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Co-ran a homebrew game that went for several years (we met maybe 4 times a year, played for a weekend, and we're quite slow at combat). IIRC, campaign indefinitely paused at level 10, mythic 5 or so?

We were restrained due to narrative as far as monster generation. My co-GM was better at it, but making enemies that were actually a challenge often took me quite a while. Mostly used low-CR monsters buffed with class levels. I'd spend days making them. Fights were sometimes swingy, but mostly went in favour of the players.

Casters definitely had an edge on affecting the narrative, but the martials dominated combat, especially once the casters threw up mythic buffs. Most of the party picked up legendary items.

Pinch of salt, as we were bumping up against the transition to the next tier of play.

I enjoy EITR, but it's not a fix for the martial/caster disparity. What I like about it is it gives everyone some added versatility.

Want to be able to push or pull someone on the battlefield? Or even just push them or run over them? Cool, you can do just that little bit extra, but you're still no good at grappling.

Want to use the wicked cool longsword, but your character specialized in bastard swords over 9 levels and you don't want to waste all that training? Go for it. If it's an axe though, sorry, still a different beast.

Want your character who is not great at melee to be able to sacrifice what little accuracy they have in exchange for hitting a little harder? So long as you have +1 BAB, you can try it. You're probably going to miss, but if the sorcerer is heroically standing over their ally's unconscious body with only a club and determination, you might want to swing for the fences.

The biggest downside for me is the urge to re-write the feat choices for every pre-gen monster and npc I use to even things out with the players. :P

Yep, another guilty party chiming in.

I was a player/co-GM for a long running game. Some PCs started a joint business early on, and it mostly ran in the background. It was a great base of operations, we used it to generate tie-ins with the story. The characters running it became better rounded out. We started giving out capital when the group started to hit the level cap for the setting and their home city wasn't able to give big magic items as a reward. It was great.

It finally convinced me to give the system a try as a player, and I had a blast. I set up a few businesses, as well as a charity hospital which was supported by all the other businesses. I hired managers from among my followers, hired my followers to work in the different businesses so they would all have a job and place in the city.

Then I started to notice that despite the early enthusiasm, everyone else had stopped engaging with the system. The original businesses were still in place, but given downtime they didn't do anything with it. No profit checks, no expansions, no designing the wrecked fortress they'd taken over.

Turns out, the rp aspect of it was the only thing they found fun. They liked being able to say "I go work a shift in the kitchens" or "I call this one "Champ's Brew" or "I rebuild this paladin order". But the mechanics of it just kept getting pushed to the wayside.

Seeing that now, it gives me a ton of useful info to work with for the new game. All the stuff they wanted to do is awesome, and they paid the initial cost of entry. If keeping it skin deep let's them experience the world at a deeper, more fulfilling level, I can definitely do that.

And if anyone else does become interested in playing with it in the future, the system lends itself well to being handled in between sessions.

30) Hitchhiker: The effect works perfectly, except they picked up an extra traveller on the way. The nature and disposition of the traveller is up to the GM.

31) Lost: Someone is lost along the way. A wisdom or intelligence check can determine exactly where or when the missing party was dropped off.

I've been playing in a long-running campaign with a character who took the Inscribe Magical Tattoo feat, with the idea of making tattoos to replace some of the big six items, thus opening up the slots for more interesting items. (Sadly ABP not in use.) Basically, I'm using it to create slotless wondrous items, since they need to be priced that way anyways. As such, my GM said not to worry about the slots, since I could do the same thing with Craft Wondrous Item without the limitation. I mean, nothing says your custom slotless items can't be tattoos in form, after all, so the feat is more limiting than Craft Wondrous Item. I just chose it because I found it cooler.

After a significant amount of time with the character, I can safely say doing so doesn't unbalance the game, as the crafting cost and particularly the crafting time are pretty big limiting factors. I doubt I'll ever reach a point where the slots would have been a major problem. I'm also slightly behind the other characters in terms of power, as I've been selling things to feed the feat to spend a long time crafting something I could have purchased in a slot for the same price.

That said, I'm one of only 2 tier 1 classes at the table, so I can afford it.

@Cevah: Thanks for that list, btw. Extra ideas are always welcome.

A child with a sorcerer bloodline who died. Orcus's gift is the blessing of undeath and the ability to cast as a high level sorcerer, all their latent power awakened. How the child died is mutable, but have them be obviously emotionally unstable, with no concept of right or wrong.

Essentially an innocent corrupted by undeath, but still possessing some appearance of innocence.

Eldritch scion archetype solves that issue.

It depends a great deal as to the measures you have the orcs take.

For instance, if they set up on claimed land and defend it, but don't try to attack settled areas, then you could easily give the PCs a bunch of hints that not everything is adding up. Diplomatic solutions might be a preferred solution.

On the other hand, if they begin raiding villages, killing the defenders and taking everything useful before moving on to the next target, then there's a much wider range of more morally acceptable solutions.

