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Sword Coast Legends was a bit of a flop and I know it's probably not really played too much anymore but I just got into it and build the first module of SD in the campaign creator. I haven't fully playtested it yet but if you're interested in checking it out you should be able to find it in a quick search. Let me know what you think!
I'm posting here because it's the weekend and I've emailed customer services twice with no response. I ordered the entire set of Second Darkness AP books over three weeks ago and I've had no confirmation of it being shipped. I sent an email to customer services almost a week ago with no response. I also emailed them a second time to cover to ensure they received my message. I plan on calling Monday but I'd like to know if anyone has any information or if they even watch these boards for stuff like this. I've never actually had any problems with Piazo and buying products from this site until now and this is the one time I can't seem to get help.
Wtf.... I'm so upset about this.
I'd like to start by saying that I love S&S but I feel like the Shackles itself could use a lot of work. It has a lot of potential to be a great setting but it's so big, open, and underdeveloped that a lot of it feels empty and forgettable. Here are two ideas I have to improve it: Make the Set Pieces More Central to the Plot:
To me I feel like Port Peril and a lot of other locations were underused. I think that modifying the story to centralize the plot around Port Peril (and other ports) while making the NPC's more important to the story could really help add focus to the campaign. I know this campaign is all about piracy on the open ocean and exploring the Shackles but a lot of the ports or places you can visit only have a name attached to it, with maybe a sentence of description. This for the most part gives that empty feeling and adds a lot of monotony to traveling in the game. Example: Port Peril.
So shrinking the map down and keeping each books attached closer to a locale and it's NPC's would make the world seem bigger, giving it a more grand sense of adventure. This is the quick way to do things and would still keep in line with the pace of the game if done well. Screw That Noise: Make it More Like Kingmaker:
On the other side of that coin you could attempt to make the map more like the Stolen Lands. Gridding out the Shackles and really taking the time to fill those grids with stuff to find and explore.
Kingmaker had a huge map. Maybe not in area compared to the Shackles but in page size and what the map actually had in it. In the Stolen Lands you always felt like you were discovering something or meeting someone who was genuinely interesting in (most) every grid you discovered. This really made the Stolen Lands feel alive. You could also use the Ultimate Campaign rules in the S&S to build up new ports around, lets say Tidewater Rock, to have a true sense of building up fame around the Shackles. Maybe even add a module or two. Sure doing this to the Shackles would take a lot of work and you'd probably have to do away with experience for pacing reasons. But done right would yield some fantastic results. So what do you guys think? Am I right or wrong? What have you done or would do to improve the Shackles?
So we have a Vampire PC in the party. They're heading to Scarwall next session and I was wondering how I should handle Zellara's Doom. I understand that she is a spirit and is being bound to the castle but would that effect the Undead PC as well or no? I can't find anything in the book that discusses undead party members. Thanks!
Okay so hear me out. 40 point buy, 3 traits, max of 2 classes, and basically only the core rulebook, advanced players guide, ultimate magic and combat. Banned are synthasis summoner and firearms. I know that with this ruleset its nearly impossible to not create an overpowered monstrosity but everyone else playing will be doing the same thing.
Also, level 11.
So I've been playing tabletops for about 10 years now and Pathfider for about 5 of that. I've never really sat down and tried to internationally break a character. I usually DM so I'm not a fan of power building. But for this one occasion I want to make something truley nasty. And don't worry the permitters othe game is to break a character.
What can I say? The crowd LOVES it when the villain pulls off a shocking last-second escape! Now they'll just be waiting for me to make my DRAMATIC RE-ENTRY! Rolth in my game has the voice of The Monarch from the Venture Bros. I just read what you said in his voice. Thank you for that.
So my party is about to finish up EfOK and they just took down the emperor and his goons. They fought Rolth back in book two but he escaped and became the emperors advisor. He fled from that fight as well. Now he's double mad and looking for double revenge.
Verik had a happier ending in out game. I ran RotR a few months back and Orik ended up sticking around after the party spared his life. He became a guard in Sandpoint. After the caught Verik and found out he knew nothing of the killings he was released into Oriks custody who came all the way from Sandpoint to get his brother. Lamm was taken into custody and I want some closure. Devargo and the party have beef. They negotiated but then pissed him off when they asked for mpre info and a fight broke out. They nearly killed him however traded him to his guards for their lives after they were surrounded. Devargo was embarrased and now wants revenge. But knows he's no match for the party. Hense forcing an alliance between he and the party and see who takes advantage of the situation. They've only killed two humanioids since the start of the game. And those were on accident. The first was one of Devargo's thugs. He was pushed into the spider pit where he was double critted on by a spider. The second was Yvicca who was under Hold Person. The oracle in the party used murderess command on her shark who coup de gras her. He didnt realize that was going to happen.
