Wiggz's page

Thanks, weigh in as much as you want, it keeps me inspired.

My big issue is that my group (5 of us) meet up only twice a year for a long weekend of gaming. We rent a lake house, leave family at home, etc. We've been pals for about 16+ years since the release of World of Warcraft (fellow officers in my old guild). We are from all over the US and one is from Canada.
Some of them drop in a few times a year with /without wives and hang for a short weekend but the full crew/guys weekend/mini-cons are twice a year (that's the plan).
Typically we move through 1 and a half AP volumes in a weekend.
We have a session zero thing this month on discord to figure logistics, and decide if we want to stay with PF or move to D&d (they hate PF2) where we can finish a campaign in 2 or 3 sittings. I have a feeling I may be the tie-breaker.
We are currently discussing an extra meet this September/October (as Covid-19 kept us from playing) or wait till January.

While this particular campaign is a labor of love (and has been for a long time), I can understand the distaste for PF2. I'm actually in the process of converting the campaign above to my own RP system.

I've had a number of ideas for similar expansion or evolution of several of the 5th Ed campaigns that have been released. Hit me up in PM's and let me know what you're looking at if you think that might be the direction you go in.

Spectacular outline. Loved all of it except the twist on Cadrilkasta from Into the Nightmare Rift.

IMC, being that she's a dragon (normally greedy and a former steed of Karzoug) and she possesses the shard of Pride, she wants nothing more than to prevent Karzoug's awakening. She considers herself the new master of Guiltspur and she isn't looking to return to a life of servitude under her former master. She's trying to plunder what she can from Leng (servants or magical items) to bolster her efforts.
Have to admit, she's make a great temporary ally at the end of your campaign as well.

My ROTR campaign stalled when Covid started, but we are looking to get up and running again (but 50/50 that we are moving on to D&D5E). We ended our last session clearing most of Thistletop. We ended just before the last level, they still haven't met Nualia.
It would be so easy to jump onto your campaign, so thanks for the great ideas. It would be nice to do a mix of three campaigns because lord knows I'll be 100 years old before finishing three APs. I have a few different ideas that may vary at certain parts, and I'd probably skip the B team and Lissala in general.
I do like Nualia as a recurring foil, I had plans for her in a similar fashion, yet still loyal to Lamashtu (somewhat like an evil anti-hero), and possibly becoming a proxy late game.

Good Stuff regardless, I enjoy reading your posts.

Our group (in case you were wondering)
Ismar- an Azlanti Pureblood Sorcerer (Arcane Bloodline).
Renalio Gim- a Chelish Paladin (formerly a Fighter) and retired Korvosan city guard.
Razula Mvashti- a half elven Witch (Frost patron) hiding in Sandpoint, fostered by Niska.
Hassgar Umberkey- a tengu Rogue (Unchained) from Magnimar and a former crew member of Orik and Lyrie's on a few past jobs.
Nockmort Hooslehawk- a Gnome Druid (NPC heal/support bot).

There's huge backstory with every PC that will be tied in at various points in the campaign, but it's too much to go into. We also started with Crypt of the Everflame as...

I'm so very pleased to know that someone is reading this - I have a TON of stuff coming and it's a lot of work to sit silent.

To be honest, the inclusion of Into the Nightmare Rift was a late addition, the last one I made, to give the B-team a little more high-level opportunity. As such, I handwaved away any connection between Cadrilkasta and Karzoug to keep things simple. Depending on how the campaign ran (it wasn't part of it the first time I ran it through), I may very well have altered her role in much the manner that you suggest. At this point she is simply the doorway to the illusory shadow magic hellscape that I wanted to introduce.

One of the reasons why I wanted to give the B-team a little more to level them up is because I was toying with the idea of them being recruited by Fenster late in the campaign, convinced to stop Sheila from reforging the Sihedron and I was going to engage in a surprise battle between they and the 'A' team defending Sheila as she attempts to complete the ritual... meaning that many of the players were going to be pitting their characters from one team against their characters from the other, with the survivors being the ones who ultimately completed the final chapter together. I hadn't settled on it for sure - that kind of thing is very dependent on the players themselves - but I thought it was a potentially fun twist.

The 'B' team and Lisalla cult plotline is actually a remnant left over from the original campaign where I had this whole side thing where Black Blades were actually shards of Goddess Lisalla with Sheila and Maladros racing to gather them up... it was pretty cool but easily could have evolved into a campaign itself which would have distracted from the primary narrative, so I gave it up for the 'official' run. The B-team concept worked way too well to abandon, though. I'm sure others would have different experiences/perspectives.

I can understand your frustration with the pandemic interruption... this project is basically my therapy for gaming withdrawal. Thanks for the comments and PLEASE don't be a stranger to this thread. I've got some pretty cool materials and hand-outs planned.

[Post #7: The Runelord Saga - Session 01 "Festival and Fire"]

Characters in my campaign start off at 2nd level (if you wish to start from 1st you will need to adjust some early encounters or perhaps add a bit of assistance from locals when necessary). I discussed their backgrounds with each of them, determining whether or not they are already in town or just arriving - if possible I tried to arrange for all of them to be at the Rusty Dragon the night before, if only to be able to size one another up before the festivities the following day.

The characters who ran through my campaign are listed below - if there is any interest, I can include their actions and discuss how they handled various challenges for each session.

The opening narrative I used for the original campaign can be found here.

The Swallowtail Festival

The first part of this campaign session is the introduction of the PCs to one another and to the town of Sandpoint, specifically through the exploration and participation of all of the events surrounding the Swallowtail festival. It should be run as a Sandbox style adventure, with the GM taking notes as to which NPC's the group shows particular interest in for future detail and expansion. The goal is to get the group as invested in the town as possible and the festival could easily be an entire session itself should the GM's desire or the group's play dictate it so. With a variety of competitions and challenges in the offering, actual combat will likely not be missed.

