Okay so I was looking at the Alien Archives monster creation and I'm a little stumped on how to handle dragons, and where the size characteristic is determined.
I know the first step for creating a normal monster is to take an array, so let's say I want a mainly spellcasting red dragon; then I take the spellcaster array and then add on the appropriate, Dragon Type, the Red dragon Graft from the Dragon entry, and any sorcerer class level grafts if needed.
Now, I can't see at any point in there where you determine the dragons size. Or for any other monster. Is it just a "Make it what you feel makes sense" kind of thing?
Thanks a lot for all the advice on this. We just started playing this AP two sessions ago, and so far the players are actually really enjoying the whole slowly taking over the casino aspect. I am a little worried as to how the latter half of the AP will go though, because the players are getting really invested in the town, one player kind of wants to slowly insert himself as a new crimelord, or rather insert someone else and control the strings from behind the curtain. I even ran St. Caspierans, and they did something totally unexpected, they rented the top floor out as a non-profit orphanage... This is from players who usually burn down schools and murder everything they can. So far they've even taken every major threat alive, another new tactic for them.
Anyway, I'm excited to see my players playing in new ways, and I like their more calculated, getting involved in the community, sort of group personality that's emerging. So I'm trying to think of ways to continue encouraging this, and keep Riddleport as their seat of power and safe zone, as well as a spot for downtime and random encounters, but still get them to give a damn about what goes on outside of the town. Any suggestions for that?
A first draft of his stats, sorry about the poor layout, I'll clean it up later.
Size: Gargantuan Challenge Rating: 21 Alignment: Lawful Good
Languages: Draconic, +10 Languages
Hit Dice: 30d12+ 210 (390)
Space/Reach: 20ft./15ft. (20 with bite)
Speed: 70ft, Burrow 40 ft. , Fly 270 ft. (poor)
AC: 35 (-4 Size, +29 natural) Touch 6, flat-footed 35
Initiative: +0
Str: 34 Dex: 10 Con: 24 Int: 20 Wis: 21 Cha: 24
Fortitude: +25 Reflex: +17 Will: +22
Base Attack/Grapple: +29/+53
Attack: +38
Attacks: Bite +38 (4d6 +17), 2 Claws +33(2d8 + 8), 2 Wings +33(2d6 + 8), 1 Tail Slap +33(2d8 + 25), 1 Crush (4d6 + 25), 1 Tail Sweep (2d6+ 25)
Special Attacks: Crush (Ex):
Tail Sweep (Ex):
Breath Weapon: 12d6 (32)
Frightful Presence DC: 34
Damage Reduction: 15/Magic
Immunities: Sleep, Paralysis, Fire
Vulnerable: Vulnerable to Cold
Spell Resistance: 26
Special Abilities: Blindsense 60 feet. Keen Senses, Darkvision 120 Feet., Speak With Animals, Endure Elements, Alternate Form, Detect Gems, Suggestion, Bless, Luck Bonus, Geas/Quest
Breath Weapon: Thehydrax has two types of breath weapons. First is a 120 ft line of fire which is slightly more powerful thanks to his gold parentage, dealing 12d6 fire damage; and second is a 60 ft. cone of sleep. Creatures within the cone must succeed on a will save DC 32 or fall asleep, regardless of HD,for 1d6+ 9 rounds.
Frightful Presence: Creatures within 405 feet of Thehydrax with less than 30 HD are subject to his fearsome presence whenever the dragon attacks, charges or flies overhead. A potentially affected creature that succeeds on a will save DC 34 remains immune to that dragons frightful presence for 24 hours. On a failure creatures with 4 or less HD become panicked for 4d6 rounds and those with 5 or more HD become shaken for 4d6 rounds.
