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RPG Superstar 7 Season Star Voter. Organized Play Member. 1,046 posts (1,531 including aliases). 5 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 1 Organized Play character. 12 aliases.


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Order 7737525

Despite entering #145 over and over and over, it keeps shifting it to #143. Pls pls pls, start this order with #145.


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Ummm...today in the mail, I got the Core Rulebook, Bestiary, and Fall of Plaguestone


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I came to say I wanted this. I stayed to read Sebastian's comments.


On page 21 of the Bestiary:

"For each character in the party beyond the fourth,
include additional creatures worth an amount of XP
equal to the Character Adjustment value for your
encounter on Table 5. Don’t adjust the actual XP the
characters each gain for defeating the encounter"

So, if I have 5 PCs and I want to run a HIGH-Difficulty Encounter, I need to come up with around ~100 xp worth of obstacles/foes (80 for the normal 4 party, +20 per pc over).

BUT, do I award the group 100xp each...or do I award the 80? I've been doing the latter, but then, out of the blue, despite being 6 sessions into a PF2 campaign, it felt funky.

Thoughts?

(Thanks in advance!)


Session 2 - Starting “The Lost Star”

Setup
* Got the other 2 players set-up. One hadn’t gamed in almost 30 years...I did a lot the character building so we could get moving. Once we got into it, he grokked it pretty easily.

* I gave a bit of narrative over the top to wrap up last session and tie this together, but then started them at Deverin’s Manor.
They did a quick roleplay with the goblin and Kelleri. Then they plunged into the sewer.

* My prep work was pretty basic.I adjusted for a 5 party size based on BESTIARY playtest rules. I also tweaked treasure parcels to match (also adjusting for things they earned last session). Other prep continues to be getting used to the system.

Actual Play

ENCOUNTER: SEWER OOZE
**I made it Elite to account for 5 players.
**They still killed it in one round.
**It got initiative because they didn’t see it. Filth wave affected the 2 fighters and the animal companion. Between that and one of its pseudopod attacks, it decimated the one fighter to nearly 0 hp.

ENCOUNTER: Goblins in A2
**Since the group came into the dark, cavernous room with light, I had the goblins make a perception check. They succeeded and snuck forward, but the bear animal companion noticed them. Fight was on.
**Fighter 1 wins initiative: sudden charge - CRITICAL SUCCESS - dead goblin. Is very cool. Also, shifts the battlefield towards the goblins end, letting the rest of the group room to maneuver easily.
**All in all went 3 rounds, no one in true danger...and even with the ranger rolling poorly, the group made short work of the goblins. The gobbos did manage to get a couple shots in here and there.
They found the healing potion - much needed!

ENCOUNTER: Mindfog Mushroom
**They noticed it before entering. Shot it with an arrow...saw spores...said, “Nah.”
**I award full xp for this. It just makes sense to avoid it.

ENCOUNTER: Giant Centipedes
**A doozy...and an odd one.
**1st they were surprised by the centipedes. I ruled the giant centipedes are largely motivated by hunger...they’d been drawn by the activity out of the cave.
**In one round, centipedes dropped the animal companion… which was smartly positioned by the Ranger to block the bugs a bit. After, this I had the centipedes essentially drag the bear carcass away --again, hungry, hungry caterpillars...though, I suppose it would have been more real had they kept biting the dying bear. (See Lingering Thoughts below).
The group dithered...the ranger was willing to sacrifice his bear to the bugs...who kept focused on slowly dragging the carcass back into the cave.
**Eventually, someone shot and killed a centipede in one shot.
This emboldened the group, they got in, wiped the centipedes (suffering some poison) and saved Teddy, the bear companion, while he was at dying 3. (Wizard used stabilize...he had it from his Ancestry Feat: Otherworldly Magic)

We stopped there, as they noticed a shiny object beneath the rubble. They picked it up to reveal a…AND I STOPPED THERE...always leave them wanting more. (Admittedly, off-book...but I’m just playing with the system).

Big Takeaways said wrote:

Lingering Thoughts:

***Coming from 5e...there was some discussion of how rules-heavy stuff felt. The rulebook saw so much use, I’ve decided to print out copies of the PDF for extras at the table. Shield rules slowed us down, death and dying is awkwardly written (it still is in update, I think), a couple other minor things.

***STILL...3 combats in 3 hours. Plus some roleplay and exploration. Regular amount of yucking it up. 5 players. Pretty good.

***BUT...the multiple attack thing, while well-received, did slow some people down...the -5 is basic enough...but add in the Bard’s constant inspire courage, the ranger’s volley penalty, the flat-footed penalties that pop up...a lot of little numbers being tossed around to shift things. I don’t think this is a problem...but it could be presented better or the character sheets, etc. could offer better ways to track this. At the very least the OFFICIAL PHB or GMG should address how to track these things (and foreground the advice).

***Do animal companions die at 0? Or do they play by PC rules? It seems left up to GM interpretation. I might be missing something.

***I glossed the rules for identifying potions and stuff for now. They simply knew the thing was an elixir of healing.
I need to print out condition cards!!!!!!!!

FIGHTER NOTES
***The different properties of weapons makes two human fighters feel different...one was sword and board, the other reach weapon (glaive), and their tactical decisions and the like felt cool and tangible. Volley kind of sucks though.

WIZARD NOTES
***Wizard has not had the chance to shine yet. But with cantrip usage, they never dipped into their 1st level slots. The stabilize on the bear was a nice trick.