The complete list of events that take place during the Swallowtail festival can be found here. Any additional events or NPC interactions that the GM wishes to include should also be added to make the most of this experience.

The Goblin Raid

The second part of this campaign session is the actual goblin raid that interrupts the closing dedication of the festival. Given the higher level of the PCs and a number of narrative hooks I wish to include, the encounters during this raid have been expanded significantly. It begins with a round-by-round series of lesser encounters throughout the town square in front of the cathedral, followed by a rescue of several Sandpoint citizens, including Shayliss Vinder, Dodger Hosk and his nephew Mikken as well as the out of town fop Aldern Foxglove.

A detailed list of these encounters may be found here.

Please feel free to post any questions or comments you might have regarding this session below.

[Post #6: The Runelord Saga - Calendar]

Wanted to throw this in real quick - I adapted the Golarion calendar for my campaign and since dates are occasionally referenced I figured I'd include it here.

I don't have it completed, but I'm working on a comprehensive timeline of the campaign showing not just the timeframe that the PC's are expected to reach each milestone but also what all of the various factions and villains are doing while the PC's are making their way through. This timeline will include everything that's happened in the days, months and years preceding the first session. I'll post it once its completed and it will also reference this version of the calendar.

[Post #5: The Runelord Saga - Sandpoint Citizens as NPC's]

I originally created a dozen Sandpoint citizens, most canon, some not, who could be used as pre-generated characters if the players were so inclined. In a few cases, using these characters may require a slight shuffling of early NPC's in the campaign as its been written but nothing too disruptive.

I considered expanding this section significantly, but I think what's been done is a fair enough example for enterprising GM's to add additional characters as they see fit.

A pdf of the characters, including race, class, attributes, background and starting gear can be found here.

And with that, I'm going to start posting session-by-session rundowns of the campaign. The first one is going to be a bit expansive, as it will include all of the various events I have taking place during the Swallowtail Festival, additional encounters during the goblin raid and a bit of role-play ideas to set-up later events. Where possible, I will continue to use links to PDFs as I did above (please let me know if the link does not work for some reason).

EDIT: I had originally intended to include a lot of the images that I use for my campaign, but as most of them were randomly gathered from around the internet and as such there may be potential copyright issues. :(

[Post #4: The Runelord Saga - Campaign Chapter Summary & Session List]

For those familiar with the materials involved, what follows is a (very) rough outline of how the disparate adventures will be tied together.

Listed below are the anticipated sessions required for each chapter of the campaign. I use a milestone levelling system (rather than tracking experience points individually) and the intended party level for each session is included, as are those sessions written specifically for the B-team (*). 75 sessions are my general expectation, though depending on the nature of your group and the pace you set this could ultimately require as many as 90, or as few as 60, even less if the B-team story arc is removed.

[Post #3: The Runelord Saga - Sin Magic & the Shards of the Sihedron]

I've slightly tweaked the various virtues of rulership to better reflect what would become their sinful counterparts and re-oriented them with regards to what aligns with and opposes what.

Sin Magic, as it works in my game, is a feat chain that can be taken by any prepared Arcane caster who meets the pre-requisites. These feats represent not merely a focus on certain magical traditions to the neglect of others, but also an entire philosophy and approach to the magical arts and life as a whole.

The individual Shards are potent magical artifacts and should be treated with care. Mere possession of one imparts a degree of magical potency, as well as specific powers AND limitations on the bearer.

In my next post I'll summarize each of the campaign chapters and include a list of the sessions by character level.

[Post #2: The Runelord Saga - Factional Breakdown]

There are a number of factions involved in the events of the campaign who have been active long before the PC's get involved, some for millenia. To best understand the bigger picture of what is taking place, one must have a good grasp on who these factions are and what their ultimate goal is.

EDIT: Again, please remember that, for the purposes of this campaign, some aspects of Golarion and Varisian history have been re-written, as have some significant canon NPC's within it, such as Sheila Heidmarch.

In the next post, I will explain Sin Magic as it applies to this campaign and detail the new and expanded abilities of the various Shards of the Sihedron.

[Post #1: The Runelord Saga - Overview]

My friends,

Over the years I’ve mentioned numerous times on this board the ‘Runelord Saga’ project that I’ve been working on, based on a campaign that I have now run in its entirety twice. I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with numerous board members privately, outlining or detailing various aspects of the campaign I put together and making suggestions as to how they might tweak their own efforts as well as received a good amount of useful feedback based on their experiences. I feel ready now to present that campaign in long form to any who might be interested in running something similar, who might find various excerpts useful or who might be merely curious. I ran this campaign using a heavily house-ruled version of Pathfinder 1st edition and while I’m considering updating it for Pathfinder 2nd Edition and/or D&D 5th Edition, I don't have any intentions of doing that here.

My intent is to start off with a handful of ‘pre-campaign’ posts which will offer an overview of the campaign itself, a campaign outline, a detailed explanation of the factions already at work when the players find themselves involved, some of the more significant homebrew changes that should be taken into account and a handful of other potentially useful tools and options, like a series of pre-generated characters based on Sandpoint citizens. When necessary, I will include links to self-made documents available on a OneDrive account open to anyone to peruse as they wish. After that, I will then make a post for each of the 75 pre-determined sessions, including a brief summary, how that session is intended to play out, detailed GM notes on changes and additions, links to any documents or player hand-outs and a list of all Pathfinder products referenced in that session. If there’s interest, I will also expand on how things went down in my own campaign(s), using the characters that actually played through it.

