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Gunslinger

TriangularRoom's page

35 posts. 6 reviews. 1 list. 1 wishlist.


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[Spoilers] Funny Rise of the Runelords Moments
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We had all sorts of weird and funny moments along the way, but by far the funniest had to be in the very final battle:

Spoiler:
Karzoug had transformed himself into a blue dragon during the fight. One of the PCs managed to get close to him and hit him with irresistible dance. Though he made the save, he was still forced to dance for one round. So I switched the music to Come and Get Your Love (from the intro of Guardians of the Galaxy) and did a few dance moves.

Needless to say, Karzoug was probably glad the PCs killed him soon after that - he would never have lived it down!

New gm stuff
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I was a first time GM when I started Rise of the Runelords too :) And now my group is only a few sessions away from the end of the campaign!

Definitely make use of the threads here on the forums; there is plenty of useful stuff, especially for the early chapters. Also do try to at least skim the chapter summaries of all six chapters to have an idea of where things are going.

For general advice, I'd say you don't need the bestiaries - even though I have them I just go to one of the online resources and print out the monsters I need for a session - allows me to make notes and whatnot.

I followed the book quite closely early on, but my group soon became more powerful than the encounters as written, so don't be afraid to deviate from the book - this will become easier as you get more comfortable GMing. I changed a huge section in the middle of the campaign to better line up with the actions of the PCs! As el cuervo said above, there's no right way to run a game. As long as everyone is having fun, you're doing well :)

If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask! :)
Advice: how harsh should you play enemies as the GM?
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I generally choose to give a challenge when the battle is not really significant - just normal mobs/random encounters. I have still killed PCs this way due to their casual approach to tactics. Bosses and significant battles are a lot tougher and have a higher chance of killing PCs - but that is usually when they step up and actually plan their tactics etc!
DMing styles changing the value of in-game skills / abilities / classes...
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It certainly sounds like it might be worth chatting to the GM. S/he may simply have forgotten/not thought about the aspects of the rules that you mention.

I know I rarely bother with Handle Animal checks for animal companions as I assume the ranger/druid knows how to deal with his own pet. However, if said ranger/druid hadn't bothered to actually put any skill ranks into Handle Animal, I would probably make the pet do unexpected things.

Not adjusting CR or loot may be an experience thing. I certainly shied away from that when I was just starting out. I now try adjust encounters to suit the group, though I often end up making things a *tad* too difficult (generally resulting in at least one death)... still, I wouldn't have learned anything if I'd never tried ;)
RotRL Obituaries
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My players have died a few times over the last while...

Name of PC: Cecil
Class/Level: Elf Ranger 11
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: Galenmir
Story:

Spoiler:
After leaving an enemy for dead, she alerted Jorgenfist to the heroes' presence, and they walked straight into an ambush... One 4x crit later, Cecil bit the dust.

Name of PC: Nu
Class/Level: Human Monk 11
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: Galenmir
Story:

Spoiler:
After taking a quick detour to Magnimar to resurrect Cecil, the heroes attempted to infiltrate Jorgenfist again. Needless to say, the enemy was ready and waiting...

Name of PC: Cecil
Class/Level: Elf Ranger 12
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: Hill giants
Story:

Spoiler:
Cecil snuck into a hill giant camp and found himself overwhelmed and separated from his allies. Fortunately there was a druid on hand to reincarnate him... as an orc...

Name of PC: Ciaran
Class/Level: Human Sorcerer 13
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: Black Monk
Story:

Spoiler:
The party went into the black tower last, where they encountered the Black Monk and two of his harpies. All the heroes failed their Will saves against the harpies' song, leaving them helpless for a couple of rounds while the Black Monk summoned a bunch of swarms. Ciaran was forced to use a fireball in the confined space of the tomb, but as he and the swarms were the only ones lacking evasion, he took a lot of damage (fortunately he also killed the swarms). While the melee characters focused their attacks on the harpies, the Black Monk moved in and took down Ciaran in one round...
Mokmurian's army invading Varisia
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Xanaphia - Ooh going after Turtleback Ferry is a great idea too! Thank you :)
Will you be switching to D&D Next when it comes out or will you stay with Pathfinder?
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Given all the money I've invested into collecting the Pathfinder books, my wallet says we'll be staying with PF..
How many of you still use XP?
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I've been GMing Rise of the Runelords for a while now (the characters are 11th level) and I've just been using the advancement guide at the start of each chapter to decide when the characters need to level up. Sometimes it feels like they haven't done enough to realistically level up, so I will throw in a side quest or simply delay levelling until it feels 'right'. Some of my players also have an uncanny sense of when they should be levelling, so I use that as a guide as well.