So the PCs haven't killed anyone since the game started. They've been capturing bad guys and sending them to prison.
I'm liking all the Breaking Bad references.
Give the PC's a moral quandary. Something like that. But I think I like where this is going.
We're already using Hero Points however most of my party gave them up for the bonus feat. I think we only have one party member who has them. But this has been a great tread. Most of my players are very well versed in the rules. While we ony have one actual power gamer right now everyone knows the rules well enough to really break the game with these. Im thinking a temporary mythic pool may be the way to go. That way they'll have to choose carefully to use then and once they're gone they're gone. I'll just have to read the rules on them for a little bit.
I like having Devargo showing up in book 3. Surprisingly my party hasn't killed anyone yet so Gaedren is actually alive and in custody. Maybe having those two team up in book Escape could prove to be interesting possibly if the party incurs the wreath of the Arkona family. I think it would be cool to have a team up of all the villians. A council of evil or something like that.
Long story short my party made a real mess of things. They negotiated peacfully however do to some poor decisions a fight broke out anyway. The party managed to clear the room of the hopeful thugs and tied Devargo up before the rest of his enforcers surrounded them. The party bargened for their lives trading over Devargo. Now Devargo is pissed. The PCs came into his place of business and thoroughly embarassed him. I want to make him a recurring character especially so he can try to get revenge. Are there any places further in the campaign that he'd fit into? Anyone else have a similar situation they'd like to share?
I'm running Curse of the Crimson Throne right now. At the end of book two after going through a dungeon full of encounters they fight the BBEG. After they defeat her her god resurrects her with full hp and new powers. Now the book says that the reward for this is the experiance and how epic surviving an encounter like this. However I think it deserves something more. They'll be close to eighth level when they finish. I just don't know if giving them a mythic point is too much. I want to reward them. I just don't want to break their characters. Thanks!!
On the inside of the back cover there are the pirate legends. For example the Shipwreck in a Bottle. On the map it has the location of the rumored treasure. I know those are suppose to be open ended for the DM to decide what to do with them but does anyone have any ideas or stories about what they did?
Well they could have guessed they were harmless, two unarmed, malnourished old men against fully loaded PCs doesn't really seem like anything but slaughter. And the orderlies only attacked after the PCs killed the first patient. And they didn't really defend themselves they more or less just killed. Sure the first guy would have very ineffectively attacked the party but they didn't even give the orderlies time to restrain him (I told them they were both surrounding him to do just that when the blades went flying). And the two surrounded the guy while he was on the floor scrambling to his feet and just drove swords into him. The two upstairs hadn't even noticed the rogue and he threw knives into both of them killing them on the spot. And they saw the warerat and lured him downstairs and both attacked him while he was fascinated by their weapons. He didn't even make a move to attack them. In the end none of what happened was "self-defense" except for the necromancer. Who was being taken care of by the other two party members and when they came upstairs to see all of the patients and orderlies dead they were a little more than pissed. I'm actually sure they would have killed Habe as well if given the chance, but he was able to flee past them and took for the woods.
So yeah, we just started book two and things went astray fast... Basically nothing in the Sanatorium went as planned. I RP'd Habe kinda like Professor Quarrel (he even looked like him). He was nervous about letting the PCs in but couldn't deny them after they pulled out the letter from the Sheriff and sat down to talk to the patient. Spoiler:
At this point they figured that the murderer is probably some kind of intelligent undead. Father Zantos thinks it may be a Ghast. So when the patient came downstairs sick and discolored they assumed he had the fever. And after delivering his message to the object of Foxgloves obsession he went crazy and attacked. Everyone rolled init and the party Rogue (knife-fighter) threw a knife at him, crited, and put him deep into the negatives. Habe of course began to freak out while his orderlies pulled weapons out. The party Bard healed the poor soul only for him to wake up and continue (crawl) towards the Magus (Foxgloves' obsession). The orderlies tried to grapple the insane fellow but couldn't and the next turn the Magus kills him.