BARD NOTES
*** The character didn’t play optimally. But, inspire courage was used heavily...but he kepting using up 2 of his 3 actions to cast it. It is 1 action. Still, the bard looks like fun in play. Support. Some offense. Great resonance.

RANGER NOTES
*** Aforementioned, death & dying RE: animal companions aside, our ranger is an archer. I have to re-read Hunt Target...but it seems a touch weak. Maybe even something as simple as giving it a free action to shift targets (or a reaction) would help.
*** Adjucating Animal Companions is always tough. I like the essential concept...trade 1 action to get 2...but it can lead to some interesting/silly situations. The GM will have to be sharp with this.

GENERAL NOTES
*** Coming from 5e, they are noticing the lack of a cleric is almost insurmountable. No short rests. No healing spells otherwise. They might not make it out of the Ashen Ossuary alive!

My To Do Before Session 3

Read Up on
Resonance
Death & Dying
Furious Focus
Make Power/Spell/Feat Cards
Make Condition Cards


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Was this answered?


Me, the GM: Longtime TTRPG guy. Most recently lots of 5e. Have written, 3rd party, Ennie-nominated stuff for Pathfinder and 4e. Just loves games.

Setup:
So,we’ve got a year, right? Forget Doomsday Dawn (sort of...), I wanted to run a campaign. My group is at the end of a 5e campaign, a modified Tyranny of Dragons. It has been great fun, but I did want to push towards PF. I’m intrigued by some of the choices, it’s new, and for all the great things 5e does, it doesn’t allow full character customization...a Pathfinder tenet.

My group is very beer & pretzels. We make characters and roleplay, but we like rolling dice, snacking, drinking, and yucking it up. We are all in our later 30s. I’m the DM. 3-5 players per session.

Character Creation:
It wasn’t too bad. Definitely a lot more dials than 5e...but I wanted that, and they knew that going in.

I did extend it over two nights. Night 1 = board games seguing into character creation. Night 2 = fleshing out motivations, alignment, equipment, etc. and playing for about 2.5 hours.

The PCs:
Elf Ranger with a Bear animal Companion
Elf Wizard (Universalist Tradition)
Human Fighter (Power Attack, Sudden Charge)
Human Fighter (Power Attack, Furious Focus)
Halfling Bard (Bardic Lore)

GM Prep
I wanted to go a bit old-school...no adventure path, no assumption the PCs were innately heroes fighting some vast darkness. Instead, they came up with some personal motivations and a reason to be in Magnimar.

While not starting with an AP, I plan on seeding opportunities as they move throughout the world to become embroiled with any of them. I also stealing liberally from...well..everything.

I like creating scenarios and hooks, and letting the PCs go where they will.

For this session, I greatly reworked an old Dungeon Magazine ["Wild in the Streets," Dungeon #62] and seeded three possible threads. I had the PCs starting near the docks of Magnimar, when a crate fell revealing a trio of firepelt cougars (Level 0 Bobcats). These bewildered and feral beasts just so happened to attack the nearest PC, but also
- Lord Hobart and Kelleri Deverin (thus seeding Doomsday Dawn intro and Rise of the Runelords...she might ask for an armed escort to Sandpoint).

- Jeminda -- a bureaucrat...who is missing gold from Ravenmoor (Leads to "Feast of Ravenmoor").

- And the cats belong to Master Basaalee Mindavu...an evil ranger who run’s an animal fight club in Magnimar.

Hooks aplenty.

Prepping was easy. Grabbed some statblocks that made sense (bobcats). Picked out my 1st level treasure parcels if needed. Wrote down motivations for the NPCs...and we we’re off.

Actual Play
We started with combat...and it was the only one we did. Not because it lasted long, just a lot of roleplaying afterwards as they interacted with some hooks.

The combat pitted 3 Level 0 Bobcats vs. 3 PCs. This should be a High Difficulty Level 1 Encounter. But, to be fair, I had 2 of the 3 bobcats focus fire on pedestrians (Deverins & Jeminda) thus opening up my hooks into further story. Things went pretty well for the PCs. Fighter oneshot his cougar and the ranger grabbed the other two: via his bear companion (Teddy) and an arrow.

Skill rolls and the like were all intuitive to anyone who has played a version of D&D 3.0 on.

Lingering Thoughts
HOWEVER, I WILL SAY THE CORE RULEBOOK SHOULD REALLY FOREGROUND THAT PCS DESCRIBE THEIR ACTION AND THE DM ADJUDICATES WHICH BRACKET THAT FALLS INTO VIA THE GIVEN OPTIONS… (at least until players become very proficient in the game or very invested).

So for example: PC 1 says wait do these cougars look familiar? DM says, that is a Recall Lore skill (or whatever) and so on.

Again, if you have super-invested players, and as they become more familiar with the rules, let them help.

The point being...and this was a pitfall of 4e’s power system ... clearly defined labels can limit the imagination of some players. They don't react to the world...they seek to implement a predefined power or trait on it.

However, as PF2’s list of actions/activities is fairly broad, I don’t foresee that happening. I.E. They seemed to have reversed engineered this...people do whatever, these prescribed actions just help map how they affect the world.

Anyways, that is session 1. A lot of preamble, but I’ll make sure to get more crunchy with my thoughts as we move forward.

(We played session2 last night...very combat heavy. I'll post soon. If readers have questions, feel free to ask. I'll answer the best I can. So far, I like the system.)


