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@Oceanshieldwolf - That's a shame to hear, I enjoyed with pf1e material. Would explain why I have yet to hear anything from the email Jeremy posted on DSP site. Would you know of any solid 3rd party peeps to reach out to that have been doing good work for pf2e so far?
Hey everyone! I'm a long-time fan and lurker, but I hope to change that with the times changing with the OGL fiasco. I'm currently trying to change the adventure path I was creating initially for D&D, and change it to fall under the ORC and Pathfinder 2e system instead. A vast, sprawling adventure path inspired by 1940's early pulp adventure, film noir, sword and sorcery, and eldritch horror themes to make a wonderful adventure to explore! Crime lords, dinosaurs, train heists, auctioneer battles mysterious cults, liches... So much more that I'd hate to spoil but hope to share someday! I felt that Numeria remained untapped in its potential for adventures like this, and could fit it in the setting. My problem at this point is trying to navigate where I take my plotted-out AP to get it to a publishing process after editing and formatting. Any recommended publishers I would be able to work with, or would I be able to communicate with someone internally? I was originally planning on attending Paizocon in hopes to communicate in person with more internal members or 3rd party publishers, but with it being online this year, I felt would greatly reduce my chances of meeting with these individuals. So I turned to the forums in hopes of trying to find my next steps to make. I've reached out to Dreamscarred Press and Open Gaming Network via email, and hope that bodes well. Sorry if this isn't the best place for a post like this, but checking online with search engines has yielded more direct answers to my questions.
Thanks for the awesome suggestion, but my wife will be rocking the battlemage in this game. But this is a solid idea to play around with if anything happens to our little Gnome.
We have the Synthesist being the only character with a focus in Melee, as, while I believe the Barbarian will be wanting to focus on throwing things, but may fall back to melee for the early levels, (at least, until he gets a Belt of Mighty Hurling). Where-as, our Gnome Sorcerer is focusing on evocation, (it's my wife's 3rd character, and is still learning the system, but wants to try a magic user now after a Ranger and a Skald). She has a strong grasp of tactics and will be skirting the end of her range with her spells to keep her alive, (I'm unsure whether to suggest for her to go strong with sorcerer or just have 1 level in crossblooded sorcerer and go Wizard for the rest) I wish I had more information on the bard, but I do not communicate with the player as much as I would like. This means that character can be taking in quite a few directions, though I do not think he will optimize to the levels that the rest of the party has. I wish Trap breaker was available for Alchemist, because a vivisectionist trap breaker alchemist sounds really fun, but unfortunately the splat which it is from is not allowed.
So, it seems that another player will be joining us, and has expressed in rolling up a Bard. I am unsure of what kind of Bard he will be rolling up, but does really, really balances the party, (I will update the OP). So I guess I can roll whatever I want. Hmmm... EDIT: whoops, I didn't know I couldn't edit the OP after a certain amount of time. Derp. Party Composition - Half-elf Synthesist Summoner - Gnome Primal Fire/Draconic Sorcerer - Duergar Hurling Barbarian - ??? Bard
I'm noticing a large influx of Witch suggestions But, if I were to go a Witch, should I go winter witch with all the frost resistance to overcome, or just a core witch who goes around and puts everything to sleep? Just wanting to compare the usefulness of a witch to a bard for the party Bard
Witch
Ah, in that case, with no guarantee, I'd shorten my list to Debuff witch, who would mainly help the Fire-Good sorcerer, or Bard. Bards make solid archers if you'd want to try ranged combat and play face. I am leaning more towards bard the more I think about it. How will purchasing magic items work, if going straight by the module? Will there be a Magic Mart Inc. to buy from, or will I need to make sure one of us is able to, at least, craft wands for CLW healing, let alone all the other crafting feats to be properly geared?
I think this game will depend on how much we enjoy the adventure. If we really enjoy it, we will continue it, as the DM is more than willing to run the who adventure path.
