Troy Pacelli's page

So, I read a thread a little while back about Graz'zt not playing a huge roll in the STAP and why that might be. My question is (because I haven't yet read that far ahead) just how big a role does he play. More importantly, is his apparently minor role in as Tyralandi's patron really crucial? Like, if I make Tyralandi's patron some other evil demon (one from our campaign world) will it seriously mess up the big dénouement of the STAP? Any insights for me.

So, I know that there is a ship called The Gallivant wrecked there. Anyone know any history? Is it from a classic module or something?

Does the STAP contain any stats for Mathalay? If not, anything give a clue to class and approximate level?

I need some advice from you smart, out of the box type thinkers. In simplest terms, I need to figure out the time between leaving Fort Greenrock and the beginning of the Big Battle at the end of Tides of Dread. Yes, I realize that not everyone's campaigns went exactly the same; some added and subtracted encounters and even had whole side adventures. I need a ball park, though. Any thoughts on how I would BEGIN to calculate that? Anyone hazard a guess?

By the way, Luan and Carb and anyone else who was following my old blog, I've actually gone back to the beginning and re-written some of the early entries to create a more narrative style. Now, I think, it's a much better read.

I think I’m missing something. I’m working out Tides of Dread and there’s all these missions for the party to go on to accumulate Victory Points. One thing conspicuously absent is a description of Rat’s End and the Hellfish. These are the first to things that my players asked about and I kept it very vague because I didn’t have anything prepared. It does seem obvious that they are going to claim the Hellfish as their own and use it in the battle against the fleet, so some details would have made sense. Any equipment, supplies or treasure aboard? I mean, if they were clearing out of Rat’s End, presumably they took everything of value with them. The text says the Hellfish was the only “sea worthy” ship at Rat’s End. What else is there? Are the “un-seaworthy” ships that are left repairable?

I could totally make these details up on my own, but I first want to be sure I haven’t missed something. It just seems like a huge oversight.

This is a slightly different “Timeline” question than, I think, I have seen posted here before. My question is: Has anyone put together something like a timeline for the STAP. I don’t mean when it takes place in Greyhawk history or in relations to other APs. I mean, like, how many days, weeks or months does each chapter take, how long does it take to sail from Sasserine to Farshore, stuff like that? Thanks.

Of course, if this has come up before and you can just point me towards it, so much the better.

I’m hoping one of you wise Savage Tiders can help me. We are starting the “guts” of ToD tonight and it’s going to be RP intensive. I’ve done my homework by reading through Farshore; City of Hope from Dungeon Feb. 2007. There it says “A five-member Expedition Council meets weekly to direct colony affairs…” and above that it lists the “Authority figures. In that section I only count four that are listed as “Council Members” – Aldwattle, Rev. Catherly, Syren, and Capt. Kabbanja. Who is the fifth? Meravanchi? If so, where does it say that, or is it just implied?

So, my group kicked the tar out of Olangu and the girls … just barely. No spells left, most of them are at single digit hps, and they’ve pretty much blown their wads. Three rounds later, the Lemorian Golem starts to boogie. So they do the only rational thing – the run like crazy. That’s were the game secession ended. Here’s my question to all you smart people? What doest the golem do? Will it follow them? Will it leave the room to pursue them into the corridor? Will it leave the shrine to hunt them in the jungle? Or would it instead remain where it is and wait for them to return? After all, they cannot escape Fogmire until the golem is destroyed.

Since there has been a resurgence of HTBM talk recently, I thought I’d share that my group just entered the shrine in their last game secession and got as far as the last room, where they will pick up tomorrow night. If you are interested in their shrine experience, you can check out our latest blog entry. I simplified the candle/throne/mirror dealio and had them teleport to a different location. Further, I decided to move the demon-wives to the last room for one big battle - due to decisions they made last game, the demons know they’re coming and have had time to prepare an ambush. Of course, tune in next week to see how the big battle turns out (I’m looking forward to it myself).

So, I’ve been really messing with the party in Fogmire. I’ve used a lot of suggestions I got here. I also had them fight illusions of themselves - which were really zombies of the Nixie crew and one golem which was a stand-in for Thunderstrike. Oh, yeah, in my campaign, Olangu either has the ability to make golems or he has access to someone who can. Then, I had them encounter the zombies of a family they knew, feasting on another acquaintance of theirs, and their twins were cobbled into a golem effigy of Demogorgon.

NPCs have been dying or disappearing at a rate of one per game secession. The palyers are getting really freaked out.

