The Black Fox's page

I have no idea if anyone even looks at this portion of the Board anymore, but I am looking for guidance.

After many years of play, my players and I have reached the last chapter, Dawn of a New Age.

However, in the last part, they failed to defeat Dragotha. Mainly because they avoided the encounter with Balakarde, thinking it would be a diversion.

Anyway, they are entering Dawn without defeating Dragotha. So he is still there. Furthermore, there are several bits in Dawn's beginning that providers additional benefits provided Dragotha is defeated (the additional powers of Zosiel's Circlet).

So what to do? Is it still possible to them to go to Balakarde's spirit in Worm Crawl Fissure to get the benefits he could provide against Dragotha? Are there other ways to activate the additional power of Zosiel's Circlet?

I'd hate to set up the PCs to get slaughtered after such a long campaign, but I have difficulty seeing how they can win at this point. They've actually been a very good party, acting very smartly, until they botched it with Dragotha.

So I am looking for guidance. Especially from anyone involved in a campaign where Dragotha was not destroyed in the previous part. How did it turn out?

I need some clarification. If I understand correctly, you can cast Misdirection as yourself or another person as the subject.

So a caster can choose to his friend as the subject and something else as the object whose auras he will assume. Correct?

Also, can the "object" of Misdirection be a person as opposed to a thing? Can the caster assume the aura of someone else whether that person is a non-magic user, arcane or divine spellcaster? Or that someone else (the subject) appears like the caster (the object)?

Lastly, Arcane Sight is all based around auras. Not only does it allow some to know location and power of all magical auras, it allows the person to even determine whether a creature has any spellcasting or spell-like abilities, whether these are arcane or divine, and the strength of the most powerful spell or spell-like ability the creature currently has available for use.

So is it possible to fool the person with arcane sight that someone else (say a non-spellcaster) shows the same aura as the caster of Misdirection?

Globes of invulnerability excludes spell effects of a certain level or lower.

First, for the purposes of a faintly shimmering sphere, I believe that it is something easily seen. As long as there is no concealment, anyone can see it - no reason to ask for Spot checks or whatever regardless of visibility. Of course, if it is in darkness and people normally can't see in darkness, they see nothing. Shimmering does not mean illumination.

Next, while it exclude spell effects, it does not block them. A person can shoot a Lightning Bolt right through a globe. Nothing happens inside the globe, but the bolt will still "leave" the globe and affect anyone behind it normally.

Let's say someone has cast Greater Invisibility (4th level spell) and then cast Lesser Globe (which blocks 3rd level or lower). If someone casts Detect Magic (1st), See Invisibility (2nd) or Arcane Sight (3rd), can they determine what is inside the globe? It sounds like you can't - the divination magic is excluded inside the sphere. Is that correct?

Spell description says that the globe can be brought down by a targeted dispel magic spell, but not by an area dispel magic. Now Dispel Magic is a 3rd level spell, so it has no effect inside the globe. Therefore, I take it that you can't target a dispel magic on any person inside the globe. Instead, the globe is considered an "object" that you can target the dispel magic on.

Is the globe to be considered an object then in terms of spell effects?

Can I cast a Heightened Invisibility (as 4th level) on the globe so that it is not visible?

If so, does the aforementioned Detect Magic/See Invisible/Arcane Sight detect something (the presence of the invisible globe)?

I'll probably need to adjudicate this in game, so I wanted to ask opinions now. Thanks.

As stated in another recent post, I am running a modified Age of Worms campaign. I am using an article in Dragon # 343 that describes "vestige worms" which are a flavor text version of potions that give someone either a one use spell, a +10 skill bonus, or a special memory of the past. When the effect gets used, the worm is consumed and no longer exists.

As part of the description, it says anyone who has taken such a worm must make a DC20 Will save, or fall under the worm's mental control and causes the person to "seek out" followers of Kyuss and "follow" their will.

If I read this correctly, if the Worm does take control, it will never allow the person to "use" the power they provide, as it would destroy the worm and thus its control over the person.

My question is how much control does the worm have? The worm does not appear to be intelligent (as vermin, its Int is zero) so it can't do anything. Instead, it merely gives the person the desire to find a Kyuss worshiper so that the intelligent worshiper can instruct the worm-infested person who will obey completely. Does this sound correct?

Furthermore, this kind of mental control is absolute and without time limit as long as the worm remains inside. Although I assume that if such a person has Protection from Evil cast on him, the worm's mental influence is blocked.

