paralyzed by mass hold monster, he saved on the first round with a natural 20. The paladin used smite evil on him (they got into a duel until he killed the paladin) and paid the price. The rest of the party assumed he got empowered from the description I gave them, so they asked him to remove the smite. He also died to the sorceress' mythic meteor swarm. His death throes killed one or two characters. After the combat, Nocticula allowed the paladin to perform the closing ritual (and fight Deskari if he wanted too, but of course the party didn't know that). I ruled his divine power was slowly fading, so he could be useful in the last battle. the ritual went very well, and I added a dream-like secuence to each character based on their fears and flaws (the worldwound trying to make them fail). The worldwound was closed, and the party appeared in the rasping rifts, along with Deskari, two honor guard balors (I used the stats for Gallundari from Demons Revisited, see the Aponavicius battle description for the additional effect I added to the Death Throes), and four apocalipse locusts. Just so you know, a while ago I added another ability to the demon lord traits, so their resistances and immunities cannot be ignored or overcome when they are on their abyssal realm. I rolled randomly for the starting places of each combatant, and the PCs got separated except for the inquisitor and the sorceress. Arueshalae started next to Deskari, and was the first to die by his scythe after the first four attacks. He then moved to the island at the other side of the bridge, where the paladin was standing next to an apocalypse locust. There he stayed for the remainder of the battle, wich lasted a good five rounds. The highlights were: - The abyssal swarm aura kept the PCs on their toes with the damage and the two fortitude saving throws. Since the poison drains Constitution, it makes saving against the nauseated condition much harder. The paladin and the cleric died from this damage. The characters in general had to use a lot of surges to remove the nauseated condition using unstoppable. Defensively speaking, the damage reduction (40) was invaluable when keeping Deskari alive. Even the paladin using smite evil noticed the difference. Also, the heavy fortification ability canceled three critical hits. - The demonic aura did its job, and killed the sorceress when she casted offensive spells at Deskari (mythic meteor swarm and mythic fireball). The players face was priceless when I told her that the abyss basically had erased her from existence... :-) - Deskari's full-attack killed a character each time. The paladin avoided death after the last two attacks from the scythe missed, but dropped dead after the demon lord attacked with mythic vital strike on an amazing initiative standard action. His death came after the players had attacked him for several turns, using area attacks and the gaze attack from the aegis shield the paladin has (useless against deskari, but not the apocalipse locusts or the abyssal insects). The swarm was taking a lot of damage and for one round I described the swarm as getting weakened (only reduced 20 points for one round). The sorceress took the cue and used mythic meteor swarm with everything she could. I rolled crap on the reflex saves, even after surging, and the damage killed him. Overall it was an amazing ending for this campaign. The players cheered when their enemy finally died. After the fight we wrapped up the campaign, explaining the ending for each of the characters. Well, it took a long time to play this campaign and create this document, but I'm very proud of the results. I think the modifications made to the enemies allowed me to emphasize the "mythicness" of this AP. I will try to make some additional adjustments to the document based on my latest experiences, but I think for the most part my work here is done. I hope this document becomes a useful resource and inspiration for those DMs out there that want to DM the AP and create a suitable difficulty level.
Time for an update. Right now we have finished exploring Threshold save for the last level (the roots, where Areelu awaits). The last few combats have been interesting and challenging, so overall I'm happy with the statblocks. - Anemora an Perversion fought as indicated in the encounter notes on the document. They had two advanced balors (Deskari's honor guard) and two ancient apocalypse locusts as minions. I planned on making more locusts appear as the enemies were defeated by the PCs, but I didn't need to. After killing one balor and one locust, the players made Anemora and Perversion flee using a miracle to retreat to Threshold, so they'll be waiting with Areelu for the last fight. At least two of the players went unconscious (almost killed) in this battle. - Terendelev: A very challenging fight. The paladin died to the dragon's attacks, and the paladin was saved from decapitation by his scale. The nahyndrian and cold aura proved to be very effective. After the fight, they resurrected Terendelev after convincing her spirit that the crusade still needed her. I didn't use the Son of Shax and Shaorhaz because that's another gaming session lost on combat alone, and right now I am a bit tired and want to finish the campaign. So they went inside the foundry and saved the Suture. At this point Khorramzadeh appeared and the group thought that, with the suture there they were at a disadvantage so they fled. They returned later to find that the stormlord was nowhere to be found and the foundry had collapsed after an earthquake. Inside Threshold the party found Diurgez and battled him. The fight was fast and furious. The balor lord did a lot of damage to the party with the insectile explosions and the whip-axe combined attacks. I got rid of all the meaningless combats