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I'm prepping to run the Runelords Trilogy, and am reading through Beyond the Doomsday Door. How could the Masked Abbess be a cleric of Iomedae in 4606? At that point, she was still just Aroden's Herald. And what god would be a good substitute? My money would be on Asmodeus to maintain Ardathanatus' delusion of a conspiracy.
Just started Book 5, so I'm still a ways away, but I'm prepping it while I have the time, so I might even be more direct: Simply have the text be gibberish unless you make the check. If you do, I'd have it say "Seek the tomb of the Esberdeens" and let them find it in the Old Cemetary.
Amazing! My group's about to go to the masquerade, and having that ready for Book 4 is very useful. Thank you!
This is an amazing change. Every time I've gone over the classes with a female gamer, I've cringed when we got to the sorcerer. This is very good.
This Sunday, Irovetti threw everything he had at the capital of Cambia. Westport (formerly known as Fort Drelev) was attacked by the Pitax Horde, the Catspaw Marauders, the First Flight of Wyverns and a 500-mand mercenary army from Mivon who wanted to take down a Swordlord upstart whose very presence as a ruler was an affront. With them, they had three siege engines to bring down the wall, the watchtower, the garrisson and the castle. The final phase of the battle saw the Westport Defenders and Happ's Riders rip the Mivon Mercenaries and the Pitax Horde to shreds, but at the cost of both regiments. Happs Bydon himself was killed. But a small adventuring party (who has been mentioned in Kingdom Events) made a stand by a wall and there, the group's Pathfinder Bard inspired courage with his horn. The result was a song that somehow found voice throughout the breached city. I had prepared it beforehand, and half an hour before my players arrived, the lyrics came to me. A note: Cambia is Lawful Good in alignment. The main deity is Abadar, but Erastil also has a strong following. The author of the lyrics worships Calistria, apparently, and Cambia has many beehives, which help the country's BP. This is the tune. There's a bit of an introduction, but lyrics should begin at 0:43. The two lines B-piece lyrics start at 2:13. And here are the lyrics: In forest by lake and through hills I will roam
From flower to flower the blessed bee goes
[instrumental] So help me get into my armour and let me gather my arms,
[instrumental] And stand man and woman, yea stand up as one!
Good and important words, Liz. Thank you.
I think it sounds like your players have mastered the kingdom-building to the point where it can be the fun little distraction I think it was meant to be. I think that it says a few times in the AP that kingdom building is meant to spice up the adventure, which is still the main thing. With your players being so adept at it, you can proceed with the real stuff much faster (says the guy who experiences that entire sessions go by with kingdom-building because the players get confused - sessions that leave out 2 players, who really aren't THAT into it). One way to make it more fun for yourself is to pre-roll the events and then build a storyline. In my campaign, I have
I can't do all that on the fly, but with a few rolls, I started seeing patterns, and now that keeps me entertained. And even if that doesn't happen, to be honest, I can use the GM downtime to kiss my non-playing wife, make coffee for everyone, or simply re-read the parts of the adventure coming up. :-)
Has anybody actually played with any of the 10 new classes? If so, your feedback would be especially useful. I'll be changing a bard to a skald and an oracle to a shaman in one of my games. I'll be sure to give feedback then. one thing: You have the deliver touch ability for the Spirit Animal, but the Spirit Animal gets other powers, namely all the powers of a familiar. Maybe they could be added as well?
Is there anything you guys can reveal that will have more tie-ins to Iron Gods or adventures set in Numeria? The only things I've heard of is the adventure path itself and a campaign setting book, which as I understand will be more about stuff for the GM rather than player options.We'll be letting bits and pieces of more previews and revelations about the Iron Gods AP out in the months to come... but not all at once! :-) Is there any chance at all that you could let two weapons slip through to a preview? Something along the lines of an update to King Irovetti's weapons? They're fine as they are, but something in line with Iron Gods would be great!
Mike Shel? Mud Sorcerer's Tomb Mark Shel? Ohmanohmanohman!
Good point, but the players will still need to do the bookkeeping, and I think that' s an issue.
My players were happy with the changes, so thank you all who told me about there not being a need for 50 hexes before VV. Next issue with them is the complexity of city building. They're thinking about making cookie cutter settlements, which I think might be a good idea. Basically, their goal is devoting 1 hour to kingdom building, so that's what we're shooting for.
redcelt, that's also a pretty cool way of doing it, and petitioning is definitely something I should look at. I've decided to take this thread to my players and ask them what they think. I worry that by pushing the kingdom building to the extreme background, I've thrown the baby out with the bath water. My main issue is that I can see that I could and should make more of an effort. However, I run three campaigns in total, so time is an issue. Something to think about...