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Very cool. More of this stuff is great.


I'm sure I am missing something, so any help would be appreciated.

Expert Armor reduces the check penalty by 1.

It does not raise the AC by 1...right?

Thus, Expert Leather Armor, for example, isn't useful at all...as regular Leather Armor already lacks a check penalty.

This sound right...or does it get a bonus to AC?


The-Last-Rogue wrote:
graystone wrote:
Now I just have to click enough times on the download link to get the errata. It took me a week and dozens of clicks to get lucky and download the screen reader players handbook. If the errata goes as well, I'll get the errata by the time part 2 of the survey comes out... :P
Yeah--what is up? I've re-downloaded twice. Is there a list of the errata somewhere? (Failed Perception Check)

Found it. Unfortunate that they have not fixed the changes in the PDF rulebook document yet, but I can only imagine how hectic things are.

So far, I'm really enjoying 2e.


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graystone wrote:
Now I just have to click enough times on the download link to get the errata. It took me a week and dozens of clicks to get lucky and download the screen reader players handbook. If the errata goes as well, I'll get the errata by the time part 2 of the survey comes out... :P

Yeah--what is up? I've re-downloaded twice. Is there a list of the errata somewhere? (Failed Perception Check)


I literally had this exact same question. Thank you all.


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1. Do you currently like pathfinder 1e? (I know it sounds loaded, but please bare with me.)
No. The 3.5 Mechanic has been part of my gaming on and off for ~18 years? I'm bored with it and actually think it interferes in some instances with the stories my gaming group like to share.

2. Did you once like pathfinder 1e but now find it troublesome? (feel free to give details.)
Yes. Quite. I'm one of the old guard in a sense. I switched with Paizo as the magazines were yanked. I loved the game...and still do enjoy the way they tell a story...but eventually PF1 didn't move the needle for me. Maybe, bloated?

3. Do you like 4th or 5th edition D&D? (Also sounds loaded but again no judgments)

Truly enjoy 5e...but wish it had more character input and decisions when leveling (and this is from someone who DMs 95% of the time). Some ideas I liked in 4e, but the game got too gamist, too clunky...I prefer 5e's story over mechanics approach...harkens back to 2e for me. But, I'm always drawn to that 4e style...*something* is there WotC didn't quite get at. I'm hoping PF2 does.

4. Which are you looking for class balance, smoother high level play, more options, or even all of those things? (Small edit: these weren't meant to be mutually excursive, I just want the gist of what you're looking for, feel free to add additional thoughts/desires as well.)
Out of the 3 - I prefer the last 2. I love options.

5. How do you feel about making the game more accessible in general?
Not sure what this means. But, if you mean pick up and play...it will never be that I don't think. D&D is probably still the gateway drug, if you will. I think PF2 should almost be advanced D&D if you will.

6. Are you willing to give up on accessibility if you can still gain all of the benefits listed in question 4?
I think I answered this in 5.

7. Would you be willing to play an alternative rules system then what we have been presented? (A different version of pathfinder 2nd edition if you will).
Obviously. I'm here for the innovation.Why stop now?

8. And if you said yes to the above question what would you like to see in that theoretical game? (Most of you will see what I'm doing here, I'm finding common ground)

A style of game that supports the pillars of play and, most importantly, supports DMs running thrilling games that increasingly busy/distracted/time-shortened players can enjoy.


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Colette Brunel wrote:

Is anyone else having trouble maintaining group morale now that the playtest has appeared?

I was supposed to GM two concurrent groups for the Pathfinder 2e playtest, but morale took an immense hit once everyone had time to look over the playtest book. A few players have since dropped their interest entirely, and even those players who are sticking around are shaky in confidence.

After asking around, it seems that a few other groups, plural, aside from mine had cancelled their own playtest game plans after seeing the playtest documents.

I would like to hold out hope, however. If you are interested in playtesting Pathfinder 2e under me via MapTool 1.4.1.7 (unfortunately, Roll20 is not an option) and are willing to abide by a cutesy anime aesthetic, then send me a Discord friend request at Earth Seraph Edna#1648. We can work out a schedule from there. I will need all the willing playtesters I can get.

Is anyone else seeing this post as the most passive-aggressive way of noting they, personally, are displeased with the Playtest version?

Spoiler:
Is anyone else noting how passive-aggressive my post is, too!


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Dαedαlus wrote:

...Yeah.

I die a little inside every time I read 'you may never have more than X' or 'you cannot have a value greater than X'.

The whole reason I like PF is that it allows me to scour a ton of options, trying squeeze out the last bonus, and this system just... does away with that completely.
I understand why it's done. It's to future-proof the game, I know, to avoid something unexpected coming up and breaking the game. But just make it so that something is impossible on your Big List of Design Rules hanging on the Paizo HQ wall, don't tell it to the players if you have to do that.

Even better, don't put hard limits on anything, just make it exponentially harder to make something higher and higher as you go on. Because as it stands, if there's no way for me to ever improve my skill as a player when making a character, if I can't come up with new and exciting ways to push the limits of the game further and further without hitting a brick wall if I go an inch past normal, and what any new player could make day 1, why would I ever want to keep playing?

Um...not to be a jerk...and apologies if it comes across that way...but what about the thrill of advancing the story, of making choices that reflect a narrative arc as opposed to a gamist one?