against demons, raspers and dragons. I also removed Gimcrack from the inevitable's prison, he'll be waiting the group at the roots. At this point all these combats add nothing, and my mythic monsters are more than enough to drain the party of their resources. I included an imprisoned Xanthir Vang on the cells room (inside a tube made of force) and that lead to an interesting RP situation with the sorceress (Vang killed her parents). Much better than doing another combat with another high-level spellcaster. The next battle was against the second devastator after traversing the Worldwound. I think it killed one or two characters. This monsters are terrifying, the two times my party has encountered one of these they have inflicted a lot of damage and forced the party to spend mythic resources to bring them down. - The Echo of Deskari: this battle was nuts. it basically started with the bell ringing (I upped the DC to 40, it did damage to almost the entire party) and ended on the first round. The Echo went first and killed the inquisitor with a critical hit with the scythe, and then the paladin using half of its full-attack, an amazing initiative attack, and a mythic quickened enervation. Then the sorceress casted a mythic empowered maximized channel power meteor swarm and killed the Echo in a huge explosion. Then the Echo exploded and damaged the party more. It was awesome, bloody, and fast. - The Favored of Deskari fight went surprisingly well. It almost killed the paladin and the Inquisitor with all those reactive stings. The immunity to crits made it last longer until the party killed it on the second round. Unfortunately it only used the breath weapon once and no one got cursed (players were afraid after discovering what the cursed waters could do) We left the game as the group is preparing to use the last phase door to access Threshold's roots and fight Areelu & friends. So for the last battle I have the following opponents: - Areelu
And after that we'll see if the party wants to fight Deskari...
Hello everyone. @leo1925: congrats on finishing the campaign!! And many thanks for your appreciation of my job, I'm happy you found the document useful. But please give us some details about the important fights (khorramzadeh, Terendelev, Areelu, Deskari...) every bit of information is important ;-) For those wondering at what part is my group, I'm happy to say we left the last session as the group used the pool inside the Yearning House to reach Anemora's cave. If you have read my document, you know Sister Perversion and a small horde of apocalypse locusts will be with her. A few comments about the last fights using the statblocks: - Zelmisdria and Azrivauxus: They both were very effective. Unfortunately, I rolled crap on the dragon's attacks, but even then I managed to knock two meleers unconscious. the ability to ignore one PC's attacks for one round made some jaws drop. The sorceress burned the dragon with a mythic fireball. Zelmisdria survived a little more, and killed the cleric by turning him into a pincushion. - Apocalypse locusts: Their ability to buff other locusts or demons coupled with the ability to turn back spells and attacks made this one hell of a fight. One of the meleers was killed in this fight and several characters went unconscious. The party used good tactics to resist the onslaught. - Pyralisia: Definitely drop the automatic channel power on her spells. She doesn't need it. Two characters got several "virtual negative levels", and the sorceress died after Pyralisia deflected an atomic bomb (mythic fireball). - Devastator: It alone killed Beloc and Kairon (inquisitor and paladin) using its devastating array of attacks. The soul rays surprised the characters with their seeking property. A killing machine. - Staunton Vhane and Balor (deskari's honor guard, read the encounter description in the updated document): Staunton and his demon buddy attacked the party, and inflicted quite a bit of pain. The balor alone "vorpalized" the paladin as he moved towards Staunton, and almost killed the unconscious dwarven cleric when the balord died and the cleric's body almost got sucked into the rift (the paladin catched the body after being revived). Staunton killed the cleric and Arueshale for being an heretic demon. He also engaged the inquisitor but was finished before he could do another full-attack and decimate the herald of Iomedae. My players were very happy to finally put an end to Staunton's vile existence. - Aponavicius: She moved around her lair, mocking the characters and using the standard and secret doors to get the upper hand against them (I modified the quasit key so the bearer could open/close a door inside the complex with just a thought). She alone killed the cleric twice, the paladin once and the inquisitor once. Not bad for a boss monster.
Yeah, my players are Level 18/Tier 9. Last Sunday we played the battle against Zelmisdria and Azrivauxus. I will try to post a summary of it as soon as possible. We left the game just as the apocalypse locusts came out of the portal. Even with poor rolls on my part I managed to kill one player and knock other two into negatives. So far the statblocks are holding up, but every group is different. For now I don't need to double or triple the HP as other DMs. I consider myself lucky ^_^¡ Be careful if you do such a huge skip and start playing at book 6. Not only the players will have a ton of mechanical information to process (levels plus tiers), but also I think they will lose a lot on the roleplaying side by not having a conection with Drezen and some of the enemies. This thread is full of people experiences with the statblocks, but if you want information about book 6 read Porridge's summaries and also go read Magnuskn's thread about "combat balance in mythic gameplay".
