Shiftybob's page

I have been running Curse of The Crimson Throne for a long time now, and there's one question that I've been putting off, and I can't put it off any longer. Because my players have finally assaulted the Deaths Head Vault, killed Cinnabar, and captured Koriantu.

Why do the Red Mantis Assassins do it?

What is in it for them to instigate a plague that kills thousands of innocents? (it doesn't seem very... assassiny, does it?) and why do they act against the one code they live by, - to never assassinate royalty?

I've been trying to come up with a good motivation for this, and I just can't seem to think of why they'd do it, aside from your standard motivation of money/power. Is there something I'm missing here?

They're no doubt about to question their captive, and I feel like I need better answers!

I am just about to run this adventure path, and I am strongly considering reflavouring Barzillai Thrune to be a bit more like Donald Trump.
So far, that mostly just means me imitating his mannerisms and describe him as having mysteriously orange skin... But I'm working on it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Know your strong points and use them effectively.

Our GM's other hobby is as a puppeteer. He has a bunch of them. He has used one as a halfling thief in one encounter and two others as ghosts for our Oracle for one of her curses.

It has brought some laughs to the game table.

That is amazing.

Make magic feel like magic.

A great DM I used to play with would never let us forget about the little things. If we cast a spell, we never just cast a spell. He always focused on the intricate little details of the spell. Like the way wind rippled through your hair, or the little hand gestures and rituals required to produce every single instance of magic missile.

Another great attribute of that DM, he was always enthusiastic about player contributions.

If anyone came up with something he wasn't expecting, the first thing he'd do is congratulate us for it. Tell us what a great idea it is. And then he'd try and make it work. He was never attached to his own expectations. In fact, sometimes, I don't think he even had any expectations. He seemed to see each game as a series of problems that he'd throw at us, without any idea how we'd get around them.

Just about to run this book's first session over VTT, but there's something I'm wondering...

The Malfunctioning Deathtrap in room A15. When the players first trigger the trap and the electricity arc goes off, isn't that going to hit the False Sarcophagus? That thing isn't immune to electricity damage or anything, is it? That seems like a pretty stupidly designed trap, even when it was functioning properly.
Am I missing something here?

1) None of them
2) N/A
3) All of them
4) I am a vegetarian

Not very helpful, I know. But seriously, not even one vegetarian option?

Get Council of Wyrms, get 3e Draconomicon, then just smash the rules together and see what happens. It would be a lot of work, but I think it might be worth it.

You know, I probably have a charisma stat of about 6 or 7 in real life, and I can still walk through small towns just fine without getting rotten vegetables thrown at me.

-2 really isn't much of a handicap in a system with a probability variation of 20.

The Varnhold Vanishing is probably my favourite book of any adventure path. I don't see the pattern at all. I think maybe it's just the level range that's your problem, as around about level 7+ is when Pathfinder really starts to get complicated.

I may finally have a solution. You need to cast Permanency and Sands of Time.

Quote:

SANDS OF TIME

School necromancy; Level cleric 3, sorcerer/wizard 3, witch 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range touch
Target touched creature or object
Duration 10 minutes/level or instantaneous (see text)
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes
You temporarily age the target, immediately advancing it to the next age category. The target immediately takes the age penalties to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution for its new age category, but does not gain the bonuses for that category. A creature whose age is unknown is treated as if the spell advances it to middle age. Ageless or immortal creatures are immune to this spell.

If you cast this on an object, construct, or undead creature, it takes 3d6 points of damage + 1 point per caster level (maximum +15) as time weathers and corrodes it. This version of the spell has an instantaneous duration.

Technically RAW this doesn't work because Sands of Time isn't listed for Permanency but it makes sense for your scenario. And if you are going to use a GM fiat, this is the time. This would let the baby rapidly age to a survivable age.

You other option which does work as written would be to Reincarnate the baby's soul into another body. But I prefer the Sands of Time route.

This is brilliant.

A fetus needs more from a mother than it not rotting around her. Without the mother's circulatory system the fetus would run out of oxygen within minutes. Without the mother eating, the fetus would starve. Without the mother's body warmth, the fetus would go into hypothermia. On and on.

