I figure my players will figure it out on their own, ask, or go "ooooh, exotic!". :)
You forgot "stumble about in blind confusion." That's what we do most of the time. :)
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(Also one of them is probably reading this post on his RSS feed.) What's he talking about? I'd *never* do such a thing!
Hm. I got my PF#14 yesterday despite my being set to ship once a month. Yeah, but you're not on the Pathfinder Modules subscription list. So *my* October is PF14 and LB2, and the shipment is currently being held for LB2. Yours is just PF14, so there's no reason to wait. There's an odd efficiency to Paizo's methods that results in unpredictable and chaotic shipments, and yet... It's *better* than the rigid methods used by older, pre-internet companies. And besides, if anybody should be able tame chaos and make it work, it should be a bunch of geeks who grew up imagining how demons would run the world if they had control...
You've currently got everything set to "hold for monthly shipment", and since we're expecting another Pathfinder, another Module, a Companion, and a Chronicles product in October (actually, in a little over a week) we're waiting for those to arrive before we ship your 14 and your LB2. I had a feeling that's why mine was delayed as well. We managed to lose a month, so PF 14 was waiting for the October monthly bundle... I suppose I'm lucky because there's no way my reading can possibly keep up with the amount of Paizo stuff I'm getting... And besides, I've actually got a PC in Second Darkness anyway, so those go on the bottom of the to-read stack.
Hi all. I'm currently prepping The Bullywug Gambit, and noticed the comment that overland treks to Kraken's Cove should use the wandering monster tables from the corresponding Savage Tidings article.... And of course, there are no such tables there. Now, I hope that my players will go the sea route anyway, but they have this annoying habit of choosing the path I spend the least time fleshing out beforehand, so I'd like to be a bit prepared. Does anybody have a favorite list-of-critters already made for this trek? Thanks...
Crossed Posts! Thanks, Cosmo!
Monday update: I just got an email telling me that another copy of the Gazetteer has been placed, for $0. The prior order *still* says "shipping" on the order summary page. I don't know if this is some sort of automated magic "fix it" system, or if Cosmo is working his magic... But Thanks! --Steve
I, too, seem to have become a victim of the great Missing Gazetteer monster. Also of note: while I've received Pathfinder #9, the orders page still says "shipping". And there was no packing slip. --Steven Cole
What would you say: does the searching rogue trigger the trap? The searching rogue triggers the trap if he fails the search check, or if he's not really searching the area where the trigger lies. So if he's searching the "whole room" (as you say), and takes a 20, then he finds the trap. Of course, taking a 20 for every 5x5 square can take a long time. Taking a 10 is much faster, but often doesn't find things. In my games, when the party wants to do a thorough search, the rogue takes a 10 and everybody else does the Aid Another action to boost the search check. In any event, if the rogue is searching, he likely finds the trap. Since "trapfinding" is a rogue skill spelled out in the rules, I'd assume the rogue must have learned a trick or two about not setting off things while he looks.
Huh. I could've sworn there were downloads earlier than 144; I'm looking for 133. There are earlier ones. Just click on the "DOWNLOADS" link on that prior page to get the *whole* list, rather than just the most recent ones.
Is the all-in-one PDF missing the Prologue page? My copy has page 6 immediately following the Table of Contents, but the TOC says the prologue should be on page 4.
The *only* RPG book I've read every page of (and *used* every page of) has been the hardback version of the Shackled City AP. Initially, at $60, I thought it was overpriced, but the game value per page makes it the *best* RPG purchase I've ever made.
Well, it's more than just a 1000xp surcharge each level. The Smoking Eye template gives the character a +1 Level Adjustment. Which means that the Effective Character Level bumps up by one. The way my group uses this (which as I reread the rules just now may not be exactly right), means that the templated character earns XP at a slower rate than the non-templated characters (he earns them at the rate of a character one level higher). But we still trigger a new level at the same XP threshold as before. Since he's earning XP more slowly, however, the other characters reach higher levels first. This method stabilizes with the templated character one level behind everyone else, which is what you want.