@leo1925, To explain the changes to the first part of the adventure, I think I'll borrow Porrige's summary (found in this thread), wich is awesome: Change the initial "surprise attack on Drezen" to an all-out attack that the party has military intelligence about (so that the party will know in advance who the leaders of these armies are, and appreciate the significance of their fights against them). EX: Have the party receive military intelligence indicating that Deskari's forces are grouping for a final all-out assault on the crusaders, with three of the most powerful demonic armies marching towards Drezen: (1) an army of fiendish treants and other plants march from Undarin, led by fiendish treant Carrock; (2) an army of fiendish vermin and fiendish drakes march from the Winged Wood, led by the succubus Zelmisdria and the mythic green dragon Azrivauxus, and (3) a massive army composed of every kind of demon marches from the Wounded Lands, led by the Marilith general Aponavicius herself. Give the party a few days to help Drezen prepare, and encourage the party to research their opponents in advance (e.g., read the relevant bits of the Worldwound book). Battle Encounter 1: Carrock and group of powerful Ulkreths burst through the first line of Drezen's defenses, and start tearing into the walls surrounding Citadel Drezen. (Party faces Carrock* and 4 bolstered Ulkreths* (with new Ulkreths replacing fallen ones until Carrock is defeated).) Battle Encounter 2 (replacing A. Demons in the Tower): A large group of fiendish drakes, led by Zelmisdria and Azrivauxus, soars over the walls and starts attacking Citadel Drezen itself. (Party faces Zelmisdria* and Azrivauxus*.) Battle Encounter 3 (replacing B. Opening the Portal): A demonic portal from Aponavicius's lair opens under Citadel Drezen, and a group of demonic locusts emerge and start slaughtering those in the citadel. (Party faces 4 Ancient Apocalypse Locusts*.) Aponavicius's Lair: The party enters the portal to Aponavicious's lair to confront the Marilith herself. (Opponents by initial location: C1. Devastator*, C2. Pyralisia*, C3. Grave-Knight Staunton* (guarding the door to the projecting pool) and Aponavicius*.) As far as resources for this creatures go, JohnHawkins and Pedantic Princess did an excellent job (thanks guys!) As you say, the son of shax (mentioned in Demons Revisited) replaces the filleted man and shaorhaz (who is found in Demons Revisited and The Worldwound) replaces Lord Stillborn.
Yesterday we started City of Locusts, and played the combat against Carrock. My group had acquired a lot of allies to defend the city, including: - All the important NPCs that appear in the inside cover, including a redeemed Nurah that came back from Nerosyan to give them some important information (I'm not following the module in this regard).
The combat started after the players asked Arueshalae to locate the most important threats (Carrock, Zelmisdria/Azrivauxus, Aponavicius). They decided to deal with Carrock first to avoid having significant breaches in the walls. They teleported to a building's roof next to Carrock and 4 ulkreths. The sky over the treant was very dark and stormy, and as soon as combat started, huge bolts of lightning and thunder came down crashing on the PCs (see my updated encounter notes in the statblocks document). The rest of the Ulkreth unit started to take notice of the PCs, and moved to assist the 4 initial ones and Carrock. While moving, they attacked the Heroes of Drezen with rocks. Carrock won initiative and started attacking the dwarven cleric, who took a lot of damage. Since Carrock is using a modified mattock of the titans, the building started to crack after such huge blows. The cleric returned the favor with some healing and one blow with his warhammer (family artifact) The party was surprised to see that the flying inquisitor (human, herald of Iomedae) could not approach Carrock due to the antilife shell. Not knowing exactly what he was using, the sorceress tried to disintegrate Carrock but failed. The Paladin flew to the groung, activating his Aegis shield to petrify Carrock and at least one of the ulkreths. He directed the cone of fear to another ulkreth, and it failed the save. On the ulkreths turn, the one inside the Aegis gaze attack failed and turned to stone. Later, it was replaced by a new ulkreth that used its remains as rocks :-) The cleric started healing, and the inquisitor tried to dispel the antilife shell, with no results. Carrock did not avert his gaze, and faced the paladin, making a full-attack, stunning and dropping him. On the next turn, his stamp attack would kill the paladin, healing him of whatever little damage the party did to him, and regaining one use of mythic power. After killing the paladin, he would focus on the inquisitor, dropping him unconscious in the roof. The two remaining ulkreths attacked the sorceress with rocks, while the paladin's lion did some damage to one of the demons. The sorceress casted mythic time stop using arcane metamastery (maximize), and targeted her allies so they could heal/revive, etc. She used 4 out of 5 rounds to cast delayed blast fireball, timing the rounds so they all went off at the same time after the spell. The cleric used