Orthos, that's actually a very good idea. I think I'll suggest it to the players. Thank you very much.
But how about the inclusion of Varnhold into the PCs' kingdom? I appreciate what you're saying and I'm grateful for your reply. I simply think that my players realized that their kingdom building didn't really impact the adventures if they didn't do it - as long as it was done. But I will ask the players if kingdom building at a slower pace would fit them. Thanks again! :-)
JohnB, who does the number crunching after your players set the direction? You? Or do you handwave it? I might be tempted to let them have a say in the direction of their kingdom's development. We'll see. Odraude, I gave them all the time they wanted, but in the first year, a kingdom can only grow by one hex a month, right. It began to go faster, but it simply seemed to be too much. The same player who called it medieval Monopoly said that the game was becoming something he didn't really sign up for, and that kinda clinched it for me.
We're done with RRR, and as I got Ultimate Campaign, we did the necessary conversions. The conversions were easy enough, and now it finally makes sense to make mines, sawmills, quarries and farms! However, VV requires - or advises - that the PCs' kingdom is around 50-60 hexes large, and as the Kingdom of Cambia was only 11 hexes, they players felt pretty overwhelmed. So we changed to "Kingdom in the Background", but it was definitely sub-optimal, as they felt they were quitters. How have others fared? You can't really expand your kingdom without building settlements to ensure that Economy and Stability remain at a level where you can make Control checks and expect to succeed. But building settlements takes TIME. Deciding what buildings to make, rolling for magic items, it's a bit of a pain. My players loved kingdom building, but having to do 40+ hexes before the story could progress, was murder - or Medieval Monopoly as one player called it.
I used the event table in my last session, and it. Just. Worked. I have a better feeling about this table than the one in River Kingdoms (although that's pretty sweet as well). I hope there'll be a nice, expanded event table in Ultimate Campaign as well. For now, thank you very much for a job well done.
That looks fairly solid. Good one!
It's working quite well. The whole idea of the dungeon being somehow alive and manifesting the apparition made for some great role-playing. The notes you provided in that regard were very helpful. I changed the paths. One was Law (devils). One was Eternity (undead). One Entropy. The Law was the one closest to what you wrote. I then had the apparition tell the PCs - reluctantly, because "you mortals are so easily tempted" - that the Eternity path will show them glimpses of their own future, while the Entropy one will show them their world's future. The Eternity path is peopled by undead centaurs and - of course - the skeletal mages, thus hinting at the Varnhold Vanishing, while the Entropy path shows various aspects of a world dedicated to the Great Old Ones. My players are excited, and I am very happy.
GM_Solspiral, that is an amazing effort. I took your great idea and turned the three paths into an Undead-themed one with premonitions of the Varnhold Vanishing, a demon-one - because the bound outsiders ere too fun to miss - and a Dark Tapestry one where I showed the future of mankind as envisioned by the somewhat obtuse living dungeon. I'll be running it today, and I can't wait. Thank you so much!
Well, if they're common items, it should be a DC 10 Craft (alchemy) check, shouldn't it?
In reference to our blog post today, let us know what devices you want to see apps for! HTC Incredible S would be my thing. At the table, we also have iPads and iPods.
I'll second (third? fourth? nth?) the request for an electronic Combat Pad.
Wow. The Stag Lord seems pretty tough. Good pointers towards the worst possible outcome (he gets some nasty arrows). That said, I might have one or two of the cultists be crucified to the palisade - possibly even with some bane arrows in them - if my PCs don't catch the cultists. If the fight turns out to be too easy, I'll have the Stag Lord nock the final arrow. I'm really looking forward to the Stag Lord encounter! I'm sure I'll have Akiros turn traitor immediately and I hope to get a lot of running battles in the fort.
I didn't intend it to be additional occupants of the Stag Lord's fort. If the PCs don't engage the pilgrims before they arrive at the firt, I'd definitely have them be absent from the fort (out gathering ingredients, etc.) I don't necessarily see them as being that friendly to the Stag Lord, who quite clearly has no interest in Gyronna. Will PCs be behind on WBL before hitting the fort? I haven't paid that much attention to my PCs' wealth, so I haven't noticed. Re.: 2 - the pilgrims' inquiries about Tuskwater should be a giveaway as my group already knows where the Stag Lord is. Thanks for your comments! :-) If anyone doesn't like the group to be used before the Stag Lord, they could also be an interesting encounter later on - in which case boosts might be in order.