EDIT: I wasn’t sure exactly where to place this thread; I selected this one because it revolves primarily around three well-established AP's. If the forum moderators believe this is the wrong venue, please let me know. I invite and welcome any and all comments and questions – for brevity’s sake I won't be going into every minute detail of each session but all of that information is readily available and if anyone has questions or wishes me to elaborate, please ask and I'll be happy to. This particular handle will only be used to make the primary posts in this thread, so while there is the possibility of it becoming quite cluttered with Q&A (hopefully), simply clicking on this alias will allow you to see only the original posts.

In the next post, I will lay out a detailed chapter summary and discuss the various factions involved in the campaign itself.

This looks like a thread necro, but then it seems like pretty much everything is thread necro in these forums nowadays... since I'm about to run a new WotR campaign, I thought they were worth revisiting and I can't help but respond here as the character proved to be an excellent NPC for me, with a little re-write.

So in my game Horgus is Anevia's father and the two have become estranged over Anevia's relationship with Irabeth. She believes that her normally conservative father is a bigot, which is why he opposes their union but, as with all good NPC's, things aren't quite that simple. The truth is that he has always wanted a child to pass on the family business to, to teach everything he has learned and to pass on his legacy and his accumulated wealth. Anevia has shown zero interest in any of that.

But let's back up a bit. There was something I wanted to do with the Mongrelman tribes. Believed to be demon-spawn, when children are born with these hideous deformations, the midwives know by tradition that the 'corrupted' babes are taken away and abandoned at a very specific out-of-the-way well in the city, known by a very few outside the midwives circle as an urban legend referred to in whispers as the 'Well of Sorrows'.

When Anevia was about three, her mother, Horgus' wife, died in childbirth with such a babe. The midwife asked if she should take the babe and Horgus, overcome with grief and loss, demanded that she do so. He never gave the child another thought, but he never got over the death of his wife and he never spoke of the night that she died. He did, however, put pressure on Anevia to become both the woman of the house that his wife had been (with no ability or interest in teaching her how) while simultaneously filling the role of dutiful heir to his business interests. Anevia grew up smart, resilient, multi-talented and absolutely hating her father. When she grew old enough, she left home and the two became estranged, Horgus stoically - and at times bitterly - accepting his daughter's rejection, knowing deep down inside he deserved it while she resented the fact that she had never managed to be good enough for him no matter how hard she tried. Still, Horgus held out hope that when Anevia married that there would be children and one of them would be willing and able to serve as his heir... and possibly bridge the gap between he and his daughter. When she announced her betrothal to another woman (in my campaign the two are simply an interracial lesbian couple), he sees that hope for the future vanish.

So anyway, that conflict plays out in the early part of the adventure, he trying to force his help on her and she wanting nothing to do with him. She frequently accuses him of being a bigot, which he is in an old-fashioned Archie Bunker sort of way, even if his opposition to her wedding has nothing to do with it. A lot of character development takes place when they encounter the Mongrel tribes, he discovers exactly who they are and where they come from and admits the story of the night his wife died. Anevia becomes even more disgusted with him, again failing to see the hurt and ignorance behind his actions, only seeing hate and intolerance, and their relationship worsens further.

As the subplot evolved, Horgus eventually redeems himself and became a champions of the mongrel people, knowing that somewhere among them was possibly his trueborn son. In one dramatic moment he addresses Queen Galfrey in a very public forum, speaking for them in the face of her dismissiveness towards the mongrel tribes, informing her that if she doesn't meet with them, if she doesn't 'see' them for who they are, then her army doesn't eat. In book three, after working some of the PC's into the embattled relationship as friends and confidants on either side, Anevia and Horgus reconcile.

That's the short version, anyway.

Wow, this is great! I'd love to hear more. Should I PM you with a mail address?

So, the "mystery" of RotR is revealed (at least, the return of the runelords) is revealed pretty early?

Also, no follow up regarding Korvosa and Ileosa's misgivings?

Oh, there's much, much more than that, trust me and yes, feel free to pm me any time (along with anyone else who's interested in this discussion).

So the mystery isn't 'revealed' per se, but rather it's hinted at with growing dread. Kind of like the One Ring, Sheila theorizes that the Shards may be starting to surface because they are reacting to their Master's stirring consciousness, but no one knows which ones are waking or how long it will take them... and her theory isn't even actually correct. I've got a whole thing about what's really going on with the Sihedron all laid out.

Heh - you should see what I've got going on with Fenster from Shattered Star, Vol. 1...

One of the things I feel you have to do to make a story truly epic is to not have everything that matters happen right in front of one group of people every time. That's one of the reasons for my 'B-team', but some of the major NPC's also have an important role to play. There is an entire redemption arc for Nualia that carries through the Lady's Light, her eventual sacrifice and rebirth (drawn to Sorshen's malfunctioning clone) and finally into Korvosa where she assumes the role and title of Blackjack after Vencarlo is assassinated. She and Oriana fight their own clandestine war against the Queen's imperialistic intentions, made easier by the devastation caused by the Bloodveil.

Not to give too much away, but probably my favorite moment in the campaign is this scenario that I call 'A Gathering of Eagles' - the giant attack on Sandpoint ends up being much, much bigger, but most of the major NPC's up to that point gather in the defense of the town and I have about a dozen asymmetrical combat encounters planned where the players get to take over various NPC's, from Vin Vender and Daverin Hosk escorting 'mi'lady Heidmarch through the streets to Shalelu and the druids who moved into Thistletop defending the bridges to Oriana and Nualia fighting back-to-back in the very town square that Nualia had once plotted to raze to the ground and so on. I expect some really powerful moments of both victory and sorrow to come from that one.