Why would you keep playing? Because you love the core of fantasy rpgs ---the progression of a character through a carefully guided world at the hands of a DM...the camaraderie of the table of friends playing a game...that thrill you get when you find a magic item as opposed to buying the optimal one so you can inch past your previous cap.

I understand and like the art of building a cool character as much as the next person...but there are so many reasons to play this game. Chiefly...telling a collaborative story with your friends in a semi-competitive, oft-twisting and unexpected manner.

---
Again, this isn't to discount your take: You LIKE what you like; that is valid. AND, you're clearly not alone. I just felt compelled to wax poetic for a second.


Alchemical equivalents of healing potions?


Dwarves.

If I recall, you're not the biggest fan of them. But, I have to say I like the Quest for Sky tweak on them in Golarion while maintaining all the essential dwarfiness that--many--players like.

Have you guys ever considered a dwarf-centric AP? Rooting through abandoned Sky Citadels or tracing some historical aspect of the Dwarves, etc?

If so, what held you back? If not, any particular reasons?

Thanks for your time!


Heck, I'd like to see material components become more a tradition of wizard magic.

While I am in favor of material components largely being handwaved (a few gp every visit to town to refill / NOT excessive tracking of silver dust, etc.). I do like those moments when the spellcaster cannot get to his/her pouch, etc.

But,I'd love to see bonus effects to spells if you have really cool, quest-found, or above cost purchased components that you occasionally did track - not bat guano but dire bat guano...etc.

But, that's me.


Material components are the magic system. It is one of the few things that makes a D&D (type-thus, PF) wizard different than all other manifestations of this archetype.

Wizards need material components. #batguano

Sorcerers...yeah...they shouldn't need it.


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Mechanically, it all sounds very interesting. However, I just don't *like* monsterish races.It ruins the verisimilitude.

Now again, this is a very easy fix...I simply tell my players that our Golarion doesn't have goblin heroes.

All in all, I'm really excited and liking the PF2 stuff, but I'll probably take a pass on the goblin ancestry.

TLR


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Hmm...

Spoiler:
SNEAK ATTACK!!!!

Yes. Everything still seems to be in order here.


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Gallyck wrote:
Thomas, A wrote:
might be the lack of info given but it sounds fighters are going to be same-y
Yup.And videogamey. Ok i go into power attack stance! now defense stance! bleh

How is this different than saying, "I'm going to Power Attack." or "I'm using Combat Expertise."

It is, literally, the same thing...re: activating move or stance.


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Jason Bulmahn wrote:


He does still have armor proficiency, and it does improve a bit for him, but for the fighter, we decided that weapons were his prime focus. This leaves a focus on armor for another class...

BARDS!!!


A slightly adjacent thought about bestiaries...the Art? I realize they've got a lot on their plates right now, but I wonder how much Paizo has considered reimagining the looks of some beasts.

Some are obviously iconic now -- they are not going to change the goblin, for example. Nor should they (probably).

But, what about some others? I've always been a bit tepid about the Hobgoblin, for example.

I just think it is an interesting question -- obviously a new edition allows the team to rethink things, visual representation included, but just like there may be some mechanical traditions they do not want to delve far from...there is likely some art they really want to stay close too (Maybe even the bulk?).

---Guess, I'm just thinking out loud.


QuidEst wrote:
My friends and I continue to have fun, and my friends have an easier time.

Yup.


Banecrow wrote:

I can deal with a lot of the mechanics for the 2.0. Even the ones I have not liked that much. But this Resonance concept ends up being the deal breaker for me. It takes away from the high fantasy and turns magic into some sort of limited resource.

Sorry Paizo, you loose me with this portion of the rules =/

It was always a limited resource. X amount of charges...X times per day...and so on. This just removes an arbitrary system and replaces it one with a unified concept that ties into an already existing trope of Charisma-as-force-of-personality having a tie to innate magic.

I can see the complaint that it is clunky or gamist...but the resource management part has always been there just not pronounced and unified.


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One of the things resonance does is firmly entrench potions as magical, thus opening up more mundane alchemical items to fill the niche of low-level wands and stuff (acid flaks, smoke sticks, healing elixirs). My sense from the GCP stuff is that alchemical items fill some of these niches without costing resonance.

Moreover, anything that makes herbalism/alchemy a more intrinsic part of the game is good. In many ways, I think it also fits the flavor of Golarion well already, too.


KingOfAnything wrote:
Starfox_SFX wrote:
Jason Bulmahn wrote:

Hey there all!

.....
I will say this before I go to run more demos at GAMA. Players have rarely run out of resonance in our games, and there is a lot more healing to go around than you might think.
.....

If resonance didn't limit anything, then what was this system doing?

A limit can exist without players running head first into it all the time.

Agreed, KingofAnything...

See: Hit Points

(Hopefully)


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JulianW wrote:
Noir le Lotus wrote:

I hate this kind of thing !!

Resonance is just a gamist rule that will push people to optimize and ruin immersion.

So true. It falls into the 4th ed trap of things that drive character decisions but are impossible to explain IC.

Imagine the scene -

"Brother John, why didn't you use the scroll of breath of life? We know you're able to cast it normally"

"I'm sorry Pete, I don't know, somehow its because I'm just not cool and outgoing enough"

"Sally died because of you, you anti-social git!"

"I'm so sorry Pete, this is why I never have any friends. I guess I am just a worthless person."