Skills: 11x 33, max 33 ranks in any one skill; Listen, Search, Spot, Concentration, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge, Sense Motive, Use Magic Device, Heal, Bluff, Gather Information
Concentration +22, Diplomacy +35, Bluff +32, Sense Motive+38, Gather Information +40, Use Magic Device +30, Knowledge (Arcana) +25, Knowledge (Architecture and Engineering) +25, Knowledge (Local) +38, Knowledge (Nobility) +38, Knowledge (Geography) +35, Knowledge (History) +35, Speak Language +10, Spot +15, Listen +15, Search +15
Feats: 1 +10; 1) Snatch, 2) Awaken Frightful Presence (Draconomicon), 3) Draconic Knowledge (Draconomicon), 4) Improved Speed (Draconomicon), 5) Improved Flight (Complete Adventurer), 6) Spell Focus (Divination), 7) Craft Wand, 8) Scribe Scroll, 9) Craft Magic Arms and Armor 10) Brew Potion, 11) Craft Wondrous Item
Spells: As 13th Level sorceror (6/8/8/8/7/7/5)
Sorceror Spells Known: 9 0 lvl, 5 1st lvl, 5 2nd lvl, 4 3rd lvl, 4 4th lvl, 3 5th lvl, 2 6th lvl
0 – Arcane Mark, Mage Hand, Mending, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Prestidigitation, Light, Detect Poison
1 – Comprehend Languages, Nystul's Magic Aura, Silent Image, Identify, Unseen Servant
2 – Locate Object, Detect Thoughts, See Invisibility, Invisibility, Misdirection
3 – Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Arcane Sight, Tongues, Nondetection
4 – Charm Monster, Locate Creature, Scrying, Detect Scrying
5 – Rary's Telepathic Link, Private Sanctum, Teleport
6 - Summon Monster 6, Legend Lore
Luck Bonus (Sp): Once per day an adult or older gold dragon can touch a gem, usually one embedded in the dragon’s hide, and enspell it to bring good luck. As long as the dragon carries the gem, it and every good creature in a 10-foot radius per age category of the dragon receives a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws and similar rolls, as for a stone of good luck (see the item description, page 267 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). If the dragon gives an enspelled gem to another creature, only that bearer gets the bonus. The effect lasts 1d3 hours plus 3 hours per age category of the dragon but ends if the gem is destroyed. This ability is the equivalent of a 2nd-level spell.
Detect Gems (Sp): An old or older gold dragon can use this ability three times per day. This is a divination effect similar to a detect magic spell, except that it finds only gems. The dragon can scan a 60-degree arc each round: By concentrating for 1 round it knows if there are any gems within the arc; 2 rounds of concentration reveal the exact number of gems; and 3 rounds reveal their exact location, type, and value. This ability is the equivalent of a 2ndlevel spell.
Spell-like Abilities: At Will – Speak With Animals, 3/day – Bless, Endure Elements, 1/day Suggestion, Geas/Quest
Thehydrax is not a very combat oriented dragon, he is focused more on social aspects and makes an excellent contact or patron. He has terrible perception abilites, a fact he attempts to make up for by guarding his lair with other creatures more perceptive than he. He is constantly flying around between cities and locations where he has to pose as one of his alternate personalities, and so he has quickened his pace over time. He deals in information, and so his spells are mainly Divination focused. He does use Summon Monster 6 to provide a distraction for when he might have to retreat, to buy time for his teleport spell.
I've been recently working on fleshing out the taverns, inns and shops in Korvosa, and I find one of the simplest things to do to give the setting some flair is adding in the little details that make it distinct. The named wines and ales, specific fashions that are all the rage, common jewelry, common foods and delicacies and so on. I was wondering if anyone else put any thought into this kind of thing?
So far I have used the following; Abken Apple Brandy, Auroch Steak, Spiced Bulette Jerky, Shoanti Cinderwine and Goblin's Milk (Fermented Goat Milk).
I have the Crested Falcon offering menu items like; Jigsaw Shark, Pheasant, Thileu Bark, Clams and Alikan oysters, all Local dishes.
I have also made use of the three items Immora made up in her game, one of my players absolutely loves Guardso.