Thanks.

For starters, how do you get a logical flow with all the parts without it being too railroady ("you're in MAgnimar, now you must go to Korvosa. Now you must go to Hook Mountain. Now you must go to KAer Maga etc.?). It seems somewhat.... crowded? I've been wanting to combine a lot of these adventures as well, but I always end up wanting to cram too much into the story.

Also, how do you keep the slowly unwinding mystery which is a big part of RotR, when chasing the Silhedron and all that that implies?

I started to type this a dozen different ways, but each time it got too long-winded - perhaps this is a better topic for mail? There is just so much detail to go into if I want to give you a proper anser. The short version is that some of it is done for you; remember that events in Rise directly influence events in several other AP's including Crimson Throne, so there is a natural progression that you can start to pick up there. Of course, any epic campaign is going to be somewhat rail-roady, the trick is to make sure you have a logical progression so that It doesn't ~feel~ that way. You will have to trim some elements throughout, naturally, to keep the narrative moving forward.

Alright, here is a tragically condensed outline of the first act, to give you an example of what I'm talking about:

This makes up what I consider the first Act (of three) and could conceivably be played as a stand alone campaign, ending here if the GM wished. It incorporates four AP volumes from three different AP's into a cohesive narrative flow. There are actually several other PFS scenarios seeded here and there, as well as a secondary group of PC's that allow my players an occasional break from their primary characters and gives me the opportunity to flesh out some aspects of the campaign that might otherwise have been missed. These scenarios include The Golemworks Incident and The Cultist's Kiss as well as a couple of my own home-brewed side quests, all of which continue to both refine and expand the scope of the adventure.

That was the shortest that I could make it - I hope it helps to explain some of what I'm doing and inspires many more questions. For what it's worth, the above material would normally be expected to take approximately 30 - 35 sessions, with the full campaign topping out at just below 100. For many groups, this would represent a three-year commitment, if not more.

How does it run as a semi-standalone, actually.

I have this truly phenomenal Runelords campaign that I've put together but I want to work in at least some of Return before running it again. It's centered around the shards of the Sihedron and uses Rise of the Runelords #1 - #6, Shattered Star #2, #3 & #6, Curse of the Crimson Throne #2 and a handful of Season 3 & 4 scenarios from PFS all cobbled together to tell one epic story. Lots of backstory has been re-written, NPC roles expanded to on-going subplots of their own and everything reordered to take place in the same timeline.

I have a spot where I need the group to find the Shard of Pride, around the levels 10th - 12th, and Temple seems to be like the perfect option from a level and thematic standpoint, but how does it play in your opinion? The other options right now are Rise #4 City Outside of Time and Shattered Star #5 Into the Nightmare Rift, but both would have to be much more heavily re-written, I think.

For me, I've always liked the Evangelist Cleric with the Heroism subdomain.

At 8th level they can use the opening round to:

1) Grant everyone in their party Heroism as a swift action.

2) Begin Inspire Courage as a move action.

3) Cast Blessing of Fervor as a standard action.

In a single turn, all of your allies gain:

+6 to attack rolls
+2 to skill checks
+2 to AC
+2 to Fortitude saves
+4 to Reflex saves
+2 to Will saves

And then, of course you can add on to that chassis as you wish...

Thread necro, but I ran Seven Days to the grave as an insert as part of my expanded Runelords campaign. There was a pretty simply fix - the cult of Urgothoa weaponized this disease with the aid of the Red Mantis. In my mind that makes the disease supernatural in its effects which placed it in the realm of Mummy Rot, so I took a cue from the description of that spell.

I made it so that you could save each day to resist the debilitating effects of the disease, but the ONLY way to cure it would be with the casting of a Remove Disease spell. If you fail the initial save, use of the Heal skill can help you fight it off, but without magical aid, you're eventually doomed.

Seemed like an elegant in-game solution to making the plague as terrifying as it deserves to be.

My version of the disease:

Bloodveil (contact or injury)
Save: Fort DC 16
Onset: 1 day
Frequency: 1/day
Effect: 1d3 CON & 1d3 CHA; victim is Fatigued after first failure, Exhausted after second
Cure: Can only be cured through the casting of a Remove Disease spell

What I'm looking for are suggestions or related experiences others might have had for including Lissala in the AP and suggestions on properly themed archetypes or bloodlines or classes or other ideas for the rival party.

A few thoughts, but first some background...

I'm currently running a grand campaign that primarily uses the Rise of the Runelords to tell the Shattered Star story. Its required a little re-work (which I love to do anyway) and it includes the six Runelords volumes as well as volumes 2, 3 & 6 of Shattered Star and volume 2 of Curse of the Crimson Throne, 'Seven Days to the Grave'. Its really come out spectacularly.

I've also created an entire subplot that might appeal to you - the background (in condensed form) is that a separate group which has infiltrated the Aspis Consortium is using their resources to gather the Shards themselves, with a specific intent on using their combined might to fully resurrect Lissala. To aid in that subplot, I'm including a half-dozen or so Pathfinder Society scenarios which mostly take place around Kaer Maga, dovetailing nicely with the Asylum Stone. If you want to flesh out your cult of Lissala side-plot, these are the scenarios you should consider - all are available for download and are relatively inexpensive. Among other things, they'll get another Runelord (and high priest of Lissala) to fight - I highly recommend that you give them a look.

PFS Scenario 3-26 "Portal of the Sacred Rune"

PFS Scenario 4-08 "The Cultist's Kiss"

PFS Scenario 4-10 "Feast of Sigils"

PFS Scenario 4-12 "The Refuge of Time"

PFS Scenario 4-20 "Word of the Ancients"

PFS Scenario 4-26 "The Waking Rune"

I do use a handful of other PFS scenarios to flesh out my story, but these were the ones that seemed specifically suited to your intended purpose.