I want to play up the angle that Nyrissa is using a lot of resources to de-stabilize the region, so I've come up with the following - also to bring the history of the Stag Lord's Keep into play: Background: A Mysterious Visit
A member of the militia followed them for a while, as they thought the group's asking for directions for Tuskwater was a bit unsettling - especially as they seemed to venerate the area with an almost religious fervour. Finding them
The Group
The group met Nyrissa who used illusions to appear as a manifestation of Gyronna. She has given the group a package of six +1 bane arrows keyed to the race of the most civilizing member of the group. The group will give these arrows to the Stag Lord, which will make taking him down somewhat more challenging. GUARD CR 1/2
Cultist (Rogue 1/Cleric 1) (2) CR 1
Champion of Gyronna (Inquisitor3) CR 2
Eye of Gyronna CR 3
Familiar: Greensting Scorpion
This was a great entry. More please!
I can understand your feelings, but what they did should have consequences, particularly for players of that age who are rapidly heading towards being forced to take legal responsibility for their own actions. It's too easy to encourage players to act without thinking. By all means have the ex-slaves view them as heroes (cutting the cost of wages for an expedition for example) but I would say that the rest of the city would be less welcoming (increasing the cost of supplies and making guides harder to acquire - Giving a reason to look for Nkechi - for example) after such an act. I should indeed have done that - I can still let them feel the displeasure of the Sargavan government. I will probably go easy on the "taking responsibility for your actions"-part. My poor stepson is getting quite enough of that as it is...
In your game's case, you may actually want to play up the un-lawful side pointed out by a few people. You could have some of the slavers families show up and ask for restitution for the crimes done to their families. To make up some of the costs the party would pay up front, could be returned to them later in rewards from some of the slaves who happen to find something the party may have overlooked, making it worth it to save them in the first place. Yeah, but why? I gotta admit I hate alignment with a passion (spoiled from years of playing Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved), but I can see where alignment works. I will definitely use the fact that there are guards' families who need looking after, and that there are slaves looking for a job - hmm, might even cause resentment that would make the Sargavan Expedition an opponent... - but I'd really like to let the player's actions stand as unabashedly heroic and, well, right.
For a group of 13-14 year olds, playing Big Damn Slave freeing heroes might not be a bad thing to encourage. These freed slaves might need jobs now, fortunately there's an expedition to a lost city that might Present a good opportunity for the PCs. Oh what a great idea! Yoinked! And to the others who mention what LG might also be, you're right! They should probably have left it well alone. But Dudemeister hits in on the head: The 13-14 year-olds only wanted to take names and kick righteous slave-freeing butt, and I was only too happy to oblige. Not least because I'm also running Kingmaker, and I've just about had it with the two LGs, the two NGs and the N discussing the nature of "unrepentant banditry"...
I'm a player (for the first time in 10+ years!), and we were faced by the rotating-pillar trap last session. Two of us went down pretty quickly, while the other two mostly avoided damage by hanging from the lip of the pit. However, two PCs went down from too much nonlethal damage, but as the arrows continued for 10 rounds, we were peppered to such a degree that we died anyway, as nonlethal damage gets lethal once you're down. So my question is: Was that really the intent behind this trap?
True, but to me, that's the difference between Lawful Neutral and Lawful Good :-)
Party: Played by 5 13-14-year olds (my stepson and his friends), concentration can be an issue. Half-elven fighter1/rogue3
As the group sailed from Smuggler's Shiv to Eleder, I described the city as it looked from the sea. I pointed out, in particular, the Grallus Lock, where they could see the slaves being kept. Naturally, the LG immediately announced that he was going to free the slaves. First thing he did was blow all his cash from Smuggler's Shiv on buying, then freeing, as many slaves as he could get. Then he asked about the Grallus Lock, what kind of guards they had, how the slaves were kept, and how he could get them out. That was when I called it a night. Two weeks later, I'd decided that the slaves were kept on narrow pathways and platforms floating on the water. This meant that many men were clinging on to planks while the weak, the women and the children were on the rafts. I'd assigned some guards in some towers, some on a platform between the two piers where the slaves were kept, and a few animals - guard dogs and a hidden cage of sharks to be released if things went really sour. In a running battle the group managed to kill all the guards and the monk even took on the three angry sharks before too many slaves were killed. And then I skipped the Freemen revolt. I think I need to keep things a little simple for the group.
I barely described the slave pen-dock before the LG Mwangi monk started asking for ways the group could spring the slaves. He even spent all his cash from Smuggler's Shiv - ALL of it - on buying (and freeing) as many slaves as he could. I've decided to set up a nice little side trek where they get a shot at doing just that, whereupon Sargava slowly but surely will get hotter until a group of Hellknights come along to handle those who upset the "natural order" in Sargava. I imagine it'll be fun! And Tim, your module is anything but "banal".
Staglord; sounds interesting and could open up all sorts of possibilities and side plots (too many to mention really). If you don't want to bother, just send him north, there's a quick trial and he's executed. I would say the publicity of the trial attracts people to the area, give the group a few extra Build Points to start their kingdom. Actually, taking him to Restov would be a great way to give them the charter at a ceremony following the execution.