(OK so maybe it explains why Brother John has such low self esteem in the first place, but its still ridiculous)

While I agree with you that resonance seems clunky (I'd like to try it before passing final judgement), I think this is an overly harsh review of something you've not quite used yet.

I appreciate and applaud a mechanic focused on making magic items feel special.

PF is already pretty much an optimization game for many--hard to make it more so. As a once heavy 4e player, I'd say it wasn't so much optimization but, unfortunately, the illusion of choice. You either were optimized or not, in a sense.

And while the rule is gamist...so, so many elements of PF (and other RPGs are). If this is the one that breaks narrative immersion for you, I get it. But, saying your FORCE OF PERSONALITY helps you maintain and harness the powerful magic of these wondrous items isn't that much different to me than saying Bob is better at wizard spells because his intelligence is higher.


Paper minis are great by and large.

I was wondering if anyone could help me out though --aside from Spires of Shin-Xalast...any of these have a blue dragon in them?


I'm doing some miniature shopping. Unlike some other, admittedly more miniature-focused sites, Paizo's store doesn't reveal the amount in-stock.

I don't want to order a bunch then get alerted that some % of the order cannot be filled thus leaving me to deal with a portion of what I wanted.

Is there a workaround? Is it simply going through the ordering process that alerts you to the fact, pre-checkout, that certain #s cannot be filled?

Apologies in advance if this question has been answered before. I gave a quick glance but missed it if it was.

Best.


PREAMBLE:
I’ll probably start a blog. It makes organizing my thoughts a bit easier, and I can post my monster conversions, session prep, and other alterations I make to RotRL more easily. I will still cross post the journal parts here.

Also, the thing I failed to mention about last session was Aldern Foxglove’s obsession… He is all in on BillyBob Avertin. He’s taken to calling him the “next sheriff of Sandpoint.”

Ok…onwards

SESSION 2 (Friday, July 15, 2016)
Rova 2, 4707

Bastion, Daergar, & Nyrin are all staying at the Rusty Dragon. After a night of celebration, all three would-be heroes find themselves served a sumptuous breakfast by Bethana and seated together. They’ve little in common despite being 3 of the 5 so-called “Wolves of Sandpoint”…after all, they barely know each other.

As they eat their semi-awkward breakfast together, Ven Vinder sidles up to the trio and heartily thanks them, telling them he would like to offer them 10% off anything at the Sandpoint General Store. There is, of course, a catch… he turns their heads back to his own table where is beautiful daughters are dining before solemnly eyeing each hero and warning them, “They’d best not think about charming his girls with their heroic exploits and what not.” The group gets his drift, although the Daergar Agatebeard scoffs openly at the notion he’d even be attracted to such dainty human girls.

DM ROGUE’S NOTES:

Spoiler:
So 2 things about my reworking of this encounter.
1. I downplayed Shayliss’s overt sexuality and seduction attempt because I have at my table two 12-year old boys and their fathers…while I’m sure even as written it could stay PG-13, I just didn’t want to even mess with the potential awkwardness.

2. Having Ven be the speaker/actor in this scene allowed some foreshadowing—he was able to stick in a few lines about how he wasn’t trying to pin the heroes as unfit suitors like that lumber mill boy who’s been dallying with his eldest, Katrine. This hopefully registers when the Skinsaw Murders kicks off properly.

Monster in the Closet
Meanwhile, the two local boys—BillyBob & Amerdin—report for their normal guard duty. The ‘big heroes’ get a mix of hearty congratulations and good-natured ribbing from their peers before starting their rounds. On their morning rounds, they are the toast of the town. Free Coffee. Applause. High-Fives.

At one point, they are stopped by an eager little boy named Aerin Bennet who claims a goblin from the raid is hiding in his closet. His mother quickly comes over and shoos him away. She apologizes and says her boy is just worked up from yesterday’s hectic events and that he is partaking in a bit of hero worship. However, young Aerin is adamant much to his mother’s increasing chagrin. BillyBob & Amerdin agree to look into it. After quickly searching his room they uncover and dispatch the single remaining goblin with ease. Aerin’s hero worship level’s up, and the mom is uber-grateful.

DM ROGUE’S NOTES:

Spoiler:
I cribbed the idea of having Aerin approach the party sooner and his mother trying to play off the boy’s warnings as simple overactive imagination. The idea being, if the party does investigate early enough they can stave off the death of Aerin’s father. I’m also making a point of having this family figure in narratively later as a reward for the team’s proactiveness here.

Invitations, Meetings, and Healings
As the non-native PCs breakfast wraps up they are approached by one Rogors Craesby on behalf of his lordship, Aldern Foxglove. He wishes to invite the PCs to join his master for an all-day boar hunt tomorrow. He informs the party that Aldern will purchase fine horses for them, and that he’s already made arrangements with Ameiko to host a feast of boar tomorrow evening in the PCs honor.

The PCs accept…mainly motivated by free horses and the possibility of a rich benefactor. Then they split up. Nyrin and Daergar go off to help Father Zantus & Naffer Vosk deal with the wounded at Sandpoint Cathedral, and Bastion follows up on his pre-existing reason for traveling to Sandpoint—to discuss Thasillonian lore with one Brodert Quink.