Also check out "The High Cost of Dying" http://www.andycollins.net/Theories/dying.htm at Andy Collins' web site. I use it in my SC campaign, and it seems to be working well. (The basic idea is to replace XP loss with negative levels (which are removed only by further XP gain).) --Steven
I agree with what Jeremy wrote; I'd add that the grouping of all feats into the Statistics section is less than useful. Splitting out "important" feats (like Power Attack, Dodge, Improved Trip, etc.) into the "Offsense" section, while leaving the "only-changes-statistics" feats (like Weapon Focus, Improved Initiative, etc.) in the Statistics section was one of the great big improvements of the last stat block revision. "Useful skills" would also be nice to separate; in my own stat blocks, I often place Tumble on my Speed listing and Concentration on a spellcasting listing, since they're used so often. -Steve
Oooh. That one's nice. I think I'll manage a combo between the map of mystery in Dungeon 102 and the encounter write-ups in the web enhancement. And maybe something more. The SCAP mentions hookface's "minions"; I've been scouring my monster books to find some kind of minion I actually like. The mephits work; though I think I'll throw in a band of kobolds as well, though at their power level they won't be much more than a bit of environment. The lair beetles in Draconomicon are fun, too. But I'm still looking for a minion that really works for me. Haven't found one yet. --Steve
We just finished running Foundations of Flame, and had a memorable last encounter with Hookface. (Emergency plane shift away to save a fighter getting slowly chewed to pieces as Hookface flew away from Cauldron, defeated but still alive and bringing a snack with him.) Now the players plan to visit his lair once other events give them some breathing room, fully prepped and ready to do battle. Has anybody done any work on creating a good lair for Hookface and his mate? The SCAP intro suggests minions and traps, along with his more-powerful mate. All of which suggests a lair considerably more complex than the sample red dragon lair in Draconomicon. I mean to look through Dungeon's Maps of Mystery to see what I can find, but in the mean time, I thought I'd throw out my request to the SCAP crowd... --Steve
Thanks for the feedback, Steve. Our statblocks are a work in progress and have benefited greatly from comments made by our readers. I'm not one of the statblock guys in the R&D pit, but I'll make sure they see your post. :) Thanks... :) That's why I pointed it out. I try to retype all these statblocks into a format *I* like, and if we finally get to the point where I don't have to do that anymore, I'll be a very happy DM. --Steve
I received W1 yesterday, and so far really like the way the module is written... But I've got a beef about the stat blocks. The new 'split-into-sections' style is wonderful; but the ones in W1 are still causing me to pencil in bits & pieces. In particular, some of the combat-useful feats that don't permanently modify combat stats aren't listed in the OFFENSE section (like Combat Expertise or Improved Feint). Also, the combat gear is not listed in OFFENSE either. With the easy critters of lower-level adventures this isn't much of a big deal, but it would be nice if *all* combat-relevant, checkbox-style items actually moved to the offense section---that's where I look to figure out what a monster can do in a combat round, after all... --Steve
Great suggestions, guys, I appreciate it. The point about keeping things simple and straightforward is well taken. Investigatory stuff is probably out, as well as puzzle type scenarios. For a few years, anyway. Even though the Sunless Citadel is biggish, I am tending to think that direction. Though perhaps with some sort of homebrew beginning link there first, especially since I probably need to underpower the encounters my kids face. (I expect their tactics to be poor.) I like the comedy element that Meepo can provide, especially. The more I think about things, the more comedy will prove to be a critical element, I think. (There was an adventure a few years ago with giants raising a clutch of "chickens" (actually cockatrices)).. I'm going to be trying for that kind of style, I think. And that one with the bees looked interesting, too. --Steve
My kids have been clamoring for me to get them started on playing D&D... And this Christmas vacation, it's gotta finally happen! So: what are everybody's favorite kid-friendly adventures? Where the evil is more comical than brooding and dark? I'm thinking "Box of Flumph", (because, well, flumphs are ridiculous), and "The Devil Box" with it's goofy giant-sized kobolds... Does anyone else have any favorites? --steve cole
I think I'm intrigued and confused by these. On the one hand, I love the idea of handing out cards to players when they get treasure. I've done it sporadically before, and it's been a kind of mixed blessing. (For the stuff the players keep, it's great. For the stuff they sell right away, it wasn't worth the effort.) So I'm intrigued. But then I noticed that the expansion packs have randomized cards. Randomized? But this isn't a trading card game, it's a GM tool! What GM wants random stuff? It makes no sense! A GM wants stuff he knows he can use. One card is "foil"? Big deal! It makes me think that perhaps this product is not so well thought out after all... Or that its goals don't match the GM community after all, but are targeted at card collectors. --scole
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I'll be running Thornkeep in Core mode, levels 1-5 over the next week. We'll play from 9am to 2pm EDT each day, Monday through Friday. Thornkeep levels are:
No need to play every game, or use the same character for each game. If you do choose to play each game with the same character, you'll need to be level two, otherwise you'll be level 4 for The Dark Menagerie. If interested, please e-mail me the following at tooalex [at} yahoo (dot| com:
Ran this adventure yesterday; thought it was fantastic.
