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Do there exist any rules for what penalties are associated with wearing manacles? I suppose in an extreme case, you could compare it to being "tied up" and/or "pinned", but I want to have a character in manacles and able to work (think chain gang). If said character decided to put up a fight, it wouldn't be reasonable to assume they're completely helpless.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but there doesn't seem to be a range listed for the Water Lung Hex. I assume it would be touch, but many other hexes have a range of 30 feet. Has there been errata covering this somewhere?

First off, I'd like to say that at a glance, these look like a lot of fun for a quick way to run mass combat at sea. In fact, I may adopt a re-skinned version to replace the mass combat rules of Kingmaker if they play out a bit better as I think they will.

I'm hoping that we could use a thread like this one to compile any questions people had about Fleet Battles and to share their experiences with them (maybe a sticky?). I haven't run any simulations yet, but I have had two things come up while reading the rules:

1. I think on the "Fleet Sheet" the squadron morale line should read as:
(Base) - (Loss Count) = (Total Check)

If I'm reading things correctly, most modifiers to morale affect the base score while the loss count is something that changes during the course of a single battle. I assume a squadron automatically mutinies only if the base score goes to 0 rather than the total check.

2. The boons have thrown me off a bit. Most are worded as "At the start of a battle phase...". Does this mean that each boon can only be used once per combat, or can they be used once per battle phase. If the latter, can you change which squadron is being affected each round?

I've seen a couple of the other threads here that deal with getting the maximum number of natural attacks, but that's not really what I'm after.

I'm trying to put together a build that uses a core race (probably Half-Orc for the various ways to get a bite attack) and which has a sufficient number of natural attacks. So, in other words, I'm not trying to create some monstrosity with tentacles and four arms. I would like people's opinions on the best build with that in mind.

My current thought is to start with two levels of Ranger to grab Aspect of the Beast for the pair of claw attacks. After that, I was considering adding at least one level of Barbarian and at least 3ish of Rogue for the sneak attack.

Are there any suggestions (feats, level progression, etc) for such a build that'll keep it effective for as long as possible. It'll never be used above 15th level, so beyond that is of no interest to me.

It would seem that you can take both archetypes since they don't replace any common abilities.

I was just wondering how the Sensei ability:

At 6th level, a sensei may use his advice ability when spending points from his ki pool to activate a class ability (using the normal actions required for each) in order to have that ability affect one ally within 30 feet rather than the sensei himself. At 12th level, a sensei may affect all allies within 30 feet rather than himself (spending points from his ki pool only once, not once for each target).

interacted with the Qinggong's ability to have ki powers like true strike at 12th level. That is, can I spend 1 ki point to give every ally within 30 feet true strike? That's pretty cool.

What about other abilities like scorching ray? Do all my allies within 30 feet immediately cast the spell? That could get nasty pretty fast.

It has been pointed out elsewhere (and I tend to agree) that the reasons put forth for the PCs to attempt to "crack the rock" is a little flimsy and to be honest, the wording of the "oft quoted saying" seems more than a little forced.

While I plan on keeping the basic premise and history of Tidewater Rock intact, I'm going to try and plant the seed that they might want to "crack it" in other ways.

Step 1: Make sure they've heard of it *well before* that point in the adventure.

My solution - write a song about it. In particular, a song about its history and a brief and somewhat comical retelling of various attempts to "crack the rock". Heck, the PCs can can even add their own verse at the end of the song about their success afterwards. Not only that, they can *sing* it as part of an infamy check while telling of their deeds later on. In the meantime, I plan on having Conchobar singing it one night aboard the Wormwood (my PCs have already befriended him).

I wanted one verse with history and three about attempts to crack the rock - one by force, one by stealth and one through marriage (this also foreshadows the methods the PCs might use when they get there).

I'm happy to take suggestions on other verses or modifications to the ones I have. You'll note, of course, that some of the mismatched syllable length lines, contractions and grammar are intentional to suit the style of the song. Without further ado, here's my first draft:

For those with musical skills, here are the accompanying chords (I typically play it on accoustic capoed up 5).