Quink seems unphased by the presence of a tiefling once Bastion starts praising the scholar’s writings on the subject of Thassilon. While Bastion doesn’t share much of his own work on the subject, not that the long-winded Quink gave him much chance, the two do bond over tea, books, and a brief tour of the Old Light (where Quink expounds on his belief it was never a lighthouse but actually an old arcane weapon). Quink then shows Bastion a secret hatch he found on the ground floor and enters “Quest-Giving” mode… he’s too old, the town’s to dismissive of his concerns, etc., but he’d pay 100gp to Bastion if he’d check out the lower levels, return any Thassilonian artifacts and also map the lower levels.

Bastion, of course, accepts. And, not a moment too soon, as a minor cathedral functionary shows up with a summons to the graveyard.

DM ROGUE’S NOTES:

Spoiler:
I am adapting Wayfinder #9’s Gateway to Nar-Voth by Mark Garringer for this. In reality, I am just using the map and descriptions. There is no evil wizard or drow waiting down there for them…just millennia old and untouched Thassilonian ruins. I am also changing to be more appropriate for a 2nd-level party. It is mostly a red herring, although it could become a base of operations for them as well as foreshadowing more of ancient Thassilon.

Also, regarding Rogors Craesby…anytime I can foreshadow, I do. This is a perfect chance to meet a guy over the course of the boar hunt, see his relationship to Foxglove (as well as see him worry about his master’s health—early stages of some ghoul fever), before becoming an enemy in the Skinsaw Murders.

The Desecrated Vault
During Nyrin & Daergar’s tending to the wounded, they overhear Naffer Vosk approach Father Zantus with some disturbing news…a tomb vault of the previous priest and his daughter has been found ajar. A magical robe of bones was left crumpled on the ground outside the vault. Finding the robe deterred Vosk from entering any further. Like good D&D players, the PCs offer to check things out and Daergar sends for the rest of the group to meet him at the vault.

Good thing too, since after he budges the vault fully open and enters, he is beset and dropped by a handful of skeletons. 4 skeletons. I rolled hot and dropped him with a critical. Fortunately, Amerdin was able to lay on hands, and with the tiefling providing magical blast support, the frontline was able to make short work of the skeletons.

A thorough inspection turned up the following:
1. Evidence of goblin and larger, booted humanoid presence.
2. The robe of bones.
3. Father Tobyn’s remains were missing.
4. And, most alarming, there wasn’t even a place for Nualia’s remains.

This last fact triggered alarm bells for the PCs, BillyBob especially. He immediately began questioning Zantus about this, and the priest acknowledged they never found enough remains to justify the creation of another sarcophagi. But, Billybob didn’t stop there --- he immediately suspected Nualia, who he knew, as not the culprit of the goblin raid but the arson of the church those 5 years ago. His theories ranged from demonic possession to black magic to revenge against Father Tobyn for something…he was so worked up by the possibilities, the group had to calm him down and remind him they had no evidence yet as to what happened.

DM ROGUE’S NOTES:

Spoiler:
BillyBob is played by 12-year old in his first D&D campaign. He was rapid-fire spitballing ideas in a super-enthusiastic manner only to be told that his theories might be right…learned a bit about how the game goes. There is no shortcut to the end…even if you think you’ve got the solution, D&D demands you put said theory in play.

Beneath Old Light
Bastion tells the group he’d like to follow up on a lead and investigate Old Light, and, after dinner, the party agrees to follow him. Unfortunately, upon arriving, and before descending into the ‘dungeon’ proper, the group disturbs a nest of baby giant spiders and their angry mother.

Nyrin the Halfling monk takes the worst of it, but no one drops before they dispatch the deadly beasts.

As we ended our session, the group was standing in the moonlit ruins of Old Light staring down a shaft of which they couldn’t see the bottom and debating if they had time to go down and get out before meeting their benefactor for an all-day boar hunt.

3 Fun/Cool Things wrote:


1. BillyBob's character going on just an epic rundown of theories on what might have actually happened to the church those 5 years ago. Cool in-character because of his willingness to implicate Nualia coupled with his unwillingness to think she did it freely. Cool out-of-character because it was a kid's 2nd session of D&D ever and that level of enthusiasm warms a jaded gamer's heart and overexuberance beats out disinterested phone-scrolling any day of the week.

2. BillyBob's above free thinking led him to repeatedly offending the tiefling Bastion. After all, BillyBob was sure demonic or devilish possession had something to do with it and, Bastion is, after all a demon. This insinuations were called out, in-character, by Amerdin the 1/2 Orc Paladin who said sharply, "That's racism."

3. 5e rolls pretty fast a the table. 2 tough combats. A bunch of roleplay and investigation all in 2 hours max was pretty good.


because they're fun.

Also, 5e rules, Pathfinder fluff.

The Cast:

Bastion Sorrow
Tiefling Warlock (Infernal Pact)
STR 8 DEX 15 CON 14
INT 13 WIS 10 CHA 16

Spoiler:
Lived a life in solitude in Cheliax until his studies and the urging of his patron suggested that Thassilonian magic may help him alleviate the condition of his fellow tieflings.
TRAIT: Everything that happens is part of the cosmic plan.
IDEAL: Logic. Emotion is for fools.
BOND: Your belief that the Thassilonian rulers could be revived is over most people’s heads…and for those it isn’t, it could be dangerous.
FLAW: There’s nothing you wouldn’t risk to know more.