If they flat out invade populated areas and wholesale kill/enslave the inhabitants, and set up shop or leave only death in their wake, then neighboring areas are unlikely to see them as anything other than invading conquerors who need to be driven out and/or eliminated.

Thanks Matrix Dragon. I had forgotten about Shifter's Sorrow. Good thinking.

Hey everyone,

I have a 4th level NPC who is being sent to a city newly infected with lycanthropes. My idea was for them to be be geared up for this, specifically with lycanthrope bane ammunition. (This particular NPC will have enough resources to afford it.) However, I see that lycanthropes remain humanoids, they just gain the shapechanger subtype.

While under the Bane description, it says to pick one subtype for humanoids, I'm not sure shapechanger is a valid choice. Is it?

If not, any suggestions on lycanthrope fighting equipment that might be useful for a ninja? (The PCs are much higher level, so no need to fear the NPC outshining them, but I'm trying not to make it ridiculous.)

My personal favourite is a cube of force. But things like cape of the mounteback or a necklace of adaptation. Tons of useful rings out there too.

In a game I currently co-GM in, we have a number of NPCs who often tag along with the (already large) party. Some are better than others.

For instance, we have a pair of Inquisitors. They are less powerful than the party, but have interesting abilities that make them useful in combat. Their role in the story also provides plot hooks and interesting RP opportunities for players. These are a good set of DMPCs. Useful in combat, but they don't steal the spotlight.

Another DMPC was a min-maxed CE half-dragon sorcerer focused on doing ridiculous damage via Fireball. I created a large fight where the party had to fight a hobgoblin army squadron. The front row of a 3 sided box were fighters focused on tower shields and heavy armour, with alchemists in a scattered second row ready to lob bombs into the kill zone. Vitalists were set up nearby to give out healing as needed. The AC and HP of the front line meant the party wouldn't be able to just roll them up, they'd have to think tactically.

You can probably guess where that went. One PC went in, drawing the fire of the first volley. The next used a sound burst to open a gap in the line, which the others were going to rush through to break up the formation. Then the DMPC (under control of player 2) acted, and blew the entire formation to ashes with a single empowered fireball. Totally robbed the first two players (not to mention the rest of the group). The DMPC went away the next time we reached civilization.

TLDR: Make them interesting, have them use mechanics the rest of the group doesn't use, and don't let them solve encounters. They should season a story, not be the defining taste.

I agree with Lincoln Hills's suggestion of warning the PCs of the incoming hit squad, either through the PCs' allies, through betrayal among the villains, or perhaps through an interested third party.

Maybe a devil is upset at this demon bringing attention into its sphere of influence, and wants things to quiet down a bit. Maybe one of the demon's allies is less than enthusiastic about changes in the demon's plans, and needs to build up their own power before they can set up a more profitable venture by a future betrayal of the demon. Set up some evil vs. evil machinations, because they definitely don't play nice.

Then send the PCs to attack the demon's allies before they gather to make the demon's hit squad. Either directly, or through their power structure.

Performance feats are a thing you could look into, but I've never really seen them in play, so YMMV.

Other than that, my group has a descriptive combat houserule in place. Basically, if you describe what you're doing in combat, you get a small bonus to attack or damage. It helps encourage rp in combat and helps the combats be a little more entertaining. So you could try pitching something like that.

Hmm. At that level, combat can swing wildly based on luck.

Try using unusual combat tricks that wouldn't necessarily see play in regular situations. Sunder or disarm, a bola thrower, a grappler who uses armour spikes. Check the exotic weapon list for unusual weapons that might be crowd pleasing. Even someone who uses a whip and mocks their opponent as they trip them repeatedly can be good.

Have the npcs be interesting but reliant on a single trick. Had a brawler go after a monk pc using dirty tricks. Went 9 rounds, but once the brawler missed the monk's cmd, the monk was able to turn the tables.

If I might make a suggestion, allow performance combat feats as bonus feats earned in the ring. The roar of the crowd giving them morale boosts and such.

Oh, and have someone bare knuckle box a bear.

Wizards trade training for bodyguard services, resulting in the magus. These are then highly sought after by need groups, sometimes leading to friction with the wizards.

Inquisitors work if you want the temples to be paranoid or trying to guard their turf. They would patrol the area near the temples, make it a rough place for the nonfaithful. Or they become a temple's force for clandestine actions. Can't have the clerics/oracles getting incriminate.

For other races, the tengu surprised me. They fit in quite well with ratfolk, and their sword training gives them a dangerous edge over thugs with clubs.

If you want a night terror group, the strix are also a nice danger for a city campaign.

Isonaroc wrote:

Chromantic Durgon <3 wrote:

Sorcerers, they can be powerful casters of every shade, blast, enchant, summon, SoS and control but their bloodline and spells known means they tend to build towards a theme, so they feel like they can do anything but not like every one does everything, rather different ones do different things amazingly.

I like a theme or a focus.