Minuses:
Notes for my fellow GMs: Consider printing out a copy of each of the opposing armies; if a player is knocked out let him take control of one of the bad guy armies. Alternatively, consider letting defeated PCs meet up with allied armies and "aid another" their friend's morale checks (basically a charisma check dc 10) Print out six copies of the unique armies and the non-unique armies. It may be a lot of largely wasted ink and paper, but it could shave as much as 10 minutes from the amount of time needed for your players to make their decisions. Take care, as this adventure can go long due to explaining the mass-combat rules. For the map, I took two sheets of hex paper, cut the sides so that they would fit together, then drew the map on them. Afterwards I colored the map and glued the two sheets onto a poster board. Long Battle Report:
Play report: The group I GM'ed for had 6 PCs, playing: Riftwardens, Elven Uprooters, Mammoth Riders,the Taldan army, the Mendevian Cavalry and the Mendevian Priests. The first engagement went well; the Riftwardens and Uprooters teamed up to destroy cultists on the south side, the Taldans charged the Middle, and the Mammoth Riders and the Cavalry took the north. Only problem was the Warpriests were too slow and did very little. Once the players took out each of the cultist armies, they all settled in for a day to recover with the plan of attacking the tieflings at dawn from all sides...except the Mendevian Cavalry. The foolish crusaders charged in immediately (the player had been just a tiny bit too slow throughout the first engagement and hadn't had a fight yet) and met a dangerous and entrenched foe. The high defense of the tieflings between their cautious strategy and the fortifications of the town made the tieflings too hard a nut to crack for the Mendevians, and the cavalry was forced to withdraw (it didn't help that my dice were hot most of the evening, and his dice weren't). The next day, the other 5 armies descended on the tieflings and, since they were all fighting recklessly, were able to take down the unhurt tieflings in a single round. The second engagement was significantly more difficult. The Cavalry and the Mammoth Riders charged recklessly forward at a pair of dretch armies that had joined up (despite a hint that they would be leaving themselves in a dangerous position), then were ambushed by a pair of Schir armies. Meanwhile, the highly effective Riftwarden/Uprooter combo started working its way south around the chasm, and the Taldans headed north-northwest after some of the Schir armies. The Mendevian Warpriests decided to stay on defense; their low movement made them terrible attackers but they knew they'd be hell (heaven?) on wheels defending Silvershore. During the first combat phase of the engagement, the Mammoth riders and the Cavalry fought two dretch armies and two Schir armies. This was the first time the PCs had been outnumbered, and they were both clearly worried. Unfortunately, they made their worst tactical mistake here; thinking that the Dretches would die easily, they focused on them instead of the far easier Schirs. My dice were hot, and within three rounds of splitting up the dretch and schir attacks evenly between the armies the cavalry were in dire straights and only one of the armies (a schir army) had fallen. A few rounds later, I defeated the cavalry leaving the Mammoths fighting two dretch armies and a schir army. The Mammoths were barely able to rally and defeat the three remaining foes. During the next few days, the Taldans came to the Mammoths' rescue and gave the Mammoths desperately needed time to recover while taking a bit of a beating from the other armies in the area, especially the Stitched Abominations. Meanwhile, the previously unstoppable Riftwarden/Uprooters combo found themselves outmaneuvered by the Howlers, and left with two options: pursue a fleeing Schir army around the chasm, or go backwards to take on the Howlers. They decided to leave the howlers to the Warpriests and charge after the schir demons. The howlers attacked Silvershore and were slain by the Warpriests without much effort. Then the Rift Drakes appeared and killed the cultists, and seeing another easy meal went after the Uprooters and Riftwardens. The riftwardens died quickly (though not without inflicting casualties on the Drakes) and the Uprooters were routed, then defeated on the following day. The combination of Breath Weapon and Bleed on those guys was REALLY effective. At this point the Army of the Open Road was truly worried; having lost half their forces they considered pulling back to Silvershore. But two paladins (I let the player in charge of the Mendevian Cavalry meet up with the Mammoth riders) and the lead singer of Dyre Wulf were not about to back down, and the Mammoths and the Taldans charged the Rift Drakes. While Dyre Wulf played their hit single "Lets kick the Worldwound in the [expletive]" the three armies clashed, and slew the drakes in a single round of combat. The rest of the scenario was fairly by the book, though the players loved the cool carved demon head, and everyone liked the troop fight. The magus at the end was a little irritating since they gave him all the time he needed to prep, but that is honestly to be expected. Overall: I found this to be a fantastic adventure. The complaints listed above are all minor nit picks at worst and when I ran it everybody at the table had a blast. I'd rate it a 4/5.
So, there's a room in The Moonscar that has tons of spellbooks in it. Here's the relevant text: "Feel free to customize the specific arcane spells available
The party I'm planning to run this for tomorrow includes a Wizard and a Magus. At the end of the scenario, should I just tell them to choose as many spells as they want to learn and pay the normal cost for them (rather than the 1.5 cost wizards normally have to pay)?
(Note: only the relevant section of the FAQ answer included to save space) Does this mean that improved familiars with hands can no longer use wands? I know that there are forum postings that say that they can, but the FAQ seems to take precedence. |