If a person was infested with multiple worms and failed each save, then every single worm would need to be destroyed for the mind control to go away.

Is there anyway to forcibly destroy such a worm? Would a Remove Curse or Remove Disease do so - since that cures the regular worm infection that turns people into Spawn of Kyuss? The article doesn't say, but this makes sense. Would the worm get a Save to resist? What if the person who has the worm doesn't want to be without them (because they are a cult member)? Would they get a Save to resist, or it simply not work?

If these sound like a lot of rhetorical questions, that's because they mostly are. I find it useful to work things out like this, but hearing other opinions would be valuable.

I am running a modified Age of Worms campaign. I'm using about half of the AP and mixing in various other adventures (some published, some my own) for the rest. At this point, the threat of the Kyuss Worms have made the PCs paranoid, and they are terrified that Kyuss Worms are being deposited into the granary and water supplies, and they are using Locate Creature to find them.

Now, as part of my description of the Kyuss Worms, I have told the players that they are very strange. They are a mix of Vermin, Curse, Disease, and Undead depending on their specific state at any one time. That really freaked out the players. So the worms can be found as:

1) Spawn of Kyuss where they are considered to be Undead
2) Alone or as Swarms, where they are considered to be Vermin
3) In addition, I am also using Kyuss Worms per the Wormbound Feat
4) And also as Vestige Worms, these last two from Dragon #343

The last two of course, can either be found alone, or infecting a living person.

I am looking for consensus, what should Locate Creature do. Can it detect the Kyuss Worm in all four cases? Only when it is by itself? By itself and as a Spawn? Or when it is ingested by the living? In other words, if the worm changes type (Vermin by itself, to Undead as part of a Spawn) or is inside a person, is it still detectable?

This is something that applies to all Gamemastery AP's in general, but I've only followed CotCT so I'm posting it here. I was wondering how useful people found the Pathfinder's Journal section in each issue?

I personally find it a waste of 6 pages that could be used on other things.

1) I hate game fiction. I know not everyone does, but I think it is a very poor way to communicate information to players. I don't mind a few paragraphs to provide appropriate flavor text about Topic X, but even one whole page is too much, much less 6. The only time I have found it bearable was in the old Van Richten guides for TSR's Ravenloft, and with that the game fiction was actually used to provide real information to the DM and was focused. This "journal" style is just a big waste.

2) I find the information the Journal provides to have little relevance to the issue at hand. Given the large price each issue ($20), I think these 6 pages would be better spent on something more relevant.

3) After reading many of the threads in the CotCT AP, it seems that there are many instances when people are looking for a bit more detail on Encounter X. Maybe it's stats on an NPC they meet. Maybe it's options for the Cinematic Encounter. Or ideas of what would happen if the PC's think out of the box in this encounter (and generally said encounter often appears to many people as one that can lead to many different approaches). Or a bit more explanation on Group/Location/Event Z which got short shrift in the module, but which could easily be expanded by a DM and Players. I think the 6 pages of the Journal could be used to give us some of these details.

I understand Paizo is using this to provide details about Golarion in lieu of a published overview of the setting, but I think the other 2 sections between the module itself and the PJ (which usually are relevant to the module as well) can serve that purpose. The Journal is just fluff. As examples, here is what I would have preferred to been in its place for each of the 3 issues I own in this AP:

Edge: Some background on Queen Ileosa and her plans for the next few weeks or months. This would be behind the scenes stuff that set up the next parts of the adventures. This would assist DMs and PCs in becoming more involved with the intrigue and plots. Some things might not be preventable, but the section could easily tell a DM what those things are so he knows what needs to happen so the next part of the adventure can happen. A well designed background takes that into account.

Seven: Details on the Gray Maidens who all of a sudden spring up from nowhere. I can accept them as a new faction, but as is there is not enough to make them seem real. Instead, they just appear. Organization, recruitment, where they're stationed, and NPCs that exist between Sabina Merrin and the nameless goons is what I would want to see.

Escape: 6 pages that describe Old Korvosa in much more detail. General locations, groups, and NPC's that may not directly affect the main adventure, but which makes this part of town come more alive.

I've been happy with every other section in the issues, but the Journal is one area I have consistently been disappointed in. I think this section could be revamped to provide us with a much bigger bang for our buck. I am hoping there are enough people who agree so we encourage Paizo to replace it with something more useful. If I am in the minority, well, so be it.