Azmades of Erastil
Half-Orc Paladin
STR 16 DEX 10 CON 14
INT 8 WIS 12 CHA 15

Spoiler:
Raised by the town jailor, Vachedi, and welcomed in to the town despite his heritage, Azmades is one of Sandpoint’s best and brightest. Serving with the guard has been rewarding, but the pull of adventure and Erastil’s call interest the young man in moving on.
TRAIT: Eager. Somehow nothing in your hard life to date has been able to dampen your cheer, exuberance and optimism.
IDEAL: Glory. In honorable battle is where one’s legacy is made.
BOND: Your life is devoted to a simple notion…you will stamp out every evil you find.
FLAW: Violence is too often your answer to life’s many problems.

Nyrin
Halfling Monk
STR 8 DEX 17 CON 14
INT 10 WIS 14 CHA 12

Spoiler:
Taken in by the caretaker of a Riddleport-based Shrine to Irori, you grew up dedicated to the path of enlightenment. However, when your caretaker passed, you realized to achieve said enlightenment, you would have to venture into the world to test your abilities and steel your resolve.
TRAIT: There is no enemy you cannot find common ground with. Empathy is your most subtle weapon.
IDEAL: You always help those in need. No Matter the Cost.
BOND: You believe enlightenment means putting others before you. You will always protect the ‘little’ guy.
FLAW: You place to much faith in those who share your or similar faiths.

Daergar Agatebeard
Dwarven Cleric of Abadar
STR 14 DEX 8 CON 15
INT 10 WIS 16 CHA 12

Spoiler:
Sent as an emissary of Janderhoff’s religious elite, Daergar arrived in Sandpoint seeking to establish a relationship with the newly raised cathedral. But, as a merchant-cleric, he is very keenly aware other opportunities might present themselves.
TRAIT: Perfectionist. You demand the most from yourself and others.
IDEAL: It is the duty of the civilized to strengthen the bonds of community and security.
BOND: You aim to prove to everyone that you are world’s greatest jeweler.
FLAW: You are greedy. You don’t part with money easily, and you haggle over everything.

William Robert Alvertin
Human Fighter
STR 16 DEX 9 CON 15
INT 13 WIS 11 CHA 14

Spoiler:
Son of the Alvertin family who owns Sandpoint’s finest bakery and brother to Casp Alvertin, an unfortunate casualty of the Late Unpleasantness, BillyBob is a dedicated young member of the guard. He joined, in part, to make sure what happened to his brother never happened to anyone again…especially him.
TRAIT: You can stare down a hell hound without flinching.
IDEAL: People who just follow orders blindly may as well be embracing tyranny.
BOND: You fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.
FLAW: You’d rather eat your armor than admit when you are wrong.

SESSION 1
Rova 1, 4707

If you are familiar in the least with this campaign, you know how things go down. Speeches. Games. Swallowtail Release. Good Eats…

I made sure to sneak in some background here and there…the speeches directly mention Nualia (amongst other deceased), the Late Unpleasantness, etc.

As for the PCs, during the festivities things were pretty copacetic…the ½ Orc Paladin and Human Fighter, the two local boys, are played by 13-year old boys (they’re dads are the Warlock and Cleric). It was the first time for them, and the first time for our group to have such young players. It was a blast…made us remember how enthused and un-jaded we used to be.

Highlights of the festivities:
* Daergar taking a break from making nice with Zantus and Naffer Vosk, to fleece some local merchants out of items he knows he can sell for a profit back in Janderhoff. He also takes a loan from BillyBob with a letter of credit (but pays him back during the goblin fight via healing…)
*Azmades interrogates Bastion for looking suspicious…the irony of which is lost on the half-orc.

Highlights of the fight:
* Team worked pretty well together. Warlock’s lay down a lot of ranged punishment and the Paladin and Fighter worked up very little sweat swatting goblins around.
* Everyone got a kick out of the one goblin who kept trying to light a wagon of fireworks on fire. Right after they put it out, the Dwarven cleric burned the goblin to death with Sacred Flame…accidentally catching the wagon back on fire. Fortunately, Azmades picked up the goblin and used him to beat the flames out before too much damage was done.
* The fight with the goblin dog and commando was a little hairier because the PCs didn’t really focus fire. While the dog went down quickly, the commando held his own against BillyBob before being cut down.
*The poor halfling monk spent the night sprinting from one enemy to the next but having them downed right after he got there by an ally. (He had to double move due to unfortunate positioning and a big town map).
* As the fight wound down, Azmades made it very clear they needed to keep a survivor standing…which they kind of did after cutting off the foot of a fleeing goblin.

Aftermath:
* From the survivor they learn that a ‘longshank’ organized this raid.
* From the dead goblins around town, they learn this is more than a single tribe.
* Despite a few injuries and a solitary death during the raid, the townsfolk look back on the raid with a bit of black humor. And while toasts are made to the injured and fallen, many more stories are told about the goblin who got killed by horse, the one who drowned in a barrel of beer, etc.
* For having killed nearly half of the raiders, the town hails the heroes as the “Wolves of Sandpoint” and celebrates them long into the evening.

GM Plans:
* I want to introduce the Sihedron and Nualia earlier.
* For the former, I am going to reveal most of the goblin bodies have been branded with the mark as well as many of the posts on the town’s wall.
* For the latter, I am thinking about reworking Master of the Broken Tower to cover up the Old Light instead. Inside Lyrie and some goblin ‘bodyguards’ attempt to uncover some Thassilonian relics. If she escapes, then she becomes reoccurring villain at Thistletop. If not, she can point them in that direction and directly reference Nualia. (Which Tsuto will confirm as well eventually).