Basically, unless you bring mom back right quick, the baby has acquired the dead condition. Whether that is reversible would probably depend on when the fetus gets a soul, which is a whole nother can of worms. In any event, it is unlikely that a fetal soul that had just died horrifically would feel any pressing desire to return to the world of the living, so most Resurrection magic would probably fail.

I would expect that you could build an item or create a spell that would be a 'gestation tank' if you wanted. Most likely though unless you had it ready ahead of time, you won't be able to save the baby.

All that said, GMs can do what you want, and you should never let mere reality intrude with a great story, but you would probably have to think about these problems (and have some solution to them) to make the story believable.

One the other hand, a bad guy passing off some other child as the baby of the dead mother would be just the sort of nasty thing a bad guy might do to mess with the heroes....

The pre-prepared gestation tank idea is definitely very feasible, because I've already established that he has a small collection of fetus homunculi, which he refers to as his "Leather Babies". They must have come from somewhere.

I haven't seen The Book of Erotic Fantasy in a long time, but it has birthing and midwife rules if I remember correctly. Its d20 compliant.

I have had The Book of Erotic Fantasy sitting on my hardrive for several years now, but I've always been a little too put off by its reputation to take a really good look at it. Perhaps now is the time.

Mage's Magnificent Mansion. Hear me out

The spell creates an extradimensional space that, in essence, meets all the living, environmental needs of the occupants right? The dead woman's body becomes the "entrance" and the environment is tailored to that of a perfect gestational space for fetal development.

Of course the corpse has to be kept and protected and as well some way to permanize or refresh the spell has to be achieved. I'm sure it'd get more costly than just res'ing the woman but that's all I can think of.

I like it. This is exactly the sort of bizarre lateral thinking I was hoping for. Somehow, I think it may be a lot easier to sell the "birthing pod" idea if I make it as disturbing as possible. That way, they're too disgusted by the concept to ask me for too many spellcraft rolls.

Easy way out would be raise dead brings both back. Bring back two birds with one diamond!

Trouble is, Ameiko was decapitated. And the father kept her head (yeah, just when you think it couldn't get darker, it got darker). So Raise Dead wouldn't be possible without the whole body, and I can't see Tiluatchek investing in a full resurrection just to keep the baby kicking.

I think you are reaching deep on this one.

Oh, I am definitely reaching. But I have a feeling the player would want me to. She's really into these sort of soap opera twists and turns.

If there was something that could put the mother in suspended animation you could buy time to create a magically powered artificial uterus - a birthing pod or something.

A birthing pod. Yeah, that would be all kinds of creepy. I can imagine the Forever man having a few of those in the attic.

The forever man is not a caster-type (IIRC), but he does have some serious connections.

He's definitely a powerful caster-type. Lost Cities of Golarion has him listed as a level 12 sorceror with predominantly enchantment and necromancy spells.

I have a very peculiar question for you all.

My campaign has taken a rather grim turn, as they so often do. A character has died while 3 months pregnant. Is there any spell you can think of that could conceivably keep the baby alive? It's a disturbing thought, but in your opinion, do you think Gentle Repose on the mother's corpse would be enough to bring the child to term?

I shall put the context behind some spoiler tags, for obvious reasons...

Well... paint me corrected. I always interpreted any move action to be a "kind of movement". And I've been doing it that way every weekend for almost a decade. It's amazing, the little things in this game that you can get wrong.

Uhh, this couldn't have happened in the first place.

So during my set up encounter one of the baddies makes a 5ft step back, switches to a weapon and readies an (nat 20) attack.

To draw a weapon requires a move action, to ready an action is a standard action. So that's a 5 foot step, a move action, and a standard action.

I am totally swooning for Hollow Graves right now.

That sounds more like a tower defense video game than a roleplaying game. Haha.

I am currently playing in a Legacy of Fire game where all of the characters are named after characters from the hit TV sitcom Friends.

And no, I don't know what we were thinking.

The ruling kinda contradicts the intent there.
If the GM doesn't want you to take a "shotgun approach" to skill checks, but requires you to specify the knowledge skill you're using, that requires you to roll each skill individually, and announce them one at a time. Remember, it doesn't take an action to use a skill check, so there's nothing RAW that prevents you from attempting them all. It's just that only the GM knows which dice roll actually matters, and chooses to delay the game by demanding them all.
So I guess that's more of a machine gun than a shotgun, and a lot more of a waste of time.