When starting a new game, players often come to the table with an idea of the character they want to play (or possibly multiple such ideas). While there's nothing wrong with that, it can often lead to an odd situation when these ideas are thrust together and told that they are now a party.

To me, it seems very odd that such a group would naturally form. Now, when I've run games in the past, I've always used the first session for creating characters and developing their various backgrounds. The problem is that most players will completely map out their character first then look around to see what others have made and (perhaps) try and decide if there's room in their back story to have any history with another character.

I would like to change the way I run games and how characters are created (see my other thread on ability score generation, if interested). Regarding backgrounds, I've mined some ideas from other RPGs and here's what I think I'm going to do for my next game:

1. Being Born: Each player chooses a race and generates ability scores.
2. Growing Up: Each player writes 2-3 sentances about their character's childhood.
3. Striking Out: Each player writes 2-3 sentances about setting out to make their way in the world. This should foreshadow their choice of class at first level.
4. A Defining Moment: Each player writes 2-3 sentances about an event *that also involves the character to their right*.
5. In Other Words: Each player writes 2-3 sentances about the same event involving their character from part 4, but from their perspective.
6. Here We Are: Each player writes 2-3 sentances about the current state of their character including desires, motivations, etc.

After everything is complete, players can choose 2 traits but they must be ones directly associated with two different steps listed above.

The real key to making this work is that players should not be wedded to a rigid view of their character's background *prior* to the first game session. As you might note, other players will be writing some elements of your character's background.

What do people think? Would you play in such a game? Why or why not?

First off, I don't want this to be a thread where everyone posts what they do with their group or for it to devolve into an argument about point-buy versus rolling for stats. There are more than enough of that sort of thing here if people want to search for it.

What I'm discovering, after more decades of playing RPGs than I care to admit, is that while I still have a fondness for some of the classic elements of generating characters, I also have an appreciation for how the game has changed over the years.

Some specifics:

1. I like using point-buy (typically 15, though I'm often tempted to use 10) because everyone has an equally "powerful" character.

2. I don't like using point-buy because you end up with "good" stats exactly where you need them for your character (I know - this is a generalization).

3. I like rolling attributes "down the line" because I don't know ahead of time where my strengths and weaknesses are. (Did you know the average elf has 12 dex? Have you ever seen an elf with <12 dex in a game? How about <14? Probably not...)

4. I don't like rolling attributes because depending on the method, you either end up with a) a great disparity between characters or b) uniformly average rolls (where the average can vary depending on the method used).

Here's what I've come up with to reconcile these points for ability score generation:

1. Choose your race (including variable stat bonus location for humans, etc).
2. Choose a array of scores based on a 20 point buy.
3. Randomly assign those scores to abilities and apply racial modifiers.

Given all this, would you play in such a game? If not, is it because we have different tastes (points 1-4) or because of the actual mechanics used. If the latter, what would you do differently?

As written, it is: "When you are in a body of water large enough to float in, your effective caster level is increased by 1."

My question is: Does this apply if you are in a boat? I can see the argument either way, but it would be significantly more useful if the answer is yes (particularly for the Skull and Shackles AP).

Note: Minor spoilers for BfB

My PCs are currently slogging their way through the Hooktongue swamp and as I've done for previous books, many of the "random" encounters are in fact planned out ahead of time so they flow a little better. After rolling an encounter with 3 hags, I was trying to find the best way to incorporate them and here's what I came up with:

The Setup:

First, I changed the fixed encounters somewhat so that the refugees were in fact a group of traders who had taken something of a wrong turn coming up the East Sellen River and had a run in with a rather irrate Hydra. After the PCs discover the wreck of their boat (and defeat the 12-headed monster), they quickly find some of the survivors not far away.

The Hook:

The hags have been picking off stragglers from the wreckage for the last couple days as a bit of fun though the source of the threat is unknown to them. Once the PCs start leading the group to safety (in the same day they found them) they hear the screams of one of the survivors in the distance. When they rush to investigate they find that one of the women from the group is quickly sinking in a large patch of quicksand while a pair of will-o-wisp watch on in delight.