a mythic breath of life to revive the paladin, who then repositioned near Carrock and the two new ulkreths. Time stop ends, and Carrock eats quite a lot of damage even with fire resist 30 (Drink Deep). The paladin then proceeds to move under Carrock (Titan's Bane), and hit him with two criticals, killing him. I described Carrock as he kneeled, opening his "chest cavity, and revealing what appeared to be a large purple stone. The paladin told me he wanted to struck it, and so he did. The stone cracked and exploded, creating a huge shockwave that finally shattered the building where most of the group was on, sending them flying (and suffering a bit of damage). The paladin took more damage since he was near Carrock but of course survived. All that was left of the mythic corrupted treant was an emerald stone (Carrock's original "heart", that the PCs can use to restore him). The paladin picked up the stone and raised the Aegis shield, as the huge Ulkreth force approached. Two of the ulkreths instantly turned to stone. The rest of the characters dare not approach for two turns due to the gaze attack of the shield... and waited while a rain of rocks hit them several times. They used this time to contact Arueshalae and ask her where was the next target (the succubus and the dragon). She told them they were near the tower that Soltengrebbe the mythic chimera used as lair. In the end, the gaze effect wore off, and the sorceress teleported the group away to the tower. I have updated the document with the Favored of Deskari and the Carrock encounter notes.
Name: Kairon
The Gory Details:
Spoiler:
The Heroes of Drezen came up with a plan to defend the city against the coming forces of the worldwound. After giving orders to their numerous allies, they teleported near a huge force of ulkreth demons lead by Carrock, the corrupted treant from Storasta.
During the fight, Kairon used his Aegis shield and tried to turn Carrock to stone. Fearless, the treant charged and stunned him with a powerful blow from his gargantuan maul. Helpless, the paladin suffered the rest of Carrock's full-attack, including a stamp that drained him of whatever little life he had left on Carrock's next turn. He was later revived by a mythic breath of life, and got his vengeance by dealing the death blow to the treant with two critical hits.
Note: This is an encounter not included in the adventure.
I think the best advice I can give you is: talk to your players. Voice your concerns about balance and come to an agreement, let's see what they think. I did this with my group to be sure we were on the same page. I limit options because I don't have all the Paizo books and I hate rules bloat (I already suffered it with 3.5, not again). If you think it's better to ignore mythic, then go for it and good luck! when the players approach a point where you might be able to use one of my statblocks, take a look at the enemy and try to imagine how the PCs would fare against it regarding hitting its AC, the monster making saves or the PCs being able to withstand a round of damage. Sorry I can't be more specific. Maybe others can give a more detailed and helpful answer :-)
Hi Ben Bleich, and welcome. Thanks! It was a huge effort to modify/create all these statblocks, but I would say it's more than worth it. Hard questions... let's see... first you need to take into account how experienced is your group, how many players you have, if they optimize or not... the usual things. And then if you want to devote some time developing this AP I'm not sure what to say about using standard PCs against these statblocks... my group uses mythic rules and the statblocks are made assuming that. So far it's working great for me, the challenge is still there. Maybe you can try the statblocks as printed in the modules and see what happens before changing anything. About balancing: honestly I don't have a problem in my game with balance. In my game I allowed 20 point-buy, core rulebook, advanced player's guide (only classes and the specific spells and feats that appear associated with that class) and mythic adventures. Whatever game element that has a mythic version can be used, with my approval. If you allow every book to be used, IMHO you'll need to adjust more things. Take a look in the thread, I'm fairly sure I have made some comments about my group and using the statblocks without mythic. Maybe others can give you a more detailed opinion.
Well, Shaorhaz's statblock in on Demons Revisited. I just made him mythic for my game :-)
I have updated the document with a finished Areelu, a hekatonkheires titan and some small notes about the encounter. These changes are not set in stone, so as I advance through the module I may adjust them to provide a better challenge for my group. I also changed some small stuff in the demon lord's traits (making their resistances more relevant in their abyssal layers). I kept Baphomet's ability to use the pentagram to make him fire immune for 10 rounds against mythic abilities, so he can use it when outside his abyssal layer. Reading my notes I think the only stablock I have left is the favored of Deskari, and seeing if I adjust the environmental effects in the module.
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