After that things just went outta hand. The zombies burst out from downstairs, the orderlies started to run, and Habe fled upstairs. The fighter/wizard and the bard took care of the zombies and chased the necromancer into the basement while the rest of the party knocked out the orderlies and ran upstairs to handle Have. The two in the basement handled the necromancer and began reading over his notes on the Rune. Unbeknownst to them upstairs the rest of the party were killing everything in their path. Including the two older patients who were released to slow them down (they were less than harmless) and the warerat, whom although dangerous, was mesmerized by the Magus' sword. Habe escaped during the madness. Now I'm stumped. This was all completely out of left field the magus and the rogue were good characters (not anymore) and acknowledged that what they did was messed up. They end of the session had everyone gathering up the bodies as they headed back to Sandpoint to turn themselves in. What do?: So what should I do. I understand that combat was suppose to happen and that after an investigation it'll show that Habe wasn't such a swell guy to begin with. Right now I'm thinking of just locking the two up until the investigation but they're still murderers. I mean they could just wait in prison at Sandpoint until things got bad enough for them to actually need to release them. But would they even stay in Sandpoint for that long? Should they just be sent to Magnimar to face their crimes or what?
No they didn't see the hounds but they heard them. However, I like that idea. I think I'm going to mix all of them together. The PCs are already in town but I think I'm going to have her send two Yeth Hounds after them. And while that's happening two commandos and two regular goblins will go and attempt to break Tsuto out. And after all this (whether their plan succeeds or not) Nualia will be waiting in the chapel. Awaiting her love or the PCs. While this is happening WarChief Rippnugget and his remaining forces will come in from behind. Not overwhelming but it'll def be a good hard fight. And Tsuto may be there. ;]
Well she'll know about Tsuto. His body isn't there and her hostage is gone too. So unless he fled for his life, (she knows he wouldn't dare) he's most likely been captured. Although this presents another idea. How about she just send the goblins and two hounds. The hounds will work interference and the goblins are only a distraction so that one or two could sneak into the garrison and spring Tsuto out of his cell? All of these sound good and I may just go with option one and have Shalelu on her way to Thistletop after hearing the PCs are going. And she can appear if the party needs the help.
After the assault on Thistletop last session she'd be one pissed off (almost) half-fiend. The party stormed Thistletop to save Ameiko who was taken there by Tsuto after they failed to capture him at the glassworks. They got to the fort and killed most the goblins there. Warchief Ripnugget, his Warchanter and five of his Commandos survived the attack. However, all of her cohorts were taken down. Orik after realizing he was the only one left made a deal to trade Ameiko for a subdued Lyrie and hightailed it out of there. They took Tsuto into custody, and Bruthazmus was slain in combat. After waking Ameiko she warned the party they wouldn't be able to take on Nualia (since all of them were out of spells and had an average of 7hp each) so they jammed the lock outside of the Observation Deck and hightailed it out of there. So after she attempts to leave not only is she going to have to destroy the door to leave the room she's also going to find out that most of her forces are dead and her lover Tsuto has been captured. Option One:
She could be angry but collect her thoughts after some intense prayer and wait for the PCs setting up a trap in the alter room assuming they're going to come back and finish the job. There in the alter room and with her god watching she and her three yeth hounds make a final stand against the PCs while the goblins flanks from behind. This encounter could prove to be particularly deadly but an epic end to Nualia the goblins of Thisltetop. From there they can search the fort. Encounter Melfeshnekor and finish the adventure. Option Two:
She could get blindingly angry and gather her remaining forces and head for Sandpoint to put down their heroes in the square with her Yeth Hounds and Goblins in tow. It'll scare off any guards or townfolk from the actual fight giving her and the party some room. Although she may start a fire or two to get the PCs attention. So what do you guys think? Any suggestions?
It sounds awesome! Although, yes, this would be extremely deadly for the PCs. Just keep in mind when playing Tsuto that he's not trying to kill the PCs or fight them. They just happened to stumble into the glassworks as he was figuring out what to do with his sister. His main objective is to get her out of there, not get into a fight to the death with the PCs. Unless he knows he can win. In my game they didn't even fight him. After scaring the goblins to the basement they assumed they were trapped down there and took their time to check the rest of the glass works out before they went downstairs. It gave Tsuto ample time to grab Ameiko and head towards Thistletop. They just encountered him again last session. If you're interested in story development with him further down the boards are plenty of good threads about his trial in Magnimar (if he survives.)