I agree with you, that sort of bizarre demand does encourage you to have metagame knowledge of the bestiary. The core rulebook is never very specific about when a knowledge check should be called for (as far as I know), but personally, I always just ask for a relevant knowledge check from the party as soon as they see a creature they're not familiar with, and then immediately spill the beans on its statblock accordingly.

I modified Mythic.

First, only +1 boost to stats at the 2nd Tier (and other even Tiers)

Second, I'm nerfing several Mythic Feats, like Mythic Power Attack.

Third, I overhauled the Critical Hit system; currently it does full damage without needing to confirm for a x2 crit, but I'm thinking of altering it instead so it works like non-Mythic Vital Strike - you only get extra weapon dice if you confirm a critical.

Fourth, it takes five Mythic Points to get a Standard Action at the 3rd Tier.

Small note: Mythic Endure Elements is nearly broken. Nearly, because it doesn't let you look through fog, so the players can't use fog cloud or obscuring mist as ambush tools.

Are you doing this for a Wrath of the Righteous campaign? It sounds nice, if it works.

Presently, I find myself running Rise of the Runelords, with Skull and Shackles bad guys, while foreshadowing a homebrew Underdark/Ilvarandin campaign.

So... A lot.

Dotting, despite my minor distaste with the term "beefcake".

These spam accounts are getting weirder and weirder.
They're selling spells now? Really?

Surely removing edition numbers increases alienation, rather than cuts down on it. There's nothing that bounces a new customer away like staring at a bookshelf full of incompatible books that all say "Dungeons and Dragons" with no visible indication which ones will be a waste of their $50.

That sounds like another victory of marketing over logic.

Also, are they really just not bothering with the edition number anymore? Or will it be on the spine somewhere? I don't see any indication of which version it is on these covers. I imagine that could cause a lot of confusion for noobs. I expected at least a "D&D NEXT" logo, or something. DDN, maybe?

I like it.
It looks dark and gritty, and all the women are wearing normal people clothes!

The gang whose name escapes you are "The Gallowed".

I keep them in plastic sleeves in seperate folders, divided by adventure path. Then I just punch them out as I need them for each session, and put them back in the punch cards they came from... If you get what I mean.

It gets awkward when the players go somewhere I don't expect them to go, which they almost always do, and I haven't brought the appropriate pawns. Because I sure as hell couldn't be bothered to lug those big ass folders to every session. So it's not the best solution in the world. But it keeps them pretty well organized.

Just run Tomb of Horrors... Only fill it with Rust Monsters.

The smurf thing itself feels like an April Fools joke. Does it work every day?

Yep. It's April Fools every day at Paizo.

Yeah, if the player starts touting the idea that If It's In The Book you have to include it, then that's a massive red flag. It means they're looking through the ARG for things they can get away with, not things that seem right for their character.

And I'm pretty sure that section of the ARG very specifically says "YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ALLOW THE FOLLOWING..." (or some poetic variant thereof.)

I allow it depending on intent.

If they want a race to depict their visual image of their character and its uncommon parentage, then yes.

If they want a race to absolutely maximise their DPR, then I generally tell them to go away and stop talking to me.

Fortunately, I am blessed in the fact that most of my players only ever fall into the category of the former.

I was wondering that too.
And I'm totally okay with it if that's the reason. Them gods need some hardcore hardcover support. I hate it when it comes around to character generation time and my players start asking me the god questions... I have to refer them to about 40 different books they've never read. It's going to be a delight to have a single solid source of information.

I've always been kinda intimidated by this thread and its ever increasing number of posts that I couldn't possibly ever find the time to read, but I'd just like to mention that, for me and my LGBT players, Golarion's various depictions of transgendered, homosexual, and bisexual characters have been a massive drawcard for us.

For some of us, it's the main drawcard.

It is such a massive relief to find a fantasy world where the fantasy is that nobody gives a crap what you do with your genitals. Or, at least, that the philosophy of acceptance always wins.

That is all.

Sounds like a great way to run a game. I kinda wish I had a backup DM that did all the funny voices for me.

