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An unusual situation, but I'd allow it. Oni are evil spirits that manifest as humanoids. Since ja noi oni manifest as hobgoblins and have the goblinoid subtype, they should be fair game for Shalelu.
Thanks, James! That's kinda what I thought but wanted to make certain. (And the Shadows Under Sandpoint player writeups have been at least half the reason this location grabbed my attention. They've been fun to read.)
There's a little information on the tavern/inn called the Blue Bunyip in the Magnimar source book, but I was hoping for a bit more. Is it discussed anywhere else? I was just curious of basic things, such as who officially owns it, where in the Naos district it should be located, etc. Anyway, any help would be appreciated
The easiest time to explain Kami to the players is in the Forest of Spirits (assuming you're not substituting Ruby Phoenix Tournament) - or you could do this a lot earlier based on a Knowledge: Planes roll. Another possibility would be to include a copy of the Tayagama in Brinewall if you want the characters to gain some early knowledge of oni/kami.
Just curious, has anyone created or found a good map for Valdemar manor in Sandpoint?
If you're willing and able to tinker with timelines a bit, another possibility is to use some of the earlier material from AP #1 (Burnt Offerings). There are several small around-the-town missions, some involving NPCs used in Jade Regent. Maybe run it up through the Glassworks fights, but not include the Thassalonian elements.
Correct. Like centaurs, even though lamia matriarchs are large creatures, they wield medium-sized weapons.
It's awkward wording but not wrong. What it's trying to say in the example is that a 3rd-tier archmage would treat a 100 hp opponent as if it only had 85 hp. (So he could affect a 115 hp opponent.)
Whether or not mythic rules are appropriate for any given AP depends on the story the GM wants to tell. For example: (Non-mythic) Jade Regent can be summarized as escorting the would-be empress to her ancestral home, overcoming any and all obstacles and threats along the way, and seeing her placed on the throne. (Mythic) Jade Regent can also be summarized as the forces of harmony infusing the scions with the power to combat a continent-spanning supernatural threat and charging them with seeing the final surviving member of the royal bloodline placed on the throne, thus restoring the divine balance of the realm.
Nice, that should work fine. Thanks!
Just curious, if someone analyzes a mythic spell with Detect Magic or similar divination, what spell level should it register as? I realize that a mythic spell uses the same level spell slot as the non-mythic version. But it seems like the mythic powered spell should register as a more powerful form of magic.
It's gotta be a mistake. Anyway, I'm ignoring that for games I'm running. Either a +6 enhancement bonus or a total equivalent enhancement of +11 is needed to overcome epic DR. I see no reason to water that down.
In general, monster abilities can be drawn from mythic path abilities (pg. 226), not just from the abilities listed in the New Universal Monster Rules section.
Divine Source is in a Universal path ability, so anyone with at least 3 tiers can select it.
I can see that combo for Nyrissa. Archmage is a solid choice, especially with her bloodline and so forth. Hierophant is a tougher match (no deity, domains, channeling, wild shape, etc.), but there are still a few path abilities there that are thematic and/or useful. Tempted to give her Divine Source. Hmm...
I know Mythic Adventures has only just starting being released. But has anyone considered adding mythic tiers to Nyrissa? Can't think of anyone more suited for a mythic upgrade than her...
Thanks, Todd! I like the idea of the First being behind the original scheme. But then again, it would only have an effect after the Devouring Court was established, wouldn't it? That would seem to point to Lyutheria. (And thus, as you say, Trelmarixian at some point.) Perhaps the daemonic timeline is being left deliberately vague for now, but hopefully you can provide some insights. I'm under the impression the general order of events surrounding the transition from the First to the Four was:
Has it ever been established when the Great Betrayal happened, how long ago the Four overthrew the First? I can't tell if it's a matter of centuries or millenia. Is it safe to assume Earthfall is the initial cataclysmic event that resulted in the First coming into being? Did the creation of the Devouring Court reduce the frequency/severity of daemonic raids on the River of Souls?
But as for the planes being alive? It's a concept that I like, and certainly the oldest planes like the Maelstrom and the Abyss seem to be alive in and of themselves. Abaddon probably didn't start off that way, but it arguably is alive now. As for the others? I'd probably leave that an open question, and in terms of alive, it might not be so much sentience as the planes operate like living organisms, growing, repairing themselves, expanding, etc. Hmm, I suddenly had a vision of Trelmaryxian carefully transforming the prime material plane into a disease carrier. A subtle, insidious cancer that infects mortals, slowly eroding their morality and ethics, a famine of the soul. Over generations (daemons can be quite patient, after all) the gods' influence and support is gradually weakened, and the percentage of the River of Souls "earmarked" for Abaddon grows through no obvious cause. Hilarity ensues. What do you think, seem like the basis for an interesting campaign?