Immora wrote:
Mare Sweat
Mare sweat is the colorful nickname for a brew the church of Cayden Cailean makes to aid those unfortunate patrons who cannot afford magical healing and cures. The drink is a fermented mixture of potent herbs that makes the mind sluggish while encouraging bloodflow. It is often given to insomniacs as a sleep aid, or to the sick or injured to help them rest. A full draught (about half a pint) will encourage a long, peaceful rest, free of bad dreams (granting a +2 to save against such effects). If left undisturbed, the imbiber will sleep twelve to fourteen hours, and heal as if they’d taken a full day’s rest. Remaining awake isn’t difficult, but the Mare Sweat still makes a man groggy, inflicting a -2 penalty to all Wisdom-based skill checks for 12 hours. Mare Sweat has a distinctive, terrible flavor that can’t even be concealed with low-level magic, and hence is almost impossible to feed someone unawares. Cost: 5SP. Craft (Brewing) DC: 20
Guardso
Another innovation from the church of Cayden Cailean, Guardso (or “Guard’s Own) is so named because of it’s popularity with the Korvosan City Guard. This strange take on coffee uses a gnomish contraption to push high-pressure, boiling water through tightly-packed grounds, creating a bitter brew that can keep even the most weary guard on his feat. One small cup will eliminate fatigue for 1D4 hours and grant a +2 bonus to Spot and Listen checks for the same amount of time. Afterwards, the imbiber must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or take 1D4 points of Wisdom damage from “the crash”. Guardso is becoming popular with young nobles as well, who brew endless variations using various sweetners and spices to conceal the bitter flavor. Cost: 6CP a cup, though the noble variations can cost ten times that. Craft (Brewing) DC: 14
Imp’s Tail Salve
Stinking of animal urine and sulfer, this alchemical concoction is nonetheless a staple in the saddlebags of Sable Company Marines. It is brewed to counteract the numbing poison injected by imps, and while of limited use in most areas, it sees constant application among the military and wealthy of Korvosa. When spread over an imp sting and coupled with a good eight-hour rest, each dose of salve restores one additional point of Dexterity damage. It is typically sold in pots of five doses, and is useless for restoring ability damage from any source beyond an imp’ sting. Cost: 75GP per pot. Craft (Alchemy) DC: 25
So, anyone else have little things that I can use to give my campaign some flavor? I'll add more of what I come up with as I go.
I must say, I am enjoying Korvosa quite a bit, it's so nice to run a low maintenance game there with so much information available to me. I am very interested in running a game in Ustalav next, maybe even extending my current CotCT AP to take place there after the main campaign is over.
Another place that I am tremendously excited to see more about is Alkenstar, I absolutely love the concept behind the country, and I can't wait to run a game there.
Just thought you'd like to know that I ran your Fire! sidequest today, with a few minor alterations and it went swimmingly. It ended with the district basically burning to the ground, and the invalid old man being thrown out of a window onto a horse and almost dying. I'll be doing up a write-up of my CotCT game shortly so that you can get the whole story then. Thanks a lot for the sidequest, it was awesome fun. Oh, and the Swordsage in the group curses smoke damage now thanks to his near death experience; never had an opportunity to use that rule before, thanks for that.
Just wanted to let everyone know what story I went with for the brass dragon patron.
Spoiler:
I decided to make Thehydrax a brass/gold hybrid, with just enough gold in him to help reign in the brasses notorious short attention span, although he is still a bit flighty. The other gift given to him by his gold parentage was the Alternate Form ability, which allows him to live amongst the humanoids of the land with relative ease. He also inherited a bit of the pride and haughtiness of his golden father though, and tends to think of himself quite grandly, especially in comparison to other brasses.
Like many brasses, Thehydrax fought against the Rise of House Thrune in Cheliax, but obviously failed. The dragon is a devout follower of Abadar, with aspirations to become a true herald of his god in death, bringing civilization and law to the people of Golarion. As such a devout follower of Abadar, Thehydrax was enamored with the spread of colonial cheliax, and greatly supported it. Seeing the nation in civil strife broke his huge draconic heart. Now he still clings to the old ideas of colonization, but has utter disdain for the diabolist regime in power, and so he works from the shadows to bring unity to Varisia, under a different king, and bring Varisia to the heights that Cheliax once knew.
Thehydrax currently lairs in The Cinderlands, close to the Skoan-quah clan of the Shoanti people. As the brass was so enamored with pre-diabolist cheliax, his lair is littered with many trinkets and artifacts from early days, much of it taken from looters during riots. He has several clay golems guarding the mouth of his lair, and a few chosen Shoanti, but aside from the lair is largely undefended, both as a result of lack of forethought, and because the dragon doesn't spend enough time in his lair to see that it is needed.