Oh man! This is an awesome idea! As far as giving Aldern a gun I'm not entirely sure. But equipping the cult with them would be great foreshadowing for the party. And could give the party even more reason to want to stop this whole mess considering their the reason the cult is so strong! But you'd need to play this carefully, guns are not only very strong but expensive and could give the party way more gold then their worth. For balancing reasons I wouldn't change the build of the cultist. I'd just give them guns and give replace Weapon Finesse with the proficiency. That way they still get the deadly accuracy and damage but you don't change the fact that they're still clerics/rogues. And as far as the GP value goes make them the guns that only the first level gunslinger can use. And really only sell for scrape (it would seem in all of his time being a Ghoul, Aldern has let the assembly of his product go downhill.) As far as Foxglove goes you could easily replace his Rogue levels with Gunslinger and switch Weapon Finesse with a feat that will be more useful for his gun.
Well you know, I figure the goblins would eventually get bored, hungry, and the Warchief would begin to fill their heads with ideas that "the longshanks got scared and decided not to come". While everyone else began to lose interest as well. I've also thought of changing the Warchief to a Cavalier as well. I know fighter makes more sense since he's had no formal training. I just think it would be really awesome!
To get the full story on why I'm making these changes check out this thread here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2q1a5?Tsuto-escaped-with-Ameiko-unscathed-party But to sum everything up Tsuto escaped with Ameiko and the party is barely in a position to follow him. They'll know he's in Thistletop after checking out his journal, as stated in the book, they have three days until she's sacrificed. the changes:
Fleeing back to Thistletop with the two goblins that survived the glassworks and Ameiko on his back he gathers meeting with the Warchief, Nualia and the rest of the Mercs at their base. After Nualia discovers he left her journal and the location of their hideout she flies into a rage and lashes out at Tsuto, scaring her face with her claw. As punishment she decides to sacrifice Ameiko. However, Tsuto begs her not to and pleads with her. Explaining that they can use her as a hostage so when the party does come after her they'll have leverage.
She agrees and they throw her in the prison in area D9. Nualia has the entire base put on high alert for the PC's arrival. The actually changes will happen day by day. It's currently September 25th in game.
So what do you guys think? Any feedback or suggestions?
A coup de grace is a full-round action that causes Attacks of Opportunity. No one was on hand to stop it? Sounds like an epic battle though! (Personally, I'm not sure Tsuto would have dragged his unconscious sister with him with the PCs potentially in pursuit. But that's just me.) Like I said, party split. It was just Luca, Korruvus, and that witch in room B3 while the rest of the party fought off the rest of the monsters in B12. As far as Tsuto goes he might not have. But in his haste he left his journal behind which revealed the location of Thistletop and the rest of his (and his lover's) plan to burn down Sandpoint.
That long title sums up the last nights session pretty well. For me the DM it was a lot of fun, for the party it was one of the most intense and combat heavy sessions they've had in awhile. But before I get to the nitty gritty I'll introduce you to the party:
Anyway the book has been going as planned everything has been running smoothly for the party. Goblins were slain, good times were had, heroes of the town they were. The party was milking their new fame for as much as it was worth until Alergast Barett died on their watch. And after that the very next day Ameiko turned up missing. The Glassworks:
So they head to the glassworks, stealth to the forge see a group of Goblins and promptly jammed the two doors they say that lead to the forge. Not wanting to deal with the eight goblins they slipped around and explored the rest of the upper floor of the glassworks. After about ten minuted the goblins got bored in the forge and decided to go raid the pantry once more in the hopes of getting more food. However the party was in that area at the moment and combat ensued. It went very well; the party fell back behind cover, Artemis casted Obscuring Mist in the doorway and the party took out the goblins as the emerged. The last two after walking into a room with a pile of dead companions took of to Tsuto. However, the party decided not to chase them and inspect the forge where they found Lonjiku's preserved body. They explore the rest of the building and head down to the basement. The time it took for their inspection gave Tsuto enough time to gather up his sister and head toward Thistletop. The Catacombs:
Continuing on the party found his journal found out about the Catacombs and went in, hoping to find some clue to Tsuto's hideout. The Catacombs are where things really went downhill. The party fought the first Sinspawn with ease and continued down the eastern hallways to B13 where they encountered Eryluim. She summoned her Sinspawn and initiative was rolled. The party fell back to B12 and prepared actions to attack them as the funneled through the door. However, it was for naught as the Sinspawn threw the door open Eryluim summoned a Lemure into B12. The party caught off guard by that was then rushed by the Sinspawn and the little witch. A few rounds and a few spells later and the Sinspawn and the Lemure are down. She cast a successful Fear on Marko who then flees the room, jamming doors behind him. Luca gives chase to Marko trying to keep him from getting too far from the party. The witch then hits Ryoma with a Ray of Enfeeblement that drains 10 points of Strength and flees to rally the rest of her Sinspawn and Koruvus. The Brutal Battle:
With the party split; Marko unwilling to fight and Ryoma unable to things were looking pretty dire. Jenelle sat post at the hallway at the top of B12 ready to throw a bomb when a Dire Rat (summonsed by the witch) charged for her. She threw a bomb killing it instantly but it was followed by the other two Sinspawn the ran her down. Knocking Jenelle into the negatives. Artemis let loose some arrows from his bow while Ryoma finally got his strength back to fight. While the other two finally made their way back they encountered Koruvus and Eryluim. Luca ran into combat with the mutant goblin while Marko backed him up. At this point the Vargouille flies into the room with the two Sinspawn and began to attack Ryoma. Marko realizing that the party needed to stick together heads back to B12 while Luca decided to stay back in an attempt to take down Koruvus down (who at this point had taken a lot of damage but had missed all of his attacks). Luca now by himself succumbed to the witch's Sleep Hex. Now sound aseep on the ground Koruvus made a successful Coup De Grace and sent his longsword deep into Luca's chest. At this point the rest of the party overpowers the Varguille and the two Sinspawn and readies for the final push of Erylium and Koruvus both looking pretty good on HP because of their Fast Healing. Artemis enlarged Luca and Marko hides behind cover. Koruvus charges the enlarged Luca while he makes his AOO and misses the goblin completely. Who then confirms a critical attack and send Ryoma deep into the negatives. Luckily Artemis' and Marko's
ranged attacks put the goblin down and together are barely able to Eryluim in a successful grapple and tie her down. The session ended with Marko at 2/9hp, Artemis at 9/9hp, Luca dead, Jenelle at -6/12Con, and Ryoma at -8/10Con
It really depends on the player. I think it's a neat experiment so far but ultimately it's up to them to decide what they wanna do.
So I'm about to DM a new game and we always use point buys for stats. Something interesting that usually happens in our games are certain characters will end up being a level or two above other party members (usually because of solo encounters or players not making to a session. Anyway I kinda like the player gaps because it makes it harder for the party as a whole and they have to really think about how to approach encounters. Anyway for this game I want to do something with the point buy that'll create a gap that the players can choose themselves. The idea is that each individual player can choose their point buy however, the higher it is the slower exp track they'll be put on, while the lower it is the faster the track. I'm thinking something like 25=Slow 20=Medium 15=Fast and 10=fast but you start at 2nd level. Any thoughts? I know there are pros and cons to each of these but how do you think this'll work out as a whole?
Alright so this may be a little late to ask considering we have our game tomorrow at 6pm but I figure it's worth a shot! So long story short we've been playing Serpent's Skull for a good bit and we're nearing the end of the third book. One of the character's is lawful(plays chaotic) evil. And he's trying to get the party murdered; it's a fruitless effort because the other players are well... not dumb enough to fall for any of his traps. So this coming up session he wants to join up with the Rakshasa. They've encountered him before and it didn't go to well. Now this PC is going to go back and try to sell out the party to him. Unfortunately, he's going to have other plans. He's going to capture this player and basically hold him for ransom until he gets bored and kills him. Unless of course the party meets his demands and walks into his trap. ;p The demands he's going to have are going to be for the party to take out key figures or retrieve certain items so that he can spread power throughout the city. I just don't know what those should be. He sees this as a game so it needs to be entertaining. For sure I think he'll have them assassinate Osond considering his daughter is now a party member. But still... I need some more ideas. And it should all be very time consuming and very resource consuming so when the party goes to retrieve him he'll have the upper hand. Please and Thank you!!!
Don't need James for this one. DR that includes the word AND requires BOTH types of damage. If it was either/or the DR would actually say OR, like the Bearded Devil, for example. Thanks! See that's what I figured. But what about vampires. They have silver and magic which leads me to believe that one would need a magical silver weapon. However, don't +1 weapons count as silver and coldiron? And if so wouldn't you just need a +1 to get past that DR?