In the Ki Powers section for some of these books, there's a sentence along the lines of "These ki powers function like the ki powers of a qinggong monk, with a caster level equal to the character’s class level in whatever class grants her ki pool." But for characters who only gained a ki pool via the Ki Meditation feat, what would be their equivalent caster level? Equal to the size of their ki pool? (BTW, just wanted to add that this is a terrific product, and I'm planning to incorporate it and The Way of Ki into a Jade Regent game.)
the distinction is that I don't think of heighten as having any slot increase, since the feat doesn't list one. And that's the disconnect. You're confusing effective spell level with the spell slot a metamagic'd spell requires. The two are not the same. the amount a heighten spell's effective level is altered depends on the slot it occupies or is cast from and nothing else. That's not correct. It depends on how much you wish to raise the original spell's effective spell level. Nothing else. Any requirements from other metamagic feats still have to be satisfied. They can't be wished away. if you also maximize this fireball, then it is heightened + maximized. and the minimum slot you must prepare the spell in is 3+0+3=6. so you could prepare the heightened, maximized fireball in any slot of 6th level or above. No. Fireball is a 3rd level spell. Apply Maximize Spell, and it's still a 3rd level spell. It just requires a 6th level slot. If you want it to be an actual 6th level spell, you have to raise Fireball's effective spell level by 3, and that's what Heighten Spell is for. But the requirement for Maximize Spell still applies. A Maximized Heightened (+3) Fireball is a 6th level spell that requires a 9th level spell slot.
I'm completely with Avh. Never seen the feat played differently Ditto. Avh (and many others!) is correct. I don't see any ambiguity in the rules. I suspect some folks are confusing a spell's effective level with the level of the required spell slot. Heighten Spell affects both on a 1-1 basis, while the other metamagic feats only affect the latter. The other metamagic requirements don't magically disappear just because the caster is also applying Heighten Spell.
Thanks! That blog post had a lot of interesting discussion.
Normally, weapon enhancement bonuses, etc. don't apply to bull rush attempts. However, I'm wondering if the Foehammer's Piledriver class feature might be an exception to that rule. For example, I don't see how to read the Piledriver description without concluding that the hammer was an integral part of that bull rush or trip attempt, but the class feature doesn't explicitly say so. In this case, those combat maneuvers seem to be more along the lines of knockback or awesome blow rather than traditional bull rush or trip attempts. Piledriver:
Piledriver (Ex): At 11th level, as a standard action, a foehammer may make a single melee attack with a weapon from the hammer weapon training group. If the attack hits, he may make a bull rush or trip combat maneuver against the target of his attack as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. This ability replaces armor training 3. Is this an unreasonable interpretation?
Normally, weapon enhancement bonuses, etc. don't apply to bull rush attempts. However, I'm wondering if the Foehammer's class features might be an exception to that rule, at least in some circumstances. For example, I don't see how to read the Piledriver description without concluding that the hammer was an integral part of that bull rush or trip attempt, but the class feature doesn't explicitly say so. In this case, those combat maneuvers seem to be more along the lines of knockdown/awesome blow type attacks rather than traditional bull rush or trip attempts. Similarly, the Sledgehammer feature seems to imply that the Foehammer's weapon is involved in some way with their combat maneuver attempts, at least for bull rush, overrun, sunder and trip, though again it doesn't actually say so. Am I totally off base here?
What are the ACRs of the various armies? There's a brief mention on pg. 237 of 3 ACR 6 armies collectively being a threat to a single larger ACR 9 army. Maybe you can combine the ACRs of the smaller armies and come up with an effective ACR (and associated combat stats), and then apply that coalition against the larger army in a single mass battle?
Thanks, that makes sense!
Normally for bull rush maneuvers, if you succeed, you have the option to follow your target. But how does that work with Quick Bull Rush? (And I suppose with Bull Rush Strike as well.) If a character with Quick Bull Rush uses it at the beginning of his full attack sequence and succeeds, is he able to follow his target, even if his target is pushed back more than 5'? If he can follow his target more than 5', can he continue the full attack sequence with the rest of his iterative attacks? Could he still take a 5' step sometime during his full attack after following his target?
Jade Regent: Ameiko :-)
Hi, guys! I'm definitely interested in this product. Any estimates on when it might be ready for sale?
I've only read this scenario, but this seems like it should be a lot of fun to play. I do have some questions about K's somnambulism, though. Spoiler: Seems like there's some handwaving involved to set up this scenario, but hopefully I'm just missing something obvious. 1) How did Sulianna contact K originally? She doesn't have telepathy or other means to contact him remotely. What is meant by "magical link?" 2) K's somnambulism is a magical effect that doesn't seem explained very well, or at least I don't understand it. Can I chalk it up to K-V somehow granting his monthly Wish to K's subconscious? K's subconscious takes over at night since that's the only time the Black Edifice can be found, and so this magically induced sleep is the only way it can succeed. I think cooperative players can buy into that, hopefully. Is there a better explanation?