The brass is currently posing as Thousand Bones, amongst various other people, and it is with this contact that he tries to bring the Shoanti and the Korvosans together. It his ultimate goal to see Korvosa integrate the Shoanti population, appoint a fair king (which he will most likely choose for them) and declare themselves a seperate nation, and in the Thousand Bones disguise he is making progress on both ends. The Shoanti believe Thousand Bones to be a powerful mystic, chosen by the gods, and who will outlive the tribe because of the gods decree, so his longevity never really comes into question.
Another disguise the crafty brass sometimes dons is that of Blackjack, when Vencarlo needs an alibi.
Thehydrax has spread a network of agents throughout Korvosa and the surrounding area; not all of these agents are aware that they actually work for the dragon, but they are all working towards his goals regardless. Some of his primary agents in korvosa are: Cressida Kroft (Whom he helped ascend to power), Vencarlo Orsini (An open collaborator against injustice in the city. Thehydrax invented blackjack decades ago, and has been helping his replacements since), and Zenobia Zenderholm (A fellow cleric of Abadar).
Most recently introduced to Korvosa is the aforementioned Player Character, the Dragon Shaman Morvius Paldrum of House Jeggare. The dragon has always been a supporter of House Jeggare, especially old Montlarion who did so much for the colonization effort in Korvosa. Thehydrax arranged to "meet" the young hero at an early age, and has been shaping him as his active agent in town. With the recent death of the king, the dragon's plans took a snag and so he sent young Morvius in to meet Field Marshall Kroft and try and get a good look at the situation from the ground. And that's where we pick up our game.
If anyone is interested in Thehydrax's stats, I will be writing them up, as well as doing up his lair at a later date. Let me know what you think.
although I do like Vencarlo Orsini as Blackjack. It might not be too hard to make them one and the same; I mean a brass doesn't have Alternate Form as a special ability like a Bronze or Silver, but that's not to say he doesn't have a polymorph ring or something similar. For a brass so desperate to be involved in local politics a polymorph ring just may be his best investment, so long as no pesky true seeing spells come into play. I like that idea though, it gives me a nice "contact" that everyone can "coincidentally" be sent to see together.
Okay, so here's the deal. I have a player who wants to play a Chelaxian Dragon Shaman, the class from PHB 2. To do so you must pick a specific totem dragon, to which he picked Brass. Now, according to Dragons Revisited, Brass Dragons are sort of ADD socialite manipulators, not really something his character aspires to so I can't see him choosing the breed as a whole as his totem.
So instead we went with the notion that there is instead a specific Brass in the area of Korvosa, which inspires him and taught him the route to personal power, as a sort of personal paladin in training. I think we're going to go with the story that the Brass saved our young noble hero from some less than hospitable creatures and then tutored him while letting the Shaman-in-traing help guard his lair.
Now for the real fun part, I need to invent a dragon which would fit into the Korvosan area well. With them being socialites, I'm sure that at least one would be interested in the political intrigue of Korvosa, and perhaps even have something to do with some of the future events? Maybe even placing the Dragon Shaman, unbeknownst to him, for the specific purpose of bringing someone to power that the Brass approves of.
I'm thinking the Dragon's lair could be in the Cinderlands somewhere, and I would like the dragon to be older, but only old enough that he knows about Kazavon through stories. I'm also thinking about maybe a minor affiliation in the area amongst the Brass's contacts.
So that's what I have so far, what I would like for some suggesions is A) A name for my big bad Brass (I'm terrible at naming dragons), B)Some ways for him to be inserted into Korvosa's happenings, mostly unobtrusively obviously. and C) Some opinions on the aforementioned affiliation.
Thanks again, you guys on this site are awesome.
Thanks a bunch for the advice again. I think I may have found a way to get the scout involved with the party a bit more using Zellara's speeches, he's more apt to follow here advice then to do anything for the good of the city so that might work out; especially if she says something along the lines of "There's a storm on the horizon, and I see the threads of your fates tightly intertwined."
Everybody loves the Harrow deck, I think that's a such a great little device. Only problem is that one of the cards in the spread was The Betrayal, so that kind of put everyone on edge right away. :P I now have a party full of paranoid PC's, which admittedly can be a little sadistically fun for me.