The Trap:

When the PCs go to rescue the woman and/or dispatch the will-o-wisps they discover that things are not exactly as they seem. The will-o-wisps are in fact a simple dancing lights spells and easily serve to waste a couple PC spells. If a PC manages to reach the flailing woman, she drains their strength with her touch attack since she is in fact a hag. The confused PCs are then confronted with the "real" threat of the encounter in that two medusa make themselves known from behind some trees at the far side of the quicksand and assail the PCs with various spells (baleful polymorph is how I started, turning an eidolon into a butterfly).

The Truth:

The medusa are, of course, the other two hags. All three of them are disguised using a veil spell. The quicksand isn't actually real either and rather just a pool of water that the third hag is swimming in, disguised by mirage arcana. It is particularly amusing (to me as the DM, anyway) at this point when PCs try to close or avert their eyes while fighting the medusa since it gives them a pretty decent advantage when trying to drain strength from their victims and eventually grapple and drag them underwater. Once one goes down, however, the other two try to turn invisible and run (and then pester the PCs again in the future).

The Aftermath:

All in all, the PCs had fun with this one despite being perplexed at the time. One PC had a good amount of strength drained and the eidolon was turned into a butterfly but the came out victorious. They were never in that much danger (being only a CR 9 encounter) but they didn't *know* they weren't in danger which added to the fun. Just thought I'd share in case people wanted to snag this sort of thing for their own campaign.

So, I've been trying to think of the best way to make a swarm of will-o-wisps.

Since they're small size, you could easily fit 8 of them in a 5 foot cube. So, a gargantuan sized swarm, which is roughly 20x20x20 could contain 512 of them. Let's say 500 and imagine they form a 10 foot radius sphere (not that it really matters).

I've looked at the 3.5 mob template as well as various templates like the creature swarm from the Advanced Bestiary, but they don't quite do what I want them to. I'm thinking that I may have to create a creature from scratch but I was hoping people on here could help me out or point me in the direction of something more along my line of thinking. If anyone wants to take a stab at producing a stat-block, that would be greatly appreciated.

At first glance, I'd imagine such a creature would have CR somewhere in the low to mid teens (or at least, that's where I want it for my game).

All ideas welcome.

What's the real value of Mithril Armour. In other words, how much would it have to cost for you to consider other materials for armour at higher levels?

At the moment, the cost to make light/medium/heavy armour out of mithril is 1000/4000/9000. Almost every build I see uses mithril armour as soon as it can be purchased (mostly due to the fact that it is considered one class lighter than normal). Would you still spend the money on it if it cost double? What about five times the cost?

So, I've just been paging through the Words of Power portion of Ultimate Magic and I'm quite impressed with the final product. I particularly like how the effect words combine (much in the same way the CR system works) to produce spells.

I do have one question though. The system obviously uses two mathmatical ways to combine effect words with respect to their level. A spell of level k can be made up of two spells of level (k-2) or by two spells with levels (k-1) and (k-3). Is there any particular reason why other combinations of effect words can be used beyond those shown in table 4-1?

For example, we should be able to make a 6th level spell out of effect words with levels 4,3 and 1 but this combination isn't listed in the table. For that matter, does anything break if we allow four level 1 effects to make a 5th level spell?

I can understand that limited combinations which can be looked up in a table is easier to use, but the system seems like it should be robust enough to use in this way.

In the section on magical duels in Ultimate Magic, there is an option called a dueling counter which works similar to counterspells but act as immediate actions (and have no guarantee to succeed). I was wondering what people thought of this notion as I've considered adding it as an option for spellcasters even outside of duels. I'm worried it might slow down the game a bit but it otherwise gives spellcasters some interesting defensive options.

For those who have read the rules for dueling counters, what are your thoughts about using them in the game all the time?

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Inspired by the similar thread in the Carrion Crown forum, I'm curious what people think is the "optimum" party for the Kingmaker AP.

The rules:

1. Four party members (15 point build)
2. Core rules + APG only
3. Reasons for your choices based on challenges presented in the AP.

I've noticed that many people are using Candlemere Tower as a jumping off point for various additions to their Kingmaker campaign. Here's a brief summary of what I've done in case anyone is interested:

For anyone on the island - a night spent sleeping on Candlemere island causes night terrors. Each PC must make a DC 17 will save or be affected by the spell "nightmare". Their dreams are filled with visions of light-ball swarms, mind-numbing buzzing and the occasional glimpse of huge incongruous tentacled masses.