Another idea is to give the players a reward through praise. The ambassador realizes that Sanctuary won't be a walkover, and he tells them - maybe even in so many words: "My lords, I am humbled. I came as the representative of the mightiest force for leagues and I have found a country Cheliax would be proud to call partner, not prey and with whom we would be happy to deal in trade rather than battle. "Still I urge you to consider the advantages to joining Cheliax. Understand that it is our destiny to rule, but every ruler needs partners to help the populace shoulder the burden of Law. Will you be our pillars of strength in the East? I leave this [a beautiful sword, perhaps?]as a token of our admiration." And when he returns, he will tell his masters that Sanctuary's armies are too strong, whereupon he calls in the devils to make surgical strikes against Sanctuary's rulers.
Oh that is SO well-deserved. Uhm, I know this is very gauche, but if there was a way for you to set up a kind of donation page, I would be very, very happy to reimburse you in part for all your work. I know it's a labour of love, but still, man! This is world-class. I can't wait to see it done.
This is turning out to be quite the well-planned campaign. I've bought the relevant PDF's, bought a print copy of The River Kingdoms and I'm still waiting for the Map Folio. The group has embraced the concept, so for now we're looking at perhaps a bunch of Brevoy/Rostland veterans (yes, Middle Age) who, aided by a couple of young 'uns, are to settle the area. Possile characters are:
Seems pretty cool, and I can't wait for the next session in three weeks.
THANK YOU My players have decided. I used some of the comments here about Serpent's Skull to put that to bed, and I emphasized the requirements for proactive player participation (all alliterative - allright!) in Kingmaker, and that was the end result. Kingmaker it is. Thank you all, once again.
I agree, and that's why it right now looks to be Kingmaker. One of my players has made it very clear that a Middle Eastern theme isn't for him, so that's out. On the other hand, he'd really like to get his feet wet with kingdom-building, etc., so that sounds fun. So it seems it's off to the Kingmaker fora to see if the rules are as broken as you say...
Nope, so it will be a new experience in that regard. HOWEVER, and this is in response to the many good points from Erik Freund, Sunderstone and Arnwyn, I worry that my players aren't proactive enough to go all exploring. Erik, your Serpen't Skull review sends a cold shiver down my spine. I think I'm going to take a long hard look at it again, and then consider how to change it for my players. Mary Yamato, your comments hit the mark. And I think my group in the long run will enjoy Legacy's story more. We'll see. Thank you again, one and all! I will post here once my group has made up its mind. I suspect their decision will be to have me decide...
Thank you very much for your replies. I sent the following one-sentence description to my players. We'll see what they say: You'll get the most freedom in Kingmaker You'll get a Middle Eastern experience with a cool story and some awesome locations in Legacy of Fire You'll get the most immediate feeling of being in an nice action movie with Serpent's Skull You'll get the most cultural bang for your buck in Jade Regent. I can't wait to see what they say.
I'm putting my Ptolus campaign to rest in a few weeks and I've made all Player's Guides available to my players. They've narrowed their immediate preferences down to four, and now they ask me for my preference. But I love 'em all! So what can you tell me and why? The nominated Adventure Paths are: Serpent's Skull Kingmaker Jade Regent Legacy of Fire Which would YOU choose? Oh, we're all in our 40s, have played D&D for a minimum of 20 years and are switching over to Pathfinder now.
I'll just add a Me Too. This. Is. Great. I would gladly pay something for maps for the other Adventure Paths, maybe bundled per Path (I'll probably never run Council of Thieves, but I´m presently running Serpent's Skull). Thank you for continuing to make this thing better every time.
On p. 36, it says that Lady Evgenya will cast change self on somebody else to disguise them. Unfortunately, that's not really an option, given the spell's mechanics....What alternative would you suggest? That was a great idea! Getting a familiar involved like that seems like a lot of fun. But yeah, the Ultimate Magic spell will work just as well, of course.
This is pure genius. My wife's about to start playing in this campaign, and she's a PhD in economy. She'll love this! Thank you so much
On p. 36, it says that Lady Evgenya will cast change self on somebody else to disguise them. Unfortunately, that's not really an option, given the spell's mechanics. What alternative would you suggest?
Oh, I've just favourited this thread for use when my brand-spankin'-new party reaches it. It looks amazing, and I can't wait to use it. The most recent version is still the first couple dozen posts in this thread, right?
As someone who as of yet does not have the Bestiary (SRD to the rescue!), the idea of revisiting monsters is particularly useful. And even if I had every last tome, book or pamphlet from Paizo (curse the economy!), I would still think that a more focused revisiting existing monsters is an excellent idea. Please keep it up!
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