Anyway, the PC, Viselys (Marshal/Kenzai), has really been off his game, and it’s all the player. When I had them fight the two-headed golem kid, François (Viselys’ player) chose to fight defensively. This mathematically made it impossible to hit the creature or to be hit by the creature (barring ones or twenties). Chris (Saris’ player) and Tim (Ornrik’s player) were getting really upset, and Saris was taking a pounding he might not survive. They were both imploring him (in character and out) to use his Vicious Great Sword, but he refused. Tim cast Hold on Viselys out of spite to let the creature get a few licks in. To his credit, François role-played as though Viselys believed the spell came from “The Predator” (how our group refers to Olangru).

During the intervening week, I got an email from Chris who was speculating that Viselys was not really Viselys – that the real Viselys had been taken and replaced with another illusion and that François was playing along to keep up the illusion for the players. Paranoid much? But, I thought it was a great idea! Of course, I could neither confirm nor deny, and I told him as much. However, at the next game secession, I voiced those same concerns through Avner. Tim had Ornrik cast all kinds of buffs on Avner! That is, without either combatant knowing about it. One of the buffs was Haste, so he got three attacks in the first round (Avner has gone up in level because of the way he’s been used in our game). One of those was a natural 20! Using the nifty-cool Paizo Critical Hits Deck, the wound ruptured his appendix resulting in poisoning. Lucky for François he made his save or Viselys would have been dead.

So, Carborundum read of Avner’s butt-kickedness in our last blog entry and left a comment. It got me thinking that maybe he wouldn’t be the only one interested in how Avner kicked the snot out of one of the PCs (albeit with the help of another PC).

Like I told Carb, I just wanted to share. Enjoy!

PS - you can't say "butt" on this board! Are you kidding me? Or is it just "butt-kicking" that's objectionable?

I'm moving this over from another thread because it go way off topic there (and, I guess it's really not STAP specific, so slam me if you must)

Those are the best fights [Referring to a particularly brutal, resources expending epic battle]. They give the players a sense of pride. And the DM too :-)

I agree 100%, but all it takes is for one player to grouse about a DM call or rules interpretation to kill it. Most of my players, no matter what the situation, even if we’ve (I’ve) done something completely wrong, based on the rules, are like, “Whatever. It was still cool!” But I have one player – a rules lawyer (who unfortunately is the weakest in the party on rules knowledge) – who recently told me that he doesn’t agree with the way I calculate difficulty for skill roll tasks. I’m like, sorry, that’s what a DM is for. That’s why it’s called a “difficulty” rating. It’s not an “easiness” rating! “Yeah, well, the book says the difficulty should be xyz.” Sorry, this isn’t a typical situation. Pick your reason why, it just isn’t.

Boy was he ticked when they tripped a trap last week. The thief in the party (my character before I became DM) is gone (good story reason, btw) so they just blundered into it. All of the PCs and one NPC almost died … but nobody actually did! Still he was grousing. The only thing that appeased him was that I told him I played it exactly the way the STAP had written it. Oh, suddenly because that’s how it was written, it’s okay. If it’s in print, it must be fair and balanced, but the DM’s judgment is suspect.

So what about the time he went unconscious while using a Levitate spell? Does he fall 40 feet to his certain death? No. I ruled that concentration wasn’t required to keep the spell functioning, only to move, so the other players had the remainder of the spells duration to figure...

I feel ya Troy, I've been there more times than I should. And have had various issues like this ranging from "But my alignment is CG!" (it may have been written thqat way, but definately not played that way) to the old standby pain of *dice rolls and is snatched up before anyone can see it* "I got a 28", to which I respond "On a 20 side, with a +3 bonus... and how exactly is that?" *insert convuluted answer here...* "Nope that just makes it a 25 at best with a nat 20 and you said you rolled a 19...* I hate those :P

Here to make you feel better I give you free Internetz!

Wow, I feel bad saying this, but misery really does enjoy company. I think that’s actually worse then what I was complaining about. That’s just outright cheating. I mean, it’s one thing to disagree (just about every) DM call, but that’s a matter of opinion. But that stuff you describe … grrr! Yeah, my guy never cheats on dice rolls, but he does do “faulty math.” Plus, he never keeps track of his spells. I know he’s using more than his daily allotment and he’s somehow always prepared the exact spell he needs. Yeah, like you thought to memorize Rope Trick this morning. The thing is, there is so much a DM has to keep tract of, I can’t babysit one person. I’m thinking of making him use spell cards or something.