Book 1 of Runelords is an excellent low level adventure that can be used without the rest of the AP. Good story, good NPC's, good setting. But it may take too long to complete to suit your situation. Runelord spoilers: If it's simply a tale of Nualia's revenge, I think it would work just fine on its own, with the Runelords elements making for an interesting background. All you'd have to do is remove or downplay the references to the Skinsaw Men and Xanesha from Nualia's diaries, and you should be good to go.
...The PCs just hit 5th level though, so I'm going to bump up some of the difficulty throughout. Apologies for the thread necromancy, but how did this work out? Does anyone have experience running this module (with suitable advancement) for a 5th or 6th level party?
This might be a bit trivial, but I'm curious about something: So after the Seal's been revealed, the bad guys are sure the Amatatsu heir will be heading north. Ok, but when Wodes is initially scouting south of Kalsgard, how does he recognize the party as his quarry? Why wouldn't he believe they're just another Varisian caravan traveling north? Does he recognize Ameiko somehow? Were convenient divinations performed by the oni's seers when they briefly detected the Seal's location in Brinewall? It might not be something players would be concerned about, and obviously it can be handwaved away, but I'm wondering if there's an "offical" answer somewhere that I missed.
I do have both versions. Not a knock against the original, but I agree that the AE version is a definite improvement. I'll review it with fresh eyes. Maybe my story-related concerns are overstated. One advantage with PbP games is that there's plenty of time to make a decision. No need to rush into anything...
Hi! I'm running a Runelords PbP game and was looking for some GM advice on potentially transitioning to Crimson Throne, Jade Regent or Shattered Star. I apologize ahead of time for the rambling post... Potential RotRL, CotCT, JR, and ShS spoilers: The party has completed Burnt Offerings, and we've all enjoyed it very much. It's an excellent adventure, and Sandpoint is a great base for new characters. Looking ahead, Skinsaw Murders looks like it should be interesting and fun as well, but I'm increasingly dubious about the rest of the Runelords AP. HMM and onwards, the Runelords story just doesn't seem quite as interesting to me, and I'm a little concerned how much time will be spent on later dungeon locations and that there isn't a clear plot line to keep the players on target.
It seems to me that PbP games work best with more bite-sized adventures, mainly due to posting rates. Even simple adventures can take considerable time. In Burnt Offerings, for example, so much real world time passed between clearing out the tunnels under the Glassworks and cleansing Thistletop of Nualia and the goblins, I don't think the players have really made much connection between what happened 5 years ago and current events, despite all the hints I've tried to provide. (Other than they feel Nualia wasn't treated as well as she should have been as a child and teenager, which is certainly true.) I'm concerned that the next couple chapters will seem equally disjointed and lacking a coherent plot. So I've been wondering if another AP might work a bit better, and at this point there seem like 3 possibilities: Crimson Throne, Jade Regent, or Shattered Star. 1) Given that we've completed Burnt Offerings and the characters have latched onto Ameiko, it would certainly be easy enough to transition to Jade Regent. Have an abbreviated version of Brinewall Legacy and then go from there. I'm not particularly thrilled with the story, though I could live with it, and I'm not sure how well the players would accept the whole caravan trek across the north pole schtick. I also think the players might get a little annoyed with the unteleportable artifact from a metagaming perspective. 2) Another possibility (and this is what I'm currently leaning towards) is to go ahead with Skinsaw Murders basically as written, but play up Vorel's Phage. Instead of a minor red herring, make it a central plot point. 2 of the characters already have family and friend ties to Korvosa, so party motivation shouldn't be a problem if it seems like disaster is going to strike the city. Personally, I think Korvosa is an interesting setting with plenty of support, and I like how the Crimson Throne story develops, for both DM and players. Especially if there's more of an emphasis on putting together and leading the eventual rebellion in the back half of the AP. The party will be well into 6th level by the end of Skinsaw, so obviously that transition will take the most work on my part to adapt, but I'm willing to do so if it seems worth the effort. (And I'll admit, I've been wanting to run CotCT for a while, but I don't have time to start a new game. So, 2 birds, 1 stone...) 3) Shattered Star is the most closely related AP (thematically) to Runelords, but moving from one large dungeon to another just doesn't seem PbP-friendly, and the plot doesn't excite me. (Though I'm strongly tempted to reuse Lady's Light somewhere in the second half of Crimson Throne.) Another thing to consider: Nualia and Tsuto are currently still alive in this campaign, though the party hasn't found that out yet. I originally was going to have them make a "surprise" appearance at the Seven's Sawmill, but they could just as easily work as the agents Xanesha tasks with delivering the Phage to the Red Mantis in Korvosa. (I also think Nualia and Tsuto could make excellent recurring villains, especially in Jade Regent or Shattered Star. But they're probably not needed for Crimson Throne.) So my question (finally!) is: Does detouring into Crimson Throne like this even make sense? I really don't want to screw up the game. If anyone has done something like this, I'd love to hear how it went and what advice you might have. Thanks for reading!