Dear JJ, So I have a question about an upcoming encounter in my Serpent's Skull game. The party will be facing off with a rakshaska (you may recall the one I'm speaking of). My question pertains to DR. It has 15/ piercing and good. Now does that mean the the weapon must be good aligned and piercing or either/or? We've always played it as either/or however, reading the rules on DR in the back of the Bestiary is leading me to believe other wise. What is the official ruling?
... and speaking of realism and the factions. Make them realistic; don't just have them as stationary statistics like the AP has them! http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz3s7l?Lets-flesh-out-SaventhYhi
Both of these have helped out a lot in my game and can easily be modded for play styles; both enriched my player's experiences. For started when our party's Summoner sent in her summon (a little imp built around stealth and use magic device) I was able to give detailed numbers and even build up the camp by how their points were divided. The timeline has helped make the factions feel more real as well here's mine if you're curious. Timeline: Day 1 - All groups set up camps as described in book.
Day 2 -Sargarvian Government leads an attack on military district. -Aspis Consortium infiltrates the baggords district Day 3 -The pirates infiltrate the Farming District. Day 4 -Sargavian attack is finally repulsed by Olujimi. Zakiyya and 5 other fighters are captured and sent to the arena to fight. -Pathfinders take residents in the Artisan district. Day 5-The pirates move into the Farming district. Day 6 -Sargarvians and Olujimi fall into a standstill. -Pirates, AP, and Boggards form a truce of convenience. Day 7– Olujimi activates spear to gain advantage. Day 8 -Sargaravian Government will attempt to recruit the help of the PC’s faction. -Aspis Consortium begins exploring the merchant district while pirates set up supply lines with Boggards. -Pathfinders gain the trust of the humans and begin exploring the district and send out units led by Gelik to the Residential District. They set up an exploration camp in the long tan building just southwest of G1. Day 10 -Aspis Consortium explores E3 and is driven off by the chimeras. Ishirou is captured and they "play" with him. They figure out how to activate Merchant districts spear. Day 15 -Gelick and other Pathfinder’s are captured by Egzimora. Day 16 -Pirates activate Farming spear. They keep reactivating it daily. Day21 -If the Aspis Consortium and the Sargavan Government form a secret pact to assassinate Pathfinder Leaders and the Mantis Leaders. Day 22 -Pathfinders activate the Artisans spear. Unless hindered, they will do this each night Day 25 – If they ally with AP, the Sargaravian Government regroups and attacks the Pathfinders while the AP attacks the Assassins. –The captured government officials finally die in combat. Zakiyya escapes to the Government District. Day 30 –Pirates assume secondary control of the district. (Boggards are now always hostile towards PCs.) – Zakiyya and Akarundo meet and form a “truce” and a plot to destroy the PCs. Day 31 -Ishirou is finally killed by the goat head of the main chimera as it played too rough. Day 35 -Pirates launch an attack with boggards on the Assassins. Pirates have D check of 12 with Boaggards. If pirates win they’ll attack the next day. If they lose the Assassins capture Arys and pirates flee. Day 40 –The remaining Pathfinders that are still in the residential district, and if Egzimora is still alive, fall under her charm and fight for her, until she is defeated. Day 45-Gelick succumbs to the torture and becomes a vegetable man. Day 60– Zakiyya seeks out the PCs if they have not made it to the Government district yet. Day 100- The Pathfinders go to the residential district on a search and rescue. Day 120- If the Pathfinders are still in the residential district, and if Egzimora is still alive, they are all turned into advanced vegetable people.
So if you play up the antagonizism between factions, then the players are more forgiving of the discovered city? Yeah, at least my players have been. Regardless if you play up the antagonism between the faction you're still going to need to spruce stuff up in certain areas. Or just good old fashion improvisation if you're good at that kinda thing. One thing my group has taken to doing is trying to find ways to hinder the other factions or at least trying to instigate them all into killing each other. They go out and explore the city a little then come back to base camp and try to intact some of their plans. Their last idea was to capture/trick some Pathfinders and taking them to the Troglodytes as sacrifices to secure a truce and blaming it on the Consortium. Then again, this is a world where with enough money one can buy a ress spell Exactly! In fact he's already got her back. But this was such a plot hook for his character (and for the party members who cared) that they've almost all forgotten about the Serpent Folk. All they want now is gold and Siry's head.