What started the whole situation I was complaining about above was he wants to “rest 8 hours to get his spells back” after every encounter. I was a bit annoyed with the very concept, but when I looked in the Magic section of the PH, I didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t. Then, the following day, someone pointed out that the Mage character section specifically says you are limited by how many spells you get per day. I know, a rookie mistake, but when you have a jillion other things to keep track of, you can’t always sit and flip through a rule book to prove a point. Anyway, I pointed it out to him – not saying I was changing anything, just “going forward” – and he responds (actual quote) “Sometimes I think that we get far too wrapped up in the rules. Every game session is unique there is no way to have a rule for everything.” What? I was like whatever, but seriously? We’re not talking about ‘What do you do when your spell caster goes unconscious while Levitating?’ This is the most basic Player’s Handbook character rules. That’s like complaining about how many hit points your character class gets.

Thanks, all. I appreciate the little support group moment.

I don’t want to bore you with too many details – I’ll try to get right to it.

I chose to have my party find the Nixie wrecked rather than the Sea Wyvern (as discussed in several other posts). I wanted to make it ultra clear that she survived the wreck and set off into the jungle, so the party finds her diary in her quarters obviously left in a manor that suggests it was intended to be read, with the last entry indicating the crash and her plan of an overland trip to Farshore. Yes, a simple note would have done just as well, but for RP reasons, I wanted to give the party a chance to get to know Lavinia’s history, once again touch on the details of her relationship with her brother and what happened between them just before the STAP begins, and drop some information specific to our campaign.

So, if you’re interested, here it is. It is peppered with a bunch of hotlinks (including the first divider clip-art), in case you are interested in the inspiration (again, nothing I do is original).

Feel free to use it if you want, keeping in mind that the later entries are unique to our campaign, but with some re-working, you can nicely explain how Lavinia came to know of your PCs.

Moving from the Death Of Lavinia thread

And lastly, adding in during the side mission I have just before SWW, that the leader of the pirates is a very still human Vanthus who gets killed by the party at the end of that adventure. Thus bringing again to light the contingency with the church of Wee Jas. Thus gives Vanthus post fiend and later post mortem much more motivation to hate the party and the party gets that "Not him AGAIN!" response along with the half-fiend shock that never really happens. Only seeing Vanthus for 2 seconds or as a painting pre-demon doesn't really give that oomph to his encounter that's needed IMO.

First, Oh, so that’s how you do bullet points. Thanks!

Second, my group is in the middle of Here There Be Monsters. Stewart (and anyone else who has some thoughts) how could I work the scenario so as to best take advantage of the Vanthus Vanderboren, Vampire idea we discussed in another thread (thanks for the character stats, BTW. Stealing those, too!) Part of me wants to make him not so demon and more vamp for the first reveal (the battle at Farshore). Kind of reversing the order in which your stats go. So what if I made him a vampire for the battle, then a buffed demon/vampire later on?

So it goes something like this:

I figured it was time to stop co-opting Laurellien's thread. Sorry!

Savage Tide with Fire Trolls

Troy Pacelli wrote:

I’m not sure where the “choose which NPC dies” came from (Maybe it was Tracer or maybe it was Batman Forever) but I’m sure that’s not original, either.

Just to be nitpicky and a HUGE nerd, It was from "The Dark Knight", which was an awesome movie, while Batman forever made me want to vomit.... just to split hairs.

Well, in all fairness, there was a "choose which one you save" moment in Batman Forever. Also in Spider-Man. However, you are correct - it was the Dark Knight that inspired the idea (Man, you know my game better than I do!) as the whole idea is that one really will die (no chance to save both as in Forever an Spidey). See, I'm a HUGER nerd. :p

But yea Ive read some of your blog as well and have been seriously considering adding the fire trolls to the Stap as the inspiration is from an awesome movie.

First, Dude! That is so awesome that you've checked out the blog, too. I had no idea so many people had snuck a peek. Please, comment when you stop by and give us big thrill!

Second, Fire Tolls are Tracer's, not mine. Again, I can take credit for nothing. That was Tracer (aka Rob). You’ve probably already read the whole story behind Fire Trolls, but this link covers it, and contains a link to the NPC assassin band that Rob created based on that movie. Also, Fire Trolls, as per the picture seem to make a good volcano encounter, so that incarnation may still show up in the game.

Thanks, so much, for the feedback. As my ideas are not original, feel free to steal them for yourself. Just let me know how it turns out.