In my particular campaign, the 'nemesis party' isn't competing with the group to find the Shards first so much as pursuing/tracking them and choosing opportune moments to try and steal, barter or take them by force along with any information they might have to find the others. Its led to some interesting situations including one very memorable three-way fight with a batch of Kreeg Ogres. Of course, my rival group was hired by Queen Illeosa of Korvosa (under the influence of the waking Sorshen rather than any old dusty set of dragon bones), but you can obviously introduce and purpose them however you see fit.

A few things to keep in mind - you want these characters to be recurring characters, so you need to build in encounters including gear or abilities that will allow one or more of them to be able to reliably make their escape. You'll also want to give them some 'reusable' assets. My initial group was made up of an Inquisitor of Lissala, a Hellknight commander with three Hellknight subordinates (natural allies) and a Red Mantis Assassin. The next time the group met, the three Hellknights (whom had been slain) had been resurrected as undead Ragewights (though with full armor), and the time after that, the dead Cavalier and undead Hellknights were replaced with a Summoner and his potential horde of minions. The Mantis Assassin would eventually return as a Revenant, and so on. Just something to keep in mind.

If you have any questions about my campaign or want to bounce ideas for yours off of me, feel free to message me any time.

Good morning. :)

I'm building a Sorcerer for PFS and planning out my spell list level by level, though for brevity's sake, I'll just list my final spell list at 11th. I haven't played PFS beyond 6th (and then only once), so any thoughts or suggestions would be most welcome.

Some spells like Daze, Color Spray and Create Pit are taken but are eventually swapped out. I plan on taking Toppling Spell with Magical Lineage early on to get more utility out of Magic Missile.

FWIW, This is not a character focusing on outrageous spell DC's in one particular school nor trying to go all in on a single spell loaded with ridiculous metamagics (i.e. Quickened Dazing Fireball). Rather, he's trying to be more of a generalist, focusing on spells that provide utility, buffs for his allies and battlefield control. As a Wildblooded (Sylvan) Sorcerer, he will have an Animal Companion and as a Human, will be gaining bonus spells as his FCB, 4th - 11th level.

Greetings.

I significantly re-wrote pretty much the entire campaign, but the initial impetus for this was to switch around many of the events in Books 5 and 6. I did this because I believed that the battle against an invading Chelish armada would make for a much better epic finale than going after Bonefist.

I'd be happy to discuss the entire re-write in as much detail as you'd like but the abridged version of these two books went as follows:

Book 5
Part One: Blood in the Water
Only minor changes.

Part Two: Islands of the Damned
Only minor changes.

Part Three: The Black Tower
Replaced this with the PC's aiding/leading a revolution on the island of Bag's End, revealing that Bonefist had knowledge of and even profited from the sale of slaves from that island.

Part Four: Harrigan Must Die
This was replaced with Part Two and Three from Book Six where the PC's assaulted Fort Hazard and the Sea Caves of Lucrehold. They succeeded in finally ousting Bonefist, clearing the way for a new Hurricane King (Tessa Fairwind). While this was happening, the assault on their home island by Harrigan took place and hostages were taken.

Book 6
Part One: The Chelish Armada
This was bumped to the end(see below) and the assault on Harrigan from book five was inserted here. After Harrigan's defeat, concrete proof of his complicity with Cheliax was found along with the revelation that Cheliax agents had infiltrated the Cult of the Eye and manipulated the Master of Gales into finally dissipating the Eye of Abendego... with a Chelish invasion fleet waiting on the other side.

Part Two and Three
This is where the final battle against the Chelish Fleet takes place. The group is unable to stop the Master of Gales in time and the battle is joined between the much larger armada and the PC's and their allies. During the battle, the Master of Gales sacrifices his life to bring the hurricane back... it returns gradually, adding a heightened sense of drama to the battle.

A lot of these changes were optional on my part. Really, the biggest thing you'll need to do is adjust the encounter challenge levels to match your party's current abilities, but that's really a case-by-case basis thing. Is there anything in particular that you were concerned about?

As an alternate to using weapons as Bonded Items, I've been toying around with the concept of Weapon Familiars and, I have to say, its worked out surprisingly well. I'm posting the (current) iteration of those rules here for comment, critique and hopefully adoption into some of your campaigns.

I wanted to keep the weapon version of Familiars as close to the original base version as possible. At present I'm not allowing for archetypes (though that could certainly be an expansion of the house rules at some point). Flavor-wise, this could be seen as a spirit summoned into an item, and thus transferrable as a character acquires a more powerful weapons. These rules could also apply to shields or other objects with relatively minor adjustment.

House Rules: Weapon Familiar

Intelligent Weapon: Intelligence as per Familiar
Hit Dice & Hit Points: as per Familiar
Natural Armor: Increases Hardness instead, as per Familiar
Saving Throws: uses Familiar’s base save bonus or Master’s as per familiar; instead of ability modifiers the weapon’s effective enhancement bonus is applied to all
Skills: Cannot perform skills (see Aid Master); uses Master’s skill ranks; instead of ability modifiers the weapon’s effective enhancement bonus is applied to all
Alertness: grants the Alertness feat to it's Master when wielded
Weapon Sense: replaces Empathic Link; the wielder can always sense exactly where his weapon is (distance and direction), provided it is within 1 mile. Its Master may use the weapon or its location as a target for Scrying and similar divination spells and effects.
Deliver Touch Spells (@ 3rd): as the Magus’ Spellstrike class feature
Speak with Master (@ 5th): gains Telepathy 100’ (with Master only)
Spell Resistance (@ 11th): gains Spell Resistance as per Familiar and grants it to its Master as well when wielded
Scry on Familiar (@ 13th): as per Familiar

Aid Master: replaces Improved Evasion, Share Spells and Speak with Animals of its Kind; When wielded, the weapon may attempt to Aid Another (Master only) once per round on its Master's turn.
@ 1st level - Attack roll vs. AC 10 using Master’s BAB and its own enhancement bonus (if any) to grant +2 to one attack that round or +2 to AC vs. one attack.
@ 5th level - Skill check vs. DC 10 using Master’s skill ranks and its own enhancement bonus (if any) to grant +2 to any skill check.