Anyways, a lot of fun…I’ll keep this going. For my own sake if nothing else.


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I wish Alluria all the best. I designed many of the unique classes for the setting and a good number of monsters too (including Fey Folio). I'm thankful they let me play in their (aquatic version of a) sandbox.

I pushed in a lot of weird and non-standard way with those classes (and a few of the monsters), but they were always willing to roll with the directions I took things.

-- I have a bunch of those classes reworked for land campaigns somewhere, I need to dig them out.


Cheapy wrote:


Also, major concerns over the Staying Strike feat. That, combined with Whirlwind Attack mean that you'll be able to staggerlock just about any group of enemies you want, making it a no brainer. Whirlwind Attack does one single attack against all enemies applicable, so you'd get sudden strike against all of 'em.

Is that right?. It is late, so I may be getting this wrong.

Staying Strike lets you lock these people up by, essentially, sacrificing a Sudden Strike.

But Sudden Strike says it works only on 'the next attack.'

The wording for Whirlwind Attack says 'You must make a separate attack roll against each opponent.' Thus, you are, even if it is a single attacking maneuver,making multiple attacks. Therefore, you are really only locking down the first target you roll against.

Alternatively, and probably for the best, this interpretation should be up to a given GM. Even if a table likes the idea of Whirlwind Attack getting the full benefit of being a single attack for purposes above, all that really does is make a mid-high level, multi-attribute dependent Marauder really awesome at locking up mobs.

And, hey, that sounds kind of cool.

EDIT - I Looked at the FAQ.

Sudden Strike is modeled after Sneak Attack. Let's assume a whirlwind attack, via the feat, is a single attack or one that strikes all targets simultaneously . . . well, how would sneak attack handle that?

<From the FAQ>

Sneak Attack: Can I add sneak attack damage to simultaneous attacks from a spell?

No. For example, scorching ray fires simultaneous rays at one or more targets, and the extra damage is only added once to one ray, chosen by the caster when the spell is cast.


Nate Z wrote:
Wait....so this class could maybe be used to build a "Flash/Quicksilver" type character?

You will, of course, have to supply your own skin-tight outfits. And cocky attitude.


Thanks again everyone for the prompt replies. You helped immensely.


Can you evade a summoned encounter


I am a little confused.

I do not have the disable check. I run into a card that is a barrier with a disable/Dex 10.

As Ezren I have a d6 dexterity, but I cannot use thieves tool to add another d6 to this check because it says add 1 dice to your DISABLE check and I would be using a Dex check.

Now I could use a d4 disable and add another disable, but not another d6. Right?

Additionally, if Merisel, for example, has no weapons in her card and runs into a monster. She uses a d4 to attack it because she has no listed attack skill and, in this case, no weapon card. Right?


Thanks. One More example.

I am Ezren. I have THIEVES TOOLS that let me adjust my 'disable check'. Can I not use that, in that specific way, because I don't have a disable skill?

In other words, I can't use it to adjust my dexterity check to defeat things that require a Dex or Disable right?

Thanks.


Same for any card that you can recharge or bury or whatever instead of discard though right?


Thanks. Let's keep going:

I am Valeros.

I have a number of cards (weapons) that I recharge instead of discard. I take damage, but that means when I lose a weapon from my hand in return, I must actually discard it yet. Same when resetting my hand?


I am Ezren.

I need to draw up to 6 cards in my hand at the end of every turn.

In this case, I need to draw 3 cards, but I only have 2 in my deck. I am dead, yes?


Agreed!


Hawkmoon269 wrote:

The second power is also limited to only barriers your character encounters because of the rules.

Rulebook v3 p22 wrote:
No One Else Can Take Your Turn for You. Whenever you encounter a card or make a check, you—and only you—must resolve it. No other character can evade it, defeat it, acquire it, close it, decide what to do with it, or fail at doing any of those things... If Amiri encounters a Battered Chest, Lini cannot use Thieves’ Tools against it...If the game tells you to do something, you have to do it.
The character that encounters the barrier has to be the one to defeat the barrier. Other characters can help, but they can't defeat it for them.

Thanks.


I won't clutter up the threads with a new one, but I do have another, more specific question:

MWK TOOLS has two possible uses:

Reveal to add 2 dice to YOUR disable check.

or

Recharge to defeat A barrier less than . . .

My reading of this means, if I had this card I could either play it to add dice to my own disable checks . . . or recharge it to get rid of any barrier (regardless of who is confronting it or their location) so long as the barrier meets the cards difficulty specifications.

Am I being to liberal here?

Thanks, as always, in advance.


Thanks everyone for your help. We had a blast.

5 players (Barbarian, Paladin, Rogue, Ranger, Wizard) in Brigandoom! We beat Jubrayl with only two blessings left in the deck while being able to successfully (temporarily) close all the locations remaining.

A lot of fun. Learned some strategy . . . like maybe don't get greedy and wait to close a location. A lot of fun. Like how the villain flees, too.

Thanks again.


Someone want to walk me through what happens if two or more people are the same location for things like combat?

Thanks!


Cool. While I have a captive audience . . . .

When you acquire a card you put it into your deck. You then discard, potentially, so that you do not have more cards in your hand than your hand size, right?

Then at the end of the session/adventure, you can refigure your deck based on newly acquired cards, yes?


Cool. Then when I run Burnt Offerings, I'd just mix the 1 stuff in with the B & C?

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