So, I’m looking back at Skald’s description in SWW because he went along with the others in HTBM and I wanted to appropriately advance him. I get to the part about his possessions and it says, “two unused tickets to the Lachrymal Theater in the Styes to see ‘Feasting Corpulence of Devils’” and I’m like WTF? Then I reread the history and it’s really interesting; the whole Councilman Rashlen bit is a great hook. Does any of that come into play anywhere else in the STAP? Is it a reference to something else outside the STAP? I’m just intrigued.

Maybe this isn’t the right place to post this – I don’t know, but I had to share with all of you what happened in our last game session.

The group had just killed all the “terror birds” (I’m using velociraptors) in the nesting area and went into the passage under the mountains (Oh, this is HTBM). I figured that the six mile walk I could just skim through, “You get the feeling you are being watched … you hear falling rocks … okay, you arrive at a cavern with a throne at one end.” No. One player decided to stay and hide in the tunnel and wait to see if they were being followed, and the leader decided to go back and look for him while sending the rest of the party on. A three-way split! Lots of in-game arguing later, and almost two hours of real time, and they finally get to the throne room. I had no idea it would take so long to walk down an empty corridor!

After that, things basically get back to a regular dungeon crawl until the Gargantuan Centipede attack. I had the centipede attack from above them on the wall, so they are essentially attacking up. So what happens when this gargantuan centipede dies? Yep, gravity takes over. Make a saving throw. Oh, the leader doesn’t make it. That’s a lot of damage! What??!! You haven’t been getting healed because your character doesn’t like the healer?!?!?!?!?

I was SUPER generous and allowed for a little retro-healing of earlier injury, and an action point later, he was stabilized.

It was all just so bizarre – and this is an experienced group of players – I just had to share! If you want to read the details, check out our blog.

OT: Come on, do I even need to mention that there will be spoilers? I mean, is it even possible to discuss the STAP on this board without spoilers? I'm just saying; I had to get that off my chest.

Back on topic:
So, I wanted to find a good picture to use as a hand-out for the giant crab at the end of the passage under the mountain in HTBM. I instantly thought of The Mysterious Island (1961) and Ray Harryhausen's famous stop-motion animation. It has been years since I've seen that movie (Holy Cheese! Like 30 years?!! Frack!!) so I did a little surfing and found this page which was just what I was looking for. Then I realized, hey, maybe there are some other neat pictures on this site, and sure enough I discovered a Harrysausen creature I had forgotten about; a phororhacos. You and I would call it a Terror Bird! How cool is that? Also, if you want a picture of a hydra from SWW, here you go!

There are a bunch of dinosaur images on this same site, but you might be better off with frames from Jurassic Park (No offense to Mr. Harryhausen intended).

Now that our group has reached The Isle of Dread, I may just make one of our game nights a movie night to watch The Mysterious Island and Jurassic Park.

So, I have a family of NPCs who were casualties in the wreck. The children were identical twins!! I want Olangu to use them in some terrifying, creepy taunt of the PCs, but, as I’ve said previously, I’m not Evil Genius enough. The identical twins thing is too good not to do some kind of homage to Demagorgon, right? I just don’t’ know what? You all are so smart and helpful, I’d be crazy not to ask for your advise. Any ideas?

In the recent thread I started, Please help (I'm not Evil Genius enough), I mention a high level wizard NPC who deals in high-level magic services of questionable morality. I made a reference there that I thought some of you might like elaborated.

Our STAP (Savage Tide With Fire Trolls) was started by TracerBullet42 and I, a former player, have recently stepped into the DM seat (Stepped? Kinda sat, really). During the Sea Wyvern’s Wake, one of the little things Rowyn did to spread strife was to disguise herself as Barnaby and whisper to one of the PCs that Thunderstike is actually a young woman that Avner once fraternized with who spurned him. Avner paid this wizard a great deal of money to turn her into a horse. Rowyn expressed an alleged quote of Avner’s regarding his reason for the act, but it’s a little blue (you can probably guess).

Now that I’ve taken over as DM, it remains up in the air if it is all just a lie on Rowyn’s part to spread discord, or if it just happens to be the case that Thunderstrike is really a Balefully Polymorphed young commoner.

Like I said, thought some of you might be interested. Watch the blog for developments.

I need some advice of you clever, clever people. There are major spoilers here, both for Savage Tide and The Dark Knight (yeah, seriously) so be warned.

We’ve just gotten past Sea Wyvern’s Wake and I am plotting ahead. I wanted to throw another wrinkle into things for the party, so I had Rowyn come back as a revenant. I won’t go into too much extraneous detail (If your interested, check out the blog here).