For these sorts of questions, I found rlucci's 3D map of the tower very helpful. It may not be absolutely identical to the original maps, but it's very close.
If you have .pdf's, you can look at File/Properties/Fonts. For example, the War of the River Kings title uses AgincourtPlain.
Hi! The most recent subscription shipment (Order # 2063771) should have included a copy of Giants Revisited. However, there was a copy of the module No Response from Deepmar instead. I'm sure it's a nifty module, but it's not what I ordered. Can we work an exchange or something?
As far as I know, the game designers aren't planning to reveal much more about the Rogarvia family's disappearance. It's deliberately being left a mystery. So if you have some ideas on the subject that you want to develop for your game, go for it!
I don't know that I have any words of wisdom, but a few things to consider: Malfie Notes: Looks like your using the 3.5 stats directly. There are Pathfinder stats for Greater barghests. Though in this case I recommend retaining Improved Natural Attack (bite) as a bonus feat.
When I ran the initial encounter for my group, Malfie surprised a strong party of 5 4th-level characters. These were well-built 25-point buy characters. By the end of round 3 (including the surprise round), the wizard and barbarian were down, and Malfie was beginning to work on the cleric. The party had trouble harming him. Round 4, the party dragged their unconscious friends out and ran away. (And Malfie still charmed one of them while they were slamming the door shut. Sneaky bastard...) With a large Malfie inside, the room gets crowded fast. It's difficult for more than a couple melee attackers to get in position without generating AoO's. 7 characters might not be quite as effective as you fear, and I think Malfie has a good chance of taking down your fighter in 2 rounds. All that said, if I were in your position, the first thing I'd do would be to apply the Advanced template to Malfie and see how that looked. That might be all you need to do, especially if your characters don't know what to expect and aren't properly prepared. And don't shy from using Charm early on if the opportunity presents itself. This should be a very crafty, dangerous foe. Hope that stream of consciousness helps. Good luck!
Just a thought, but if your group hasn't already played the Runelords AP, you could run a simplified version of AP #1. (The 1st couple sections anyway.) It's not a free adventure, of course, but it could easily lead into Jade Regent #1 and give your group time to bond with key NPC's.
The AC in Nyrissa's stat block has +13 Deflection. A nymph is +7, where does the other +6 come from? Unearthly Grace, like any nymph. She just has a high charisma.
I plan on running this as close to written as possible. Given your cleric will have known Father Tobyn... Spoiler:
...he presumably knows/knew Nualia personally, so I'd reveal a fair amount of her backstory from 5 years ago. He should be aware of Nualia's original personality, a shy, quiet aasimar girl. She should be a very sympathetic NPC. Frankly, though no one was especially abusive of her, she generally wasn't well treated by Sandpoint's otherwise nice citizens. Father Tobyn was a strict father figure, and she was always viewed as an outsider when she walked around Sandpoint. Townsfolk constantly approached her for embarrassing/awkward requests even as a child, boys presumably showed a lot of unwelcome attention as she grew older, etc. Then there's the whole secret affair with the Varisian lad (maybe she confided in the PC about it?), the pregnancy, Father Tobyn's stern reaction, the miscarriage, her coma, and finally her fiery death. Lots of angst.
The point is, the PC should have a lot of insight into Nualia's personality and tragic history. Lots of room to weave her into your PC's background. Lots of fun for the DM! :)
Spoiler: As I recall, the fire was centered in the Chapel's quarters. It burned hottest there. Father Tobyn's burnt remains were found, but Nualia's body (obviously) wasn't recovered. The townsfolk just assumed she was killed in the fire, and that the fire was accidental, not deliberate. Now if that seems a little weak when you describe it to your player, it might take a little thought to smooth that out a bit. Maybe she was able to start the fire so that it appeared to be accidental. And maybe Nualia found a corpse about her size to take her place in the fire. (Maybe she even killed someone?) Also, the town was still recovering from the aftermath of Chopper's killing spree, including breaking in a new sheriff Hemlock. Anyway, I think it's worth the effort to set up some fun surprises for your player!
Wow, these are really impressive! I hope he's willing to continue. Thanks for letting everyone here know about them.
A question came up in our game, and I wasn't sure of the correct answer. If a cleric with the Destruction Domain prepares Disintegrate in his 7th level domain slot, is that spell considered to be a 7th or 6th level spell when determining it's save DC?
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