Area A: Outside the tower

The "tower" is actually a small low-lying building with a 50' tower attached at one end. The only entrance is into the building at the opposite end from the tower. Though persistently crumbling, the tower rebuilds itself over time so that it seems to remain the same state of disrepair.

Within 100' of the tower , PCs must make a DC 20 will save or be shaken as per the AP. A will-o'-wisp (CR 6) is encountered the first time the party approaches within this radius.

Within 30' of the entrance, the PCs will trigger the first haunt:

Haunt: Escape from the Depths (CR 4)
Notice: Perception DC 15 to hear the sound of many people running towards the door from the inside.
hp 8; trigger proximity; reset 1 day
Effect: Cultists burst through the door (though it remains closed as if they were ghosts) with looks of horror as they flee the complex. Some scream while others run wildly with eyes rolled back in their heads. Their panic induces fear as the spell (DC 16 Will) on all creatures within 30' of the front door.

Other: PCs who flee beyond 100' of the tower due to this effect attract the attention of another will-o'-wisp.

Area B: Meeting Hall

Just inside the main doors is a large open room 30' wide and 70' long.

Haunt: Paranoia (CR 5)
Notice: Perception DC 20 to notice quick movements and terse whispered comments coming from the corners of the room.
hp 10; trigger proximity; reset 1 day
Effect: An overwhelming sense of paranoia washes over all those affected. You suddenly believe that everyone else in the room is waiting for the perfect opportunity to kill you. Treat this as if affected by the poison: Nightmare Vapour (DC 20 Fort) 1/rd for 6 rds, causes 1 wis damage and confused for 1 round - 2 saves to cure.

Area C: The Altar

At the opposite end of the meeting hall there is a raised dais with a waist height stone altar with a bowl shaped indentation in its centre. Among the rubble in this area lies a wickedly curved +1 human bane dagger (DC 20 perception to find). It is cursed, however, and only functions as a +1 dagger unless it is first used in a coup-de-grace against a human in which case it dimly glows a pulsing red light as its human bane ability is awakened for 24 hours. Anyone touching the dagger triggers the following haunt:

Haunt: Grisly Offerings (CR 4)
Notice: Perception or Sense Motive DC 25 to detect the change which comes over the person who triggers the haunt.
hp 8; trigger touch; reset 1 min
Effect: The victim must make a DC 16 will save or be compelled to move to the altar and disembowel themselves, letting their innards fall into the bowl there. In the surprise round, the victim moves to the altar on initiative count 10. In round 1, the victim performs a coup-de-grace against themselves using the dagger on initiative count 0. He resists attempts to stop him from allies and automatically scores a critical hit if he takes an attack of opportunity.

Area D: The Pit

Fifteen feet behind the altar there is a 20' wide pit which seems to decend indefinitely into the darkness below. This pit is in the centre of the tower which rises overhead. There are two stairways that corkscrew their way up the inside walls of the tower.

The pit is actually only 60' feet deep with a soft muddy bottom (falling damage is 5d6). It is masked by a permanent illusion (DC 19 will if interacted with).

Haunt: Tentacled Horror (CR 4)
Notice: Perception DC 20 to see tentacles reaching up the walls from the depths or Detect Evil prior to manifestation.
hp 18; trigger proximity; persistent
Effect: Anyone attempting to descend into the pit is attacked by the tentacled monster as it flails and grasps at the victim, attempting to pull him down. It's mere touch is enough to cause paralyzing fear. Treat this as if affected by sound burst (DC 13 Fort) each round someone is completely below the threshold of the pit.

Creature: At the bottom of the pit lies a Giant (simple template) Gibbering Mouther (CR 6). The pit widens somewhat at the bottom and is roughly circular and 40' across. The ground is soft and muddy making it difficult terrain for everyone except the Gibbering Mouther.

Treasure:
Ring of Dreadful Rejuvenation

This ring only functions when it's wearer is suffering from a fear effect. When the wearer causes damages in melee, he gains temporary hp equal to half of the damage dealt. He cannot gain more than half of his total hp in this manner in a 24 hour period. These extra hit points disappear after 1 hour or when the wearer ceases to suffer from the fear effect, whichever comes first.