Agreed, when I play spellcasters I always try and focus on one general aspect (shadow, cold, nature, etc.). Sorcerer bloodlines and witch patrons are great for that.

Yep I love Witches too but probably not as much as Oracles which run a close second to Sorcs for me xD

Another sorcerer fan here. Bloodlines are just such a cool mechanic to add to the class. It's thematic and adds so many options to a class that hasn't had many in previous editions. (Bloodrager gets bonus points for also tapping into that flavour.)

Another favourite is DSP's Soulknife. They did a great job expanding on the class. It went from something cool but not very viable to something very fun to play.

Wish I had more time to play period, but particularly with these classes.

Based on the quoted text, I would say yes for the non-spell portion. So you'd heal 1d8 plus 2x your character level/hit dice.

Just reading through Ultimate Intrigue, and, naturally, there are a number of items that might do the trick.

Fan of Flirting, for when your Southern Belle act needs that extra je ne sais quoi.

Pipe of Revealing Mists, for the smoker who fears the unseen.

Deck of Doors for when you need to step out for a minute. I'd suggest lowering the number of cards from the 54 the item starts with in order to drop the price.

If they have a base of operations, a Costume Bureau would help them always look their best for wherever they need to blend in.

Give them their very own secure phones with Communique Rings, though they might be a little pricey for the whole group. I would suggest a pair to split between the party for when they need to cover more ground.

A heavy wrist launcher is good for a surprise shot, but not much else. The regular wrist launcher with featherweight dart is good for delivering poison.

For non-Intrigue items, don't underestimate feather tokens. Lots of clever uses for those items.

I'm running a game set in medieval Poland, but with dwarves, elves, and fey. I found adding magic into history was a more enjoyable idea than re-imagining it wholesale.

For instance, my elves are nomads, similar to the Roma, after their forests were burned during the crusades. They are generally distrusted, run out of town if they stay too long in Christian areas, and are both discriminated against but feared for their curses.

The campaign centers around a town trading hands after the Teutonic Knights (vampire slayers) are defeated by the new king of Poland and his allies. I've found lots of material delving into folklore and the area's history, so much so that adding to it felt better than trying to re-imagine things outright.

Personally, I've never really had much use for UMD. The value is obvious if you plan to use it regularly, but it just never really meshed with my playstyle.

Part of it is I tend to hoard resources past the point where they might be useful. I tend to favour permanent magic items instead of limited use ones, and when given something like a wand in treasure, I don't want to waste it. So, in the search of the perfect opportunity to use the wand or scroll, I generally hold back. The perfect being the enemy of the good and all that.

For instance, my group recently had to descend a 2000 foot cliff. It was a large party with lots of NPCs, roughly 10 individuals total. 3 of whom were good climbers who wouldn't have a problem, 1 of whom could fly and took the small-sized character with them. My sorcerer cast spider climb on the remaining 5 characters rather than use a wand of fly with 25+ charges remaining on it. My reasoning being why use up wand charges when my spells can do the trick?

All that said, in that same party we have a rogue who invested in UMD, and I heavily encouraged them to take the wand of scorching ray because it gave them one more trick in their bag. Similarly, the rogue rarely pulls it out, because they generally have a throwing knife handy, and those are a lot cheaper to replace.

Another factor can just be the type of campaign you're in. You could bet that if the GM really pushed us, forcing us to use up our every last personal resource, those wands/scrolls/potions would see a lot more use, particularly if they managed to split the party so that we didn't usually have the right type of caster on hand.

I just wanted to pipe in and say I tried it out, and ended up making a dozen apprentices for my PCs to choose from. It helped me come up with a great mix of characters I wouldn't have dreamed up on my own, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I would highly recommend using this, it adds a lot of fun to random ability score generation.

Sadly a little pressed for time, so I'll have to skip the interpretation. I'll include the list below, in case anyone wants to provide their own interpretations. (I ended up using a modified version of the point-buy, using 25 points with base 10, but my group has pretty high stats.)

While Detect Magic would be a pain, insisting it be used appropriately should help mitigate the issue.

It's a standard action cast with verbal and somatic components, so unless they're using Silent Spell, you'll know they cast something. That first round reveals that there is or is not magical auras in the 60 foot, cone-shaped emanation they are looking in.

Then, they have to concentrate for another round to know how many auras there are, and how powerful the most powerful one is.

Then they have to concentrate again to get the strength and location of each aura.

So, yes, assuming you stay completely still in the open for 3 rounds, they will figure out exactly where you are. However, you can fight that by taking cover behind something that would block line of sight, or even just move out of the spell's area. That means they'll need to switch where they're studying to try to find you again, time in which you could sneak up behind them and prep for the non-lethal full attack.

And yes, they will know something magical is somewhere there on that first round. Which sucks for infiltration missions. Get in the habit of being hidden even when invisible, and only moving when you think no one is looking in your direction. Your invisibility will help a lot against being seen from a distance or moving through peripheral vision, but if someone is close by, it's better to get behind something.