Alright, well to continue from where I left off. In the instances I have used Siry it's worked out well mainly because although he was involved he wasn't really there. The best example was in "Racing to Ruin" during the ambush in Kalabuto. After the party subdued their attackers, hired thugs from the area, they realized one of them had a bloody sack... inside it was the severed head of the Sargavan PC's wife. With a note from Siry attached to it stating that, "if he didn't turn in the bounty hunter and the map to Tazion the government would kill his children as well." Right now you're either thinking that's an awesome plot hook or just way too brutal. Well it works for our games. We're no party poopers when it comes to realism and and how something should and shouldn't work. However, we tend to stay on the realistic side when it comes to RP and other things of the like. I can understand how this wouldn't work out with some groups. There are a lot of players out there that don't like things happening to their character that they can't control. However, if your players aren't like that exploit their weaknesses this is the lost city of gold and treasure. Make their rival faction try to stop them at any cost. Work within the confines of that faction sure (I doubt the Pathfinders would go around and kill defenseless women and children). And above all add someone the players can really hate. Later on it'll take a lot of the stress away from modding Savinth Yhi. Since they'll be too worried focusing on revenge to notice some of the obvious faults with the city. And you don't even have to make anyone up. The AP provides an excellent amount of NPCs to choose from to spark the ire. There are any of the castaways to use (even if they never became friends with the PCs they may still no a lot about what they're capable of) any of the faction leaders.
So the first major change I've made to the campaign was add a major story villain. Siry Derindi, Jask's son. Basically, one of the character's on the shiv was a bounty hunter and she was escorting Jask back to Sargava for his prison sentence. Along the way on the island her and Jask became friends and she found the documents proving his innocence, However, he met a heroic and bloody end when he sacrificed himself for the party when they went to go save the other castaways from the cannibals. Upon escaping the Shiv she went to the government office to prove his innocence but upon arriving there she was apprehended by Siry. I made him a high ranking government official who was on the verge of proving his fathers innocence. But instead of being able to greet his father off the boat he found that not only did the bounty hunter "that led him to that Gods forsaken island had let him die, but to add insult to injury proved his innocence" something he had been striving all of his life to do. Now he want her and most of the party dead. This has worked out well. It's taken the players away from the whole Serpent Folk plot and has made them focus on their rival and his faction. Which of course is the Sargavan government. They've had numerous encounters with the guy but I've been doing well to make sure the party can't get their hands on him. He's even gone so far as to killing off the wife of a player character (who lived in Eldar). It's really added an extra layer of realism to the game and has been an awesome way to spruce up some of the rival factio n conflicts.
Alright so there are apparently some people on these boards who say that Savinth Yhi is "bland" and "boring". We'll they're absolutely right! That's why there a tons of threads dedicated to changing the city and what-not, however, I'm going to start a new board with a slightly different approach. I
well yeah, I'm not arguing against ninja but the poisoner archetype for rogues give poison use at level 1 as well. Like I said it's really her preference. I'm just trying to make her some viable options so she's not stunted with the vast amount of material.
Here's what I'm thinking so far. If she goes 7th level ninja then she'll have poison use, 3 tricks, and a sneak attack of 4d6 along with 5 feats: Stealthy, Skill focus (Stealth)[major focus on stealth here], combat expertise, gang up, two-weapon fighter if she goes 4 levels fighter and 3 ninja she'll have poison use, a sneak attack of 2d6, and 1 trick. However she'll have 8 feats. Along with those mentioned above we could add improved feint, greater feint, and two weapon feint. Edit: Fighter3/Ninja4, poison use, 2d6 sneak attack, 2 tricks, and 7 feats. I'm thinking this may be her best option at the moment but please lets keep expanding on this list!
PS: I tried using poison as a dual-wielding rogue, and I would NOT try to do it again. Make sure she knows she won't be using poison on every mook to come along, and she'll have to invest heavily if she wants a poison that has any chance of taking down a BBG. Yeah, we've had this conversation with her in the past. The big thing about this character is it's a character she came up with a long time ago for a comic and RP she did. She's one of those people who want that character they made in their minds to work perfectly with a set of limited rules. As for applying poison in combat later on in the game I plan on giving everyone a specialized weapon that works with their character. Her's will be a rapier that can hold multiple doses of poison at a time.
Definitely something to consider but like I said she wants to be in melee as well duel wielding. That's were the levels in fighter came from, to give her the Bab, HD, and feats.
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