Note that this ring, if worn, will prevent your own death should you try to disembowel yourself (just sayin...) as long as healing is provided before the temporary hp disappear. In this case, you will be at -Con hit points, but with half your total hp as temporary hp and will remain alive.

Area E: High Priest's Cell

At the top of the stairs there is a single room with two entrances (one leading to each stairway). The room is entirely empty and without windows. Across most of the walls are faint carvings. DC 25 Linguistics identifies it as written in Aklo, then a DC 25 Knowledge[Religion] check identifies them as blasphemous prayers to the Old Cults and a DC 25 perception check finds the eerie name "Yog-Sothoth". Attempts to read the carvings invoke the following haunt:

Haunt: Ancient Obsessions (CR 4)
Notice: Percpetion DC 25 to hear whispered words following along as you read the writing.
hp 8; trigger reading; reset 1 day
Effect: The victim begins speaking Aklo and repeats the words carved on the walls in an obsessive way with growing volume and conviction. The words (though they may not make sense, even to the reader) completely occupy the victim's thoughts and affect him as a touch of idiocy (no save) which lasts for 24 hours.

I've been flipping through part 6 of the AP and noticed that Briar's Ego would actually change as it gains sharpness points. I then noticed that no ego was listed for any stage of its reawakening. I believe these are correct:

Sharpness 0-3 = Ego 0 (not intelligent)
Sharpness 4-7 = Ego 8 (+4 base, +3 stats, +1 barkskin 3/day)
Sharpness 8-13 = Ego 10 (+2 blight 3/day)
Sharpness 14-19 = Ego 15+ (+1 telepathy, +2 special purpose, +2 true ressurection 1/month, +? vorpal vs. first world creatures)
Sharpness 20+ = Ego 23 (base changes to +12 for a gain of +8)

This got me thinking about Ovinrbaane which has a listed Ego of 25. To the best of my knowledge its ego should only be 16:

+4 base (+3 wounding greatsword)
+3 stats (11 INT, 12 WIS, 15 CHA)
+1 lesser power: aid 3/day
+2 lesser power: modify memory 1/day
+2 special purpose
+2 dedicated power (freedom of movement at will)
+2 dedicated power (dispel magic 1/round)

The only thing I could see was if ego was supposed to be 10 plus these bonuses and the dispel magic dedicated power is only worth +1 (since it's less than a 4th level spell effect). If that's the case, all the numbers for Briar should be increased by 10.

I'm running Kingmaker right now and to streamline things a bit, I've randomly generated many things to do with the campaign so we don't have to do it on the fly.

My PCs had a "monster attack" event in the first year and I made it an advanced Wyvern. Unfortunately, due to a bad succession of rolls on my part, it didn't put up much of a fight despite the fact that the party was only 5th level and completely unused to fighting things which can fly.

I've noticed that there is another monster attack event coming up in a couple months and I've been trying to come up with something memorable that they won't just stomp on now that they're 6th level. As the party increases in power, I may also create monsters above the CR 7 recommendation but for the time being, CR 7 or 8 would probably be best.

At the moment, my top choices would be (in no particular order):

- Hydra with 8 or 9 heads (CR 7 or 8) (mostly because I love hydras)
- Half-Black Dragon Manticore (CR 7) (good tie-in to a certain future enemy here)
- Ettin Fire Sorcerer 4 (CR 9)

Note, for that last entry, I'm using slightly modified rules for Ettins since in Pathfinder it seems two heads aren't much better than one. You can find his stats HERE.

I'm a little worried that very soon the economy of action of the party will drastically outclass any single monster up to APL+2. Has anyone used this event for a small group of monsters? This is what prompted me to make the changes to the Ettin above. What have other people been using for their monster attacks? Anything memorable to note?

Here is the build I was thinking of using. What CR would you put this at considering the options I've given above?