Now this might technically a nerf when compared to a straight up Familiar - after all, it can't effectively scout for you, can't benefit from Archetypes or Familiar feats, can't make attacks, can't provide Flanking, can't perform skills on its own, doesn't have its own senses and doesn't provide that initial bonus that all Familiar's provide, but it does offer a number of unique abilities in keeping with its theme and concept and thus far no one has seemed to mind.

A few quick definition clarifications:

When wielded = when in hand and able to be used.

Effective enhancement bonus = total enhancement bonus, i.e. a +1 Flaming Keen Longsword has a +3 effective enhancement bonus. A Weapon Familiar can have no enhancement bonus at all.

These Familiars are dissimilar from Pathfinder's rules for Intelligent weapons, as the weapon's alignment matches it's Master's, it has no Ego, speaks no languages, reads no languages nor does it Read Magic and the it only shares its Master's senses.

One idea I'm currently toying with is the idea of an Improved Weapon Familiar feat which effectively makes it function as a Bonded Item on top of its other abilities.

The main thing you have going for you is that the group doesn't have a clue how it is 'supposed' to go. If things start getting really rough, simply back off on the haunts - treat a few as if the group automatically made their saves and they just experience the visions.

Sir Thugsalot wrote:

It's hard to bring down a Fey Foundling/Greater Mercy paladin with Bracers of the Merciful Knight swift-topping himself off every round for 6d6+17 LoH as early as 6th level.

Especially if that Paladin is a chosen one and has a familiar that can use your own Lay on Hands to heal you if a swift action is not enough to keep you healed.

...with the Protector archetype buffing his AC and giving him a well of extra HP to draw on.

What other things help smooth out this potential group / game ending class? Has anyone had similar issues happen with Cavaliers / Clerics etc? It only ever seems to come up with Paladins...

Best thing I ever did with Paladins - and they are popular in my groups - was to turn the class from 'holy warriors' to more of an avatar of alignment. We have Paladins of Good, Paladins of Evil, of Law and of Chaos. By restricting them to only one branch of the alignment compass, it opens up a tremendous amount of flexibility and game play.

The analogy I use is Batman and the Joker - both as Paladins of Chaos, but one good aligned and one evil aligned. Both disregard the rules, the laws of men and even conventional thinking, but the end result is very, very different.

It takes a very minor change to the Class rules, basically just by re-wiring any instances of 'Evil' (like Detect Evil or Smite Evil) with the appropriate opposite alignment. A Paladin of Law would have Detect Chaos and Smite Chaos, for instance.

Its turned a very restrictive and awkward class to play into a host of diverse options and inspirations and has added a lot to the group.

Great question, no matter how many times its asked - I always love to read the responses, and I'm always pleasantly surprised at some of the answers.

Big Sorcerer fan here as well. I just can't STAND to play prepared casters and with the Human Favored Class Bonus you can really build on a concept without feeling limited at all.

Since I GM almost exclusively I get to build tons and tons of different characters and play each one a little bit. In the rare instances that I get to play, I'd say my favorite options, just barely beating out many others, would be either:

Human Sorcerer (Wildblooded Sylvan) with the FCB that grants additional spells known and the full Eldritch Heritage feat tree (Arcane Bloodline) to eventually gain an Improved Familiar (Faerie Dragon) and an Animal Companion as well as the additional bonus spells known.

or

Half-Elven Summoner (Master Summoner).

Since both options are pet/summons heavy, I have to pick and choose the rare chances I get to play them, considering whether they would be table-appropriate. Failing that, the runner-ups who round out my personal top 10 would be (in no particular order):

Human Bard (Dawnflower Dervish)
Tiefling Paladin (Oath of Vengeance, Oath Against Fiends)
Elven Magus (Hexcrafter)
Half-Elven Oracle (Desna, Ancient Lorekeeper w/Heavens Mystery)
Halfing Swashbuckler (Inspired Blade) with a dip into Halfling Opportunist
Human Barbarian (Invulnerable Rager, Urban Barbarian) with a dip into Unbreakable Fighter
Human Ranger (Guide, Divine Tracker)
Dwarven Cleric (Azathoth, Evangelist with Madness domain)

Naturally each have their own quirks, their own lush and detailed backgrounds which I'm certain is of interest only to me, but... the truth is, I often end up 'loaning' these builds out to fellow players, so the characters themselves actually see much more time at the table than I do, mores the pity.

Building a Heavens Oracle (Ancient Lorekeeper) for a RotRL run and I have a few questions about how some of this works. First off, the text of the rules in question:

Awesome Display: Your phantasmagoric displays accurately model the mysteries of the night sky, dumbfounding all who behold them. Each creature affected by your illusion (pattern) spells is treated as if its total number of Hit Dice were equal to its number of Hit Dice minus your Charisma modifier.

It seems pretty straightforward until the seemingly unnecessary insertion of the term 'total number of Hit Dice'. Let's say that I take the spell Loathsome Veil as one of my bonus spells via Ancient Lorekeeper...