My gaming group will be starting on the Reign of Winter adventure path, The Snows of Summer, very soon. This is our party composition thus far. - Half-elf Synthesist Summoner - Gnome Primal Fire/Draconic Sorcerer - Duergar Hurling Barbarian We have 15 point buy Books available are core, ultimate magic, ultimate combat, ultimate equipment, advance race guide, advanced players guide, inner sea magic, inner sea guide. Races available are all core races, in addition to Aasimar, Drow(14rp), Duergar, Goblin, Orc, and Tiefling. I am unsure about how to fill in the void that the party is needed. Any recommendations to what classes and race to roll up, based on the party composition and the adventure path I am about to trek? I usually play support casters that buff the party and carry around the Wand of Cure Light Wounds, but I'm not sure the summoner can hold the front lines on his own.
After much discussion, seems like the players are more flexible then before.
So, my EtcR game ended with a TPK at the bridge outside of the castle, (failing climb checks suck hard). One of the players are wanting to take over as DM until next Halloween where we continue from the parties TPK with new characters in a realm that suffers the consequences from the player's failures. The DM is wanting to run Skulls and Shackles with a twist: everything is in the sky. Flying ships, floating islands, Flying Sharks. Pretty much a very Eberron-esc feel to the game. But during this week, everyone else in the group is thinking of rolling up these classes.
The new group is looking really squishy unless someone changes their mind by Saturday. I have no idea how to keep these guys alive as a player, and thus I am unsure of what to roll up. Here is the DM's character creation rules. "Core Races only
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and helping in anyway you can!
For future updates, I will mainly be covering any new material. An example of this is, the last encounter I went over the PFRPG CR 2 Zombie changes that make the encounter much easier on the players, (which, I guess is fair in a straight PFRPG game with the new turning rules). I will also be labeling my encounters based on the 3.5 letter number abbreviations found in the top left corner of each encounter. I should also note that, if encounter do feel too easy, remember these three tenets of running Ravenloft, I like to call them R.A.W.R. R.A.W.R. of Running Ravenloft:
- Ravenloft is not easy on your wallets[b] This is to strain the players resources, a huge element of horror in general. This hold true to Ravenloft, not only will many encounters listed in EtcR give little to no reward in wealth, but the only shop-keep in the module marks up all items by 50% - [b]Advance Template is your friend I cannot count the number of times, when I see certain monsters posing little threat to my optimized players, I simple slap on this template on all my creeps and the encounter is surprisingly more balanced. - Wipe-outs happen Down loosen your grip, and stand by nasty surprises. This enforces how terrifying Ravenloft is, and if your players drop their guard for even a moment, Ravenloft will surprise you! If you really, really need to throw them a bone, definitely have either Madam Eva help them and offer to sell them scrolls of divine magic at regular price. Also remember that, though Ravenloft is a scary place, they have allies that will not only help them, (a possible Cleric and definite Paladin NPC), but if a player dies, its a great chance for them to take over as one of the NPCs, (just give them full levels in their respective PC classes, and replace any NPC levels with appropriate PC levels) - Ravenloft is full of surprises This is to emphasis that Ravenloft will catch players off guard. Many encounters will catch your players off their kilter. There are instant death saving throws they have to make, their are negative levels floating around, there's ambushes that will catch your players off their guard. So if things look easy, that's just to lessen their guard for the nasty surprise! If you have played this module for them before, switch things up, remove or change NPCs, give ulterior motives to your Antagonists, and feel free to add to the adventure, (you ARE the GM after all)! If things get too hard, its your call, but do not fret Anyways, on with the encounters Encounter E2 ~ listed encounter is at ECL 7, worth a total of 3,200 xp to spend on creeps to throw at the party. The bump in ECL gives us 800 xp more than the last encounter to mess around with. ~ normal encounter contains 4 zombies (CR 2), and 2 Varguilles (CR 2) - In my PFRPG version of this encounter, I took out a zombie so that I may add one Varguille. - This left me with 200 xp left over to try creating a Carcass eater! Instead of going through the process of making one from scratch, I found a conversion of Libris Mortis made by the awesome Demiurge 1138. I will be posting his conversion of the Carcass Eater that I will be using. Carcass Eater:
Carcass Eater
CR ½ XP 200 N Small animal Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +6, scent Defense AC 13, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+1 size, +1 Dex, +1 natural) hp 10 (1d8+6) Fort +5 (+7 vs. disease, sickness and nausea), Ref +3, Will +0 Defensive Qualities iron gut Offense Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft. Melee bite +2 (1d8-1) Special Attacks blood rage Statistics Str 8, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 7 Base Atk +0; CMB -2; CMD 8 Feats Toughness (B), Weapon Finesse Skills Perception +6, Stealth +7, Survival +2; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception, +2 Stealth, +2 Survival Ecology Environment underground and urban Organization solitary, pair or throng (3-9) Treasure incidental Special Abilities Blood Rage (Ex) When a carcass eater is injured, it can fly into a rage as a free action on its next turn. It gains a +2 to its Strength and Constitution scores and takes a -2 penalty to AC. This rage lasts for 1 minute or until the combat is over, whichever comes first. A carcass eater cannot end this rage voluntarily. Iron Gut (Ex) A carcass eater gains a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves made against disease and the sickened and nauseated conditions. -------------------------- Encounter E3 ~ listed encounter is at ECL 7, worth a total of 4,800 exp to spend. It's allot less when you then look at what it is supposed to contain... ~ normal encounter contains 9 zombies (CR 2), and a creature called an Infected Entomber (CR 5). Luckily, an NPC named Ashley is in the encounter to help the party - This is difficult because the amount of exp is not allot for not only to have a small hoard of zombies, but also a CR 5 monster. The Entomber is to be utilized to lock down and take out certain troublesome PCs. - You could so a straight conversion of the Entomber, (as, once more, their is no Entomber equivalent in Pathfinder), but I prefer to use a Wight variant called Brute that fulfills the role very, very well for this encounter while keeping a theme to Ravenloft with the Negative Energy, (this part of the adventure is the only time you will find creatures that burrow). If you want something that fights like the original entomber:
- slap on the Burrow 10ft movement to the Wight - replace his Negative energy add-on to slams with a DC 15 Entrap ability, (I prefer to use the default 1d10 minutes, hardness 5, hp 10, but feel free to match hardness and HP to cobblestone). - remove Resurrection Vulnerability (Su) - CR now doesn't change - This leaves us with 3,200 xp, leaving us enough to have either
-------------------------- Encounter E6 ~ Listed encounter is at ECL 7 ~ Normal encounter contains 3 zombies (CR 2), 3 Ghasts (CR 3), and 2 Carcass Eaters - Take out one carcass eater and either a ghast, (being nice), or a zombie, (not so nice) - Ghasts! Finally something that won't be weakened severely. But as warned by others in the past, ghasts can paralyze then Coup De Grace any adventurer unfortunate enough to fail that DC 15 Fortitude save. I stand by any nasty surprises, especially how many creatures were powered down in PFRPG while the PCs have been buffed. -------------------------- Encounter E7 ~ Listed encounter is at ECL 8 ~ Normal encounter contains 4 Zombies, 1 Deathlock, and an Evil, insane Cleric ready to fire off a AoE Instant Death Spell. - This encounter will kick your players into high gear for sure, and make sure they are definitely more careful from now on! 12d4 HD worth of death if he makes that DC 12 check to cast from the Scroll. Though, by Pathfinder rules he shouldn't be able to cast Circle of Death from the scroll, it's a page from the Libris Mortis, (and possible planted in the church by Strahd himself). If you are uncomfortable with this minor rule change:
Have Strahd cast it up in a corner of the church, (have him run away after that), all while having the Cleric think he is casting the spell from a scroll. Strahd has many ability to run away if, somehow the PCs catch him - Either have 5 zombies (CR 2), and 1 carcass eater, or... Finally use Deathlocks, and use 4 of them and forget the Zombies! Once more, these are conversions of the Deathlock made by Demiurge 1138, stats are below Deathlock:
CR 3 XP 800 NE Medium undead Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +9 Defense AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +1 Dex, +1 natural) hp 32 (5d8+10) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +5 Defensive Abilities channel resistance +2, undead traits Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee 2 claws +3 (1d4) Ranged arcane bolt +4 touch (2d6) Spell-like Abilities CL 5th, concentration +7 (+11 casting defensively) Constant—detect magic, mage armor, read magic 3/day—cause fear (DC 13), chill touch (DC 13), command undead (DC 14) 1/day—ghoul touch (DC 14), spectral hand Statistics Str 10, Dex 13, Con -, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 14 Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 14 Feats Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot Skills Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +9, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +9 SQ item mastery Ecology Environment any land and underground Organization solitary, trio or cabal (5-9) Treasure double standard Special Abilities Arcane Bolt (Su) As a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity, a deathlock can fire a ray of pure magical energy at an opponent within 60 feet. This functions as a ranged touch attack that deals 1d6 points of damage for every two Hit Dice the deathlock has (2d6 for the typical deathlock). Item Mastery (Su) A deathlock can use spell trigger and spell completion items as if it had all spells on its spell list. -------------------------- Encounter E7A ~ Encounter Level 9 ~ 1 mean undead creature that goes by the name of Doru - Oh boy, one thing after another, amiright? This encounter becomes harder if going by bestiary, as a 25 HD of undead carnage is too much for the PCs of their level, (drastically raises damage of Doru is the main concern). So I nerfed him slightly, and filled the encounter with 6 zombies (CR 2), and 2 Carcass Eaters Doru:
CR 6 XP 6,400 NE Medium undead Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10 DEFENSE AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+8 natural, +1 Dex) hp 75 (13d8+13) Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +10 Immune undead traits OFFENSE Spd 30 ft. Melee slam +18 (1d6+13 plus disease) Special Attacks death burst STATISTICS Str 28, Dex 12, Con —, Int -, Wis 15, Cha 10 Base Atk +9; CMB +18; CMD 29 Feats Toughness SQ staggered SPECIAL ABILITIES Death Burst (Ex) When Daru dies, it explodes in a burst of decay. All creatures adjacent to the plague zombie are exposed to its plague as if struck by a slam attack and must make a Fortitude save or contract zombie rot. Disease (Su)
Staggered (Ex)
-------------- Alright, this is what I have worked out thus far. Any comments/questions I will try my best as answering ^_^ I'll be working on part two next, and will be more spread out as it is one of the biggest sections of the adventure.
Bingo! Sorry for lack of clarification, I'll go edit that now.
I have ran this module for the last seven years, and have loved every year I have ran it. Now, prior years I would either slap an advance template here or there, remove or add another creature here, and the module ran well enough the last two times I've ran the game as PFRPG. Now that I am sitting down and working on the enoughers from the ground up, I noticed allot of changes in the exp budget. ~ A normal 6th level encounter in PFRPG is 2,400 exp to spend. ~ The first encounter in our awesome module stars 6 zombies and 2 Carcass eaters ~ CR 2 zombies in pathfinder are worth 600 xp each. -So I lose a total of 2 zombies from the encounter
I look at them and see how easily my players can blow through these guys... I guess these encounters ARE more of a slowly ticking away at the parties resources rather than directly challenging, I may just be worrying about how easy it appears at first glance. I'll be posting more of my thoughts as I go further in the module as I deconstruct it, but just wanted to post now as, already, the module is becoming 'easier'. |