Ettin Fire Sorcerer 4

init +5, low-light, perception +17

AC 20 touch 10 flat-footed 19 (+2 armour, +1 dex, +8 nat, -1 size)
hp: 101 (10d8+4d6+42)
Fort +11 Ref +5 Will +10
Resist 10 fire

Spd 40ft.
Melee: flail +14/+9 (2d6+6)
Ranged: javelin +9 (1d8+6)
Elemental Ray (fire) 5/day Ranged touch 30ft 1d6+2 fire

Str 22 Dex 12 Con 17 Int 6 Wis 12 Cha 15
BAB +9 CMB +16 CMD 27
Feats: Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Iron Will, Charge Through, Elemental Focus (Fire)

Spells:
1st (7/day)
Shield
Burning Hands (DC 14)
True Strike
Enlarge Person
2nd (4/day)
Flaming Sphere (DC 15)

The feat Mounted combat says you can negate a hit against your mount with a ride check as an immediate action. The feat Trick Riding (from APG) says you can use a ride check to negate a hit twice per round. How exactly does that work with the fact that each use is an immediate action?

If you've already taken some other immediate action, can you still try to negate a hit? Could you do it once or twice in that case?

The simplest solution might be to let the ability to negate a hit not be an action but limited to once per round (then twice with Trick Riding).

Another solution might be to say that trick riding allows you to negate a hit with a ride check as a free action once per round - even when it's not your turn. In that case, to answer my own questions above, you could still negate a hit, but only once.

Has there been any clarification on this subject? What do others think?

As I read the spell, the target must make a saving throw when you cast the spell.

If he passes the saving throw, he becomes staggered for one round.

If he fails the saving throw, nothing happpens but he starts making saving throws on his turns for the next 3 rounds. Each time he makes one of those three, he can avoid moving along the track to suffocation. If he does manage to make all three, it seems he can avoid all adverse effect from the spell (including the staggered condition he would have had if he had passed the first saving throw).

It does say that if the target fails the first saving throw, the air is expelled from his lungs and he starts to suffocate. There doesn't seem to be any "condition" which covers the situation but it would seem to me that this would prevent things like speaking, spell casting, breath weapons as well as give some sort of condition like staggered for the duration.

How would you rule the spell if the first saving throw was failed but then subsequent ones were passed?

So, I've been flipping through the APG and this class really stood out to me. As such, I've been trying to put together a build using the elite array and would appreciate some advice. Basically, he thinks of himself as an avatar or "chosen one" of Iomedae and follows his tenets. I wanted something that could hit somewhat reliably despite the 3/4 BAB progression. Clearly his spells could help out in that regard but I was hoping to try and keep up as best as possible without them.

Here's my first attempt:

LG Human Oracle
Battle Mystery
Tongues Curse (Celestial)

Weapon of choice: Guisarme (I'm a sucker for reach weapons)

STR 17 (15+2)
DEX 12
CON 13
INT 8
WIS 10
CHA 14

Stat increases: STR, CON, CHA, CHA, CHA

Feats:
H - Dazzling Display
1 - Extra Revelation
3 - Intimidating Presence
5 - Power Attack
7 - Combat Reflexes
9 - Extra Revelation
11 - Extra Revelation
13 - Furious Focus

Revelations:
1 - Skill at Arms
1 - Weapon Mastery
3 - Maneuver Mastery
7 - Surprising Charge
9 - Battlefield Clarity
11 - Iron Skin
11 - Combat Healer

I doubt I'd end up playing the character beyond 13-15th level so choices beyond this point are moot.

It seems I've been able to partly answer my own question. Everything which is listed in the glossary is actually a special attack (which is a little odd since the descriptions of such things are listed under the "special abilities" section of stat block. In order for something to qualify as a special quality (rather than an attack) it must be listed in the SQ section of the stat block at the end of the statistics section. Furthermore, undead like skeletons only keep the ones which improve their ranged or melee attacks.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything which qualifies.

Say you have a situation where a given PC is the only one who can act in the suprise round. Instead of acting, can he delay until the start of the first full round and thereby make use of a move and standard action (or a full-attack action)?

It seems like he should be able to do this based on the wording of Delay in the SRD. Of course, the follow-up question would be: What if the party is setting up an ambush and all PCs (and no enemies) get to act in the suprise round? Can they all delay until the beginning of the first full round?