Loathsome Veil: This spell creates a transparent veil of shifting, multicolored strands of light that form into endlessly varied and alien patterns. One side of the veil, chosen by you at the time of casting, is harmless. The other side twists and turns into impossible shapes, affecting any creature with 60 feet who views the veil. The veil affects a maximum of 24 Hit Dice of creatures. Creatures with the fewest HD are affected first. Among creatures with equal HD, those who are closest to the spell are affected first. The effect is according to the creature’s HD.

A successful saving throw ignores all effects of the veil. Sightless creatures are not affected by loathsome veil. Affected creatures can avert or close their eyes to avoid seeing the veil, similar to avoiding a gaze attack.

So, as a for instance, when an Oracle with a 20 Charisma (+5 mod) casts this spell where it would potentially affect 24 creatures of 6 HD each, the following questions:

How many of those creatures would the spell affect? All 24, since 6 HD minus the Oracles CHA mod (+5) equals 1, and 24 x 1 equals 24 HD? Or would it just affect the 4 closest with Awesome Display only being considered when determining what type of effect the spell has?

What would be the actual effect? Would it be the entry for 4 HD or fewer since 6 HD minus the Oracles CHA mod (+5) equals 1? Or would it be the entry for 8 HD or fewer with Awesome Display only being considered when determining the number of creatures affected by the spell?

Finally, a question specific to Loathsome Veil itself - the effect is described as follows:

"transparent pattern 40 ft. long, 20 ft. high"

Can that pattern be shaped, as a wall, or is it more like a single sheet? Could I, for instance, make a circle around me (effectively a circle with a 2 square/10' radius with me inside of it)? Does the Veil have to be vertical? Could I lay it along a ceiling or floor, or in the open sky, for example? Does it have a 'thickness', i.e. would it run along the edge of a square or would it be considered to fill a square along its length?

Finally, does the veil create any sort of cover or concealment? Can those standing on the 'good' side of the veil see through to those on the other side without impairment and, regardless of whether they make their saving throws, can those on the bad side see through it without difficulty as well?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

As part of my horror campaign I have a side quest in an abandoned mine/hall of a dwarven clan. I know that all the dwarves suddenly disappeared, but i haven't decide what caused this.

What do you think would be the scariest reason for 250 dwarves suddenly disappearing?

I always thought that Wendigo scenario in Rise of the Runelords had potential... might be something worth tapping into, and cannibalism is certainly horror-worthy.

At least, I think that I do.

I'm working on solidifying an epic campaign that combines the events of Shattered Star, Curse of the Crimson Throne and Rise of the Runelords as well as several PFS scenarios and some homebrew stuff. Without getting too much into detail here, there are several factions involved that the PC's will get caught up in and two of them are associated with a major subplot surrounding the return of Lissala.

Short version - Lissala's essence was shattered into hundreds of pieces and given physical form with a vestige of sentience; those fragments form what we know today as the Black Blades, though even the majority of their wielders are unaware of the weapon's true nature. Originally the Cultists of Lissala had infiltrated the Aspis Consortium under the auspices of two major up-and-comers, Sheila Heidmarch and (insert name here). Their plan was to discover the resting place of Krune, her last known high priest, and revive him, but the more Sheila learned of the Runelords and her research into the Sihedron, the more she believed that the Runelords time was done and that when the Goddess returned she would be better served by an administrator from the modern era - ideally, herself. She broke with the Cult and struck out on her own, joining the Pathfinder Society and using her personal knowledge to strike numerous blows against the Aspis Consortium, simultaneously setting back her rivals and gaining prestige and influence in the Society. Now, in Varisia, she is in a race to gather the pieces of the Sihedron and see it re-forged, believing that it will give her the power to resurrect the Goddess before the Aspis Consortium, under the direction of her rival is able to find and revive Krune. Its important to remember that both of them are devotees of the fallen Goddess and are only using the resources of their respective organizations to secretly advance their own goals.

Obviously, I've had to re-write and rebuild Sheila significantly (Arcanist, Blade Adept archetype), and I'll have to do the same thing with her rival, preferably a Gold Agent. I could invent someone from scratch but I thought it would be fun to take an existing name and character that's relatively well-established and give him a similar treatment. I'm not very well versed on the Aspis Consortium or the major players on the PFS stage, so I figured I'd ask and see if anyone could offer up some names of what would be likely candidates for this role... I've already introduced Maiveer Sloane as Sheila's opposite number in Magnimar, but I'd prefer to leave him an Aspis loyalist who opposes the Pathfinder Society on principle, unaware of the secret struggle going on.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

To the OP... not long ago I restricted full-casters from my game, allowing only martials and partial casters and reserving Clerics, Wizards, etc. for as key NPC's and villains. Its worked spectacularly well and I've never looked back.

Looks like the PC is creating a harem. ;)

In our campaign Shayliss ends up being a victim of Aldern and is taken back to the Misgivings where the PC's eventually rescue her. She is so traumatized by these events that she stops being such a flipskirt and finds solace in the church, ultimately becoming a priestess of Desna under Father Zantus' tutelage. Don't be in a rush to have the NPC's all join up...let them evolve a bit and then join for their own reasons - it'll make the game world feel more real, more 'lived-in'.

The best example of the kind of PC Shayliss might be is the character of Tika from Dragonlance - she was even a redhead.

Also in our campaign Nualia actually becomes a part-time member of the party after a series of events which lead to her eventual death, redemption and resurrection (kind of).

Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan wrote:

And, as has been pointed out, in answer to the OP, "Increased DR" as a rage power, clearly works with the Invulnerable Rager's DR, since the original source is quoted about as showing they are intended to go together.

