Sergei Malov's page

So now that I'm running more regularly again, I'm trying to get myself and my players to rely more heavily on exploration activities rather than old school "I search the door for traps" stuff.

That much works pretty easily, though I haven't completely broken my players of the habit yet.

But in terms of some old commonplaces like listening at doors I'm not sure how they apply. There doesn't seem to be anything specific in the activities about noticing creatures - whether hiding or just talking on the other side of a door. Would Search apply to that as much as to traps on the door?

The assumption for most things seems to be that detection of potential enemies is just rolled up into initiative at the start of combat, but here PC would have the chance to act before then?

Or mechanically should it just be Scout and you get a +1 to initiative while just opening the door without prior notice? If you do detect and get ready for them, does it make sense for someone to "Scout" while opening the door to get the bonus or should that be factored in?

Like I said, I can hand wave this more old school, but it seems a common thing that should just work with Exploration mode and I feel like I'm missing something.

Probably a more general GMing question, but I'm thinking specifically of the Abomination Vaults, since I'm running it at the moment.

Many of the factions running each level of the dungeon seem to be intended to be able to be reasoned with - allied with, turned against each other, bribed, etc. But generally it's only the leader who's willing to do so, while the minions attack on sight or at least raise the alarm. So by the time the PCs have a chance to talk to the leader, they've likely hacked their way through half the group, leaving piles of corpses in their waste and little mood for negotiations.
Even if they tried to negotiate with the first members they find, the best outcome there is probably being led to the leader and if talks go badly, now they're at least facing a few tough encounters merged together.

In my game, the mitflit leader lived long enough to surrender and was useful afterwards (and I had some of the downed mitflits only be unconscious and some others out hunting, so that he still had followers), but that can't be the only effective way to make it work.

How do people handle this? Have players managed to do any real negotiating? In AV or in similarly set up dungeons?

Is there any way to extract (or print) the map for the second level without the "to the Surface" and "to the Darklands" text appearing?

Or the green alternate position kobolds in Room 17?

Both when I try to do it myself and the version imported into Foundry have the same problem.

Thanks

I'm currently running this, but still on the first couple levels. Wondering what people think about replacing monsters with new remastered versions.

Specifically thinking about the ghouls down on level 3, since they got pretty big changes and my players are getting close to exploring down there.

I was always a bit concerned with the Incapacitation weirdness of paralyze - basically irrelevant with the regular ghouls, but then surprisingly deadly when they hit a boss on level with them.

Spectres are slowed 2 when caught in sunlight. Wraiths are stunned 2 instead. Does this mean that after the first round in sunlight, wraiths can act normally? They'd still be clumsy, of course.

It seems weird, especially if the fight winds up moving from sunlight to shadow and back, such that they'd be better off staying in the light than moving out of it temporarily.

Or are they stunned 2 every round they being in sunlight. Which seems indistinguishable from being slowed, like spectres are.

Are there rules for dragon stats at different ages than Young/Adult/Ancient? I think some examples have appeared in adventures, but it would nice to have dragons available to fight at more levels, like they used to be.

Please cancel my subscriptions. Adventure Path, Adventure and Lost
Omens.

Thank you.

We got in a fight in a recent setting where the party had Darkness up and Darkvision to see through it. Unlike some previous fights, this one largely stayed at range with our opponents understandably unwilling to charge into the dark to try to find us. The GM had trouble how to tell if they could figure out even roughly where we were. And I haven't been able to find anything clear on it either.

50% miss chance for concealment is easy, once you can target a given square, but what's the perception check to pick the square? Is it the same as Invisibility, (whatever that actually comes out to be)? Can you just not do it unless they're right next to you?

Am I missing some clear rule?

Forget the latest mega-event crossover or pseudo-reboot series. The real comic news of the year is that Matt Wagner is bringing out the final volume of Mage.

Mage: The Hero Denied is coming out this summer.

For pretty much anyone who read the original in the 80s and The Hero Defined in the late 90s, that's all you need to know.

For every one else, I'm sure there'll be new collected editions of the first two series available again. Get them.
It's about Kevin Matchstick, who doesn't want to be a hero and what happens when he meets Mirth, who knows he is. I don't really want to say anything more because you should read it.
The original is one of the best comic series I've ever read. The second is close, but not quite so brilliant. It's a little more focused on the adventure and a little less personal.

I've been waiting for this for nearly 30 years.

"Magic is Green"

Please cancel the adventure path after Strange Aeons. (I believe the last one has already shipped.)

Thanks.

I've been playing around with a concept that's been in my head for awhile now. The basic concept is a halfling thug. One who started out as the biggest toughest halfling kid in his isolated halfling village and is now out in the big world with the giants.

So obviously a martial character and strength based rather than a Dex build. Other than that, I'm open to suggestions.
I've currently got a version statted up as a barbarian and even ran through a PFS scenario that way. At low level, even a weak 2H barbarian is perfectly functional, but that's not likely to last to higher levels.

Any thoughts on a more functional approach? Archetypes? Other classes? Fighter or Ranger would work conceptually. Maybe Cavalier. Not Paladin - the attitude is wrong.

Since he's never going to hit the DPR of a larger stronger thug, would going for a damage absorbing tank approach make more sense?

Please cancel my Adventure Path subscription.

Nothing to do with quality or content, I've just got more than I can use already and not enough money.

If you could set up the Module subscription to cancel after Wardens of the Reborn Forge, that would be great too. If not I can ask again then.
That one's got me too intrigued to skip it. :)

Thanks.

I'm not misreading this am I?

At 1st level, an alchemist discovers how to create a mutagen that he can imbibe in order to heighten his physical prowess at the cost of his personality. It takes 1 hour to brew a dose of mutagen, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. An alchemist can only maintain one dose of mutagen at a time—if he brews a second dose, any existing mutagen becomes inert. As with an extract or bomb, a mutagen that is not in an alchemist’s possession becomes inert until an alchemist picks it up again.

There's no daily limit on how many he can make, right? Just that it takes an hour to make and he can only have one at a time.

OTOH, Extracts work more like spells. Limited per day. Resetting over night, I presume, but like spells any used in the last 8 hours aren't available.

It's not clear about bombs

. An alchemist can use a number of bombs each day equal to his class level + his Intelligence modifier.

When does that reset? If I have some left and use them in the middle of the night, does that count against the next day's bombs?