During the initial battle at Farshore, Rowyn uses the confusion and her magic to kidnap two characters: Diamondback (In our game, she has been rehabilitated and become a henchman to –and is in love with – the leader PC) and my former character (I just took over as DM) who is the leader character’s brother. She is going to impersonate Diamondback and allow the party to believe Adameus (my former character – the brother) is the only one missing. This adds to all the other stuff they have to do before the Crimson Fleet arrives.

Here’s where the Dark Knight spoiler comes in. Rowyn is pulling a Joker here. She has the two NPCs hidden away in two different locations. She is going to reveal this to the party and force them to make a choice between which they will save. I’ve envisioned they are each tied up in caves that flood every day at high tide and, if not rescued in time, they drown. I haven’t decided exactly where on the island yet, but far enough apart that you couldn’t visit both before high tide.

My dilemma: How can Rowyn enforce the “choice” aspect of the plan? If I was a player (and until recently, I was) I would just say “split up.” In DK, Joker had an elaborate trap with sensors and phone connections and stuff. How do you replicate that in D&D with the resources that Undead Rowyn would have? The former DM suggested a monster encounter that requires the entire party to defeat, but I think that leaves too much to chance. I want this to be “Evil Genius.” I was also inspired by the Nicole Wallace in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and ‘The Miniature Killer” from CSI (or, Professor Moriarty?). In any event, her entire unlife is for the purpose of extracting revenge on the lead PC and its all she un-lives for, all she thinks about. She would have thought through every contingency and, frankly, I just ain’t that smart.

But, collectively, you are! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Rowyn, in addition to the abilities she had as written in the STAP is now undead. She also has, probably, every useful bit of equipment from the two hostages – The only one of significance is a charm bracelet that allows her to Teleport Without Error to the location of any person (two charges left).

Thank you, so much, just for reading this far. If you can help, I would be so grateful!!

Okay, friends. Any help would be appreciated. First, I couldn’t figure out where to post this – I hope this is okay. Further, I did see a topic here about plastic minis, but this is a little outside the scope of that specific post.

I am playing in a Savage Tide game and playing a character that looks (for the most part) like Orlando Bloom in the Pirates movies. Any suggestions for a mini? Now, I would prefer a plastic, pre-pained one, but I’ll take a metal, unpainted one if it’s a perfect fit.

Also, I’d like to help the DM out by having a bunch of pirate minis ready because I know he’ll need them. These I really want to be pre-pained – like an assortment pack. Anybody know of such a thing? (One should think there must be, no?)

Thanks, everyone.

I am using the eTools for managing my characters. From time to time I will discover a calculation that seems goofy, but time and again, further investigation proves that there was some rule I was overlooking (thus the value of a database program).

This time, however, I am at a loss. Past experience would infer that the program is right, but I need to know why, and I’m hoping you kind people can help me.

I have a 4th level dwarf character (Cleric/Wizard) with no ranks in Swim. His Strength is 10 (no bonus). The skill check penalty shows -15. Again, I don’t doubt it, but I cannot figure out why.

He’s carrying 60.31 lbs of gear. That’s Medium Load. He is wearing Studded Leather and carries a large wooden shield.

I’m not sure what else would effect the Swim skill.

Could anyone assist? Please??

I’ve seen it commented on in other threads, but I think it deserves its own. What’s the deal with making Perception (previously Spot, Search and Listen) Wisdom? Okay, understand from a strict mechanics standpoint that Spot and Listen were Wisdom, but Search was Intelligence.

The reason this is important is that the Rogues’ Find Traps ability was part of Search. A Rogue’s PR score is Dex, but he’ll take some points in Intelligence, too, for Skill purposes. Who ever heard of a Rogue with a high Wisdom? So now the thief may be good at disabling the trap, but not at finding it. They even have a “Trap Sense” that gives them a bonus on their Reflex Save against the trap, but he has a harder time finding it??? That really doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I don’t really have a better suggestion, unless maybe “Trap Sense” also bestows a bonus to Perception when looking for traps and secret doors.

Effectively, the new skill rules discourage “dabbling.” It seems very unlikely that anyone will ever take Profession now. I can’t speak for everyone, but I used to put some points into it for roll playing reasons, reflecting the character’s livelihood before becoming and adventurer. Now, skill points are a premium and if you take Profession, it will be as highly ranked as any other skill, increasing as the character progresses in level. As if you are becoming a better seamstress or blacksmith because you killed some monsters.

How about this?: Profession is a bonus skill everyone gets at first level – you just have to specify what the profession is. Further, it is a cross-classed skill, because you don’t focus on it anymore (Now you are an adventurer).

What do you all think?