Anyway, Session 2 is on for tonight, hopefully it all pulls back together. Wish me luck!
I think I might take your suggestion Brutesquad07 on running another mini side adventure before Cressida Kroft comes into play. That way they might have more of a reason to be sent to Kroft as a party, where now the Scout is the only one who would be sent to Cressida. I just need something to build the bond between the group so that they might actually think in-game, "Hey, you know the other guys might be good to have along on this one."
As for Zellara, I might just have her appear to one of the PC's who has the least viable reason to contact the others, the sorceror. If she can rope him back in with the others than they will probably stick together.
Oh and Roguerouge, thanks a bunch for that website, that's awesome.
Again, appreciate everyone's help.
Did they find ** spoiler omitted **? That should be enough to get them curious to find out what's going on with her and go to her house together I would think. You can then have her mention that Korvosa needs them during these dark times.
If they're not altruistic enough to go for that, then she could hint that heroes of Korvosa would likley be well regarded and rewarded. She could also point blank mention that they could return the necklace, leading the rest of the PCs turn to the scout and ask why he's holding out on them.
None of them found Zellara's head, although the scout is about to go to her home and find it empty, so maybe that'll spur something on his end. He also took her deck though. Can her illusions manifest from that deck to the other players? Or would that be too much of a stretch?
Maybe the party meets up again to discuss their options? Have the party get caught with the amulet before its return. Heh-heh.
That would work, except they are all individuals with no real connection except for Lamm. As soon as the riot broke out after the assassination they all went their separate ways, satisfied that Lamm was dead. The only one who knows about the amulet is the scout. If he got arrested I'm not sure how the other 5 would get dragged into it.
Okay, I have just started running the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP and this is my first ever published adventure I have ever run so I'm a little unfamiliar with using prepared material like this. Obviously the campaign has been designed with 4 players in mind, but as mentioned in the title, I have six players who want to play in the campaign and I'm not sure how to modify the AP so that it provides an adequate challenge and doesn't let my players become a rolling death-ball crashing through the adventures.
We had our first game last night and it didn't quite go as planned out in the book.
SPOILER WARNING
The players crashed in the front door of the Fishery, found and incapacitated all three of the minor bosses and most of the orphans in around 6 rounds. The scout then snuck down to the basement and they brutally murdered Lamm before he even had a chance to speak and then went their seperate ways. Now the scout wants to return the amulet that he looted to the queen and claim the reward for himself and let the rest of the party do what they want to do.
So any ideas about how I can A) modify the campaign a little to present more of a challenge, and B) get the campaign back on track?
I am getting a bit confused with the March order for my AP subscription. I have the option of hold everything for 1 shipment, so the order should include AP19, PFComp Player's Guide to Legacy of Fire, and PFC Dragons Revisited. All this stuff is in my sidecart, but it does not go to my orders page or get an order # yet. Fine, I guess that takes time.
What has puzzled me is that the PFCompanion volume is available for download in My Downloads page, as it happens when my items are ready to ship (and payed for, of course), but neither of the other two products is. Is this normal (just some technical delay in those pdfs getting available to subscribers) or is there any problem on my side? My credit card expired this month but I updated the info with the new expiry date and everything.
Thanks a lot
Andres
I had this same thing happen, apparantly it has to wait for PF 20 to ship. I changed my shipment plan to ship with Adventure Path, but I guess I did it too late and I still have to wait. I'd like them to send it now if they could though so I can download Dragons Revisited to read on the plane back home. 18 Hours total in the air, would be nice to have some cool Paizo products to browse.
Hey, I have this ordered, but I think it's not going to be shipped until the end of the month. Is it possible to get it as a download in the next few days so I can have something to read on the plane back home?
Awesome, thanks a bunch for that website, that's exactly what I was looking for. It's going to make it so much easier to expand my world without infringing on product identity. Really appreciate it, and I was really worried about the whole feat name thing, that's a bit of a relief to hear.
Kobolds, they are so underestimated constantly. But you have a group of PC's make their way through a horribly trapped lair, populated by well-prepared, professional and savagely amoral kobolds and you may change your outlook.