And that was recently FAQ'ed too so Increased DR doesn't work with Invulnerable Rager. The line about the power complementing the archetype is slated to be removed in the next errata.

This is exactly the kind of thing that has me wondering if Paizo is trying to get me to hate Pathfinder...

I'm looking at some ideas I've heard proposed and cobbling them together... I've got some questions about how exactly some of the rules interact and whether or not it would all be considered PFS-legal.

First, the build...

So, a few questions:

Presumably there is no problem with the mechanic of the Valet familiar archetype allowing the Tumor familiar to grant the benefits of Amplified Rage & Fighting Frenzy. I am curious however, whether the benefit from Skald's Vigor grants Fast Healing 2 (Skald Raging Song STR bonus of +2), Fast Healing 4 (Bloodrager Rage STR bonus of +4), Fast Healing 6 (Skald's Raging Song STR bonus of +2 and +4 from Amplified Rage) or Fast Healing 8 (Bloodrager's Rage STR bonus of +4 and +4 from Amplified Rage).

Will Raging Vitality allow Skald's Vigor to heal me from negative hit points back to consciousness?

Does the healing from Skald's Vigor count as 'magical healing' for the purposes of activating the feat Fast Healer? If so, would it boost the existing Fast Healing by the appropriate amount (half my CON bonus)?

Will Finish the Fight activate if someone is injured due to the effects of the Fiend Totem Rage Power?

How does Improved Familiar work with the Valet archetype? If I pursued this option would I lose my Teamwork benefits?

With Tusked and Lesser Fiend Totem, a full attack action at 8th level with Haste/Allegro running would basically be BAB +6/+6/+1 then +1 (Gore) and +1 (Bite), correct?

Is the 'Furious' weapon quality triggered by Raging Song?

Any other advice or considerations would be much appreciated as well...

Its apparently equivalent to a +4 weapon bonus I which is hugely expensive (48,000 gold at a minimum on a +1 weapon). Yes, the weapon ignores armor and shield bonuses which means that it is particularly effective against humanoids and a very few others, but grants no benefit against the vast majority of foes you might meet and is actually useless against undead and constructs... so you have a weapon that's very effective against maybe 25% of the foes you fight, grants no benefit whatsoever against maybe 60% of the foes you fight and is rendered useless against maybe 15% of your opponents (%'s are mine). How is that better than Speed or even Keen for that matter?

I've mitigated it somewhat by making it something you can 'activate' as a swift action until the beginning of your next turn, but it still seems vastly overvalued to me.

What if you were Enlarged at the time the spell was cast, and a Greatsword you carried enlarged with you at the time?

Also, though it specifically states 'swords', can anyone see a problem with allowing any standard melee weapon in place of a sword? This spell may see some real use in an upcoming campaign against giants, where presumably any number of over-sized weapons will be lying around both during and after combat.

If a caster is standing next to a weapon belonging to a defeated foe (and thus technically 'unattended'), would it be a move action to 'acquire' the weapon before the spell could be cast, or would merely touching it or even being within range of the spell be adequate?

Finally, the way the spell reads it could be interpreted as you 'firing' all of the swords at once and having to make a ranged attack roll with each one to hit - since the duration is instantaneous - or as you making attacks using your BAB as normal (and consuming actions to do it, i.e. 1 attack as a standard action, possibly multiple attacks as a full action action if you have iteratives available) - which is the correct interpretation? If the latter, do you keep the swords indefinitely floating overhead until you choose to use them, possibly stacking multiple castings of the spell?

Storm of Blades: You create floating swords of the type used as the material component for this spell (such as a rapier or scimitar) and magically propel them at your target. You can create one sword for every 2 caster levels that you possess, up to a maximum of five swords at 10th level. You must have line of effect between you and the target, and the target must be within the spell’s range. You make a ranged attack roll for each sword (with no penalties for range increments or using melee weapons as ranged weapons); each attack has the same threat range and critical modifier and deals the same damage as a standard sword of the type expended. Swords created by this spell disappear after striking (or missing) their targets.

Afternoon, all.

I've been working on an alternate system for hit points and healing to use in my campaign(s). Magical healing tends to be much less available in my games (typically a 'low magic' world), particularly if one of the players can't supply it themselves. As fate would have it, none of my current players have any real interest in playing such a character so that's that.

My thought would be for players to be able to go from fight to fight without being completely hamstrung from lack of a steady healing option, but at the same time for them not to be able to shrug off terrible wounds that would normally be enough to kill 4 or 5 horses. I took a page from the philosophy that all those extra hit points are really representative of a character's ability to avoid serious harm, to make what would be fatal wounds into nicks and scrapes, etc. This is what I've come up with and I'd appreciate any insight or thoughts regarding things I may have overlooked.

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Hit Points & Damage:
Damage from Critical Hits, Sneak Attacks, Bleed effects and failed saving throws are considered 'Lethal' damage; all else is considered 'Non-Lethal'.

Lethal damage heals at a rate of the character’s CON modifier per each extended rest (8 hour minimum) or at a rate of their character level x their CON modifier per each full day of rest (no combat or use of physical skills, any damage taken that day ruins any healing for the day).

Non-Lethal damage heals at a rate of 50% after a short rest (5 or 10 minutes minimum) or 100% after an extended rest (8 hour minimum). This healing cannot exceed the character’s hit point total minus their current amount of lethal damage - effectively lethal damage reduces the maximum number of hit points a character has until its repaired.

Characters reduced to 0 hit points or lower as a result of non-lethal damage fall unconscious and regain their hit points at a rate of 1/round. When they reach 1, they regain consciousness and can