Jaelithe wrote:

Axial wrote:

Shiftybob wrote:

First session of Dragon's Demand.

A player drew his sword on Lady Origena in the middle of the town square because she refused his proposition of marriage.

I just...
I just don't...
How do you even?

I'm very interested to know what the results were.

I'm just hoping that "drew his sword" isn't a euphemism.

Then, again, that might have been far less a threat.

Im hoping she drew hers and proceded to beat the stuffing out of him, but i have my doubts.

One of her guards power attacked.

I too, would love to see this conversion. Dot.

I would love to see a sherlockian steampunk mystery set in Alkenstar. Because of the uncertainty of magic, they wouldn't be able to just use divination magic to uncover the mystery, so they'd have to actually do detective work in a whodunit fashion, maybe exploring more of the local politics and steam tech in the process. It might be a good way to bring in an Investigator as a main character. With its proximity to Geb, perhaps a female Dhamphir Investigator? If not Dhamphir, then I'd love to see a female dwarf be a main character.

I would read the hell out of that.

I've always wondered about Cayden Cailean's shackles. In the Inner Sea World Guide it mentions that he is often depicted wearing a set of broken shackles, representing the breaking free of his own mortality. That just seems to scream major wondrous item to me. But if it was a wondrous item/artifact, what would it do?

First session of Dragon's Demand.
A player drew his sword on Lady Origena in the middle of the town square because she refused his proposition of marriage.

I just...
I just don't...
How do you even?

Back in the days of 2nd edition, a player was playing a Wild Mage. Which is basically a wizard that does totally random things occassionally drawn from a "wild surge" table.
We were playing the campaign "Night Below", and there is a point early on where a high level necromancer and his cronies ambushes the party on a river, with virtually no possibility of escape. It's written as expected that he will capture the party without breaking a sweat.

The wild mage uses her last spell to cast a wild surge on the necromancer.
She rolls on the wild surge table. Result comes up "Swap bodies with your opponent for 1d4 rounds".
Player asks what equipment the necromancer has in its pockets, while the rest of the party pin down the big bad, now in the wild mage's totally unarmed and ineffectual body.
I reply: a spellbook, a key, and a dagger.
With three rounds left, the wild mage then announces:
"I throw the key at the party, I throw the spellbook in the river, and use the dagger to cut off my spellcasting hand".

Yes. Definitely tell him. That is way too powerful for a starting 1st level character.
He is going to realise the horrible mistake he has made anyway within the first few sessions of play. Save yourselves the awkward moment.

Why Sorceror if you want all the spells? Without spoiling anything for you, there are quite a few spellbooks floating around in Rise of the Runelords. So I would've thought a Wizard would be the better option.

Dispel Magic.
A party without at least a couple of dispels prepared is just a sacrificial offering to the dice gods.

I know there are a whole bunch of 1 on 1 adventures by Expeditious Retreat Press designed specifically for this. But I've never played them myself, so I can't vouch for their quality. Maybe give some of them a try?

1 on 1 Adventures.

So, most APs are written with the expectation of being played on the medium XP track. The exception is Rise of the Runelords, which my group is playing at the moment on the fast XP track. We're about half way through book two, and (while we're enjoying it a lot) many of us are finding it a little TOO fast. It's almost as if the players are levelling up before they get a chance to fully come to grips with the abilities they gained from the previous level.

Hypothetically, if Paizo were to release an adventure path that was designed for the slow experience track, possibly finishing at around about 10th level, would you be less, or more interested in it? Would you find it frustrating?

Personally, I think it would be ideal for my group. I think I prefer a much more relaxed pace to a roleplaying game, but I'm sure a lot of groups would be very different. I also think it would solve a lot of the inevitable mechanical problems that come with high level play. And I don't think you necessarily have to have high level characters to tell an epic story. After all, if Lord of the Rings were an adventure path, what level do you think Frodo would've been by the end? Commoner 2/Rogue (Scout) 3?

Wrath: 3. I love the story so far, but I have a feeling that a lot of my players will be scared off by the epic high level stuff.

Mummy: 4. Looks very promising.

Iron Gods: 5. This is the AP I have been begging for since I first read the description of Numeria in the Inner Sea World Guide years ago. I will likely drop everything to play it the day it arrives in the mail.