The new paizo goblins are a whole different bundle of fun that I can't wait to unleash on my players. They're just like a little squirming bomb of chaos you can drop in anywhere.
And on behalf of my friend Caleb, Oozes. I have not played a single game of Caleb's that has not included an Ooze which has horribly done over the players. Nothing worse than having your armor melted away trying to retrieve something from a "puddle".
Okay, so I have a couple questions regarding the legalese behind the Open Gaming License from WotC, the Pathfinder Community Use License and the material that the community is thereby allowed to use.
I am currently creating a wiki which is to become a sort of "living Campaign world" and I am trying to make it as absolutely legal as possible, which means no use of product identity or anything not covered under the OGL or PF Community Use License. This is proving to be slightly harder than I imagined, and I would appreciate it if anyone knew of any third party publishers who designated their work as OGL and free for the community to use.
What I have found so far is that which was put out by Wizards of the Coast, on the website www.d20srd.org. Also I believe that the Advanced Bestiary is also OGL. Does anyone else know of any resources I can use? Those regarding monsters, magic or equipment would be particularly helpful.
And one final question about feats. This seems to be a very complicated issue as there are so many feats out there. Say I were to need to use a feat for a character, like Augmented Alchemy for example, but Augmented Alchemy is not one of the OGL feats. I still need something similar to the effects of the feat to make my character, the Alchemist. Do I need to make a new feat with slightly different name and details on it's use, or is that still infringing upon the trademark? Would I then need to contact Wizards of the Coast every time I needed to use a non-OGL feat like that?
Ooh, and then there's always fun with the Silent Image spell. I.e. Neon "I love Goblins" or the classic "Kick Me" signs enchanted onto somebody's back.
Hi, I got this book several months ago and thoroughly love it, and especially the big poster map which came with it. I am a huge fan of maps, next to monsters they are my favorite thing to pore over. Which brings me to my point, The Pdf that comes with the book does not include an electronic copy of that beautiful big map with all the street names and everything. (I Particularly love Dead Shoanti Road) Is it possible to have that as a downloadable jpg for people who purchased the pdf?
When will this book be coming out in PDF format to download? I'm stationed in Afghanistan right now, and will be headed back home mid-march, it would be awesome to have this book to read on the plane!
Oh and I loved Classic Monsters Revisited. My favorite D&D material has always been the monster manuals, bestiaries, tomes of horrors, fiend folios and various other collections of nasties. It's like a humongous world of possibility with each page, and I am in love with the possibilities you have been presenting me. My favorite of all of them would have to be the Stewie Griffon headed goblins; once I read the 10 fun facts about goblins in PF #1 I was hooked on them. Will any of the dragons be getting some similar humorous treatment?
Ooh, can't wait to have to take back a ruined town from some nasty gnolls. That is exactly my type of adventure. I wonder if I can get someone else to DM this one for me...
Since the community here at Paizo is by far the best RPG messageboard community out there, and we've already started a conversation in this thread, I thought it would be good to continue the conversation here.
My experience as an officer has been that it's tough to find other officers who play RPGs. I've tried setting up a Yahoo! group here: RPG O-Club. It hasn't had much activity, but maybe we Paizonians can breathe new life into it.
Otherwise, we can talk about our experiences and share ideas on gaming groups and other stuff, here.
I'm not a military officer, but I am in the Canadian military, Infantry Private. And you'd be surprised how many people actually game, let alone game with me. In my company, out of approximately 80 NCO's, there are 6 people whom I regularly play D&D or Shadowrun with. Another 15 are known role-players who do not play with me because they already have on-going games. That means that there is +25% of an INFANTRY company geeking it up with dice an miniatures on a regular basis. That doesn't include the rest of the people in the company who aren't actively roleplaying or are incredible video-game addicts. Pretty high rate for a supposedly uber-macho trade huh?
It's pretty good though because we're headed overseas for a 6 month tour to Afghanistan now, and we already have plans to run an Eberron based campaign in our down-time. We're Force Protection for the PRT so nights will be fairly open, hopefully... Anyway it should be a good opportunity to get some game time in. Just hoping I can manage to keep up with my DMing.
Oh and I thought I'd also mention that of the 22 known roleplayers in my company, only 2 of those are currently un-married. It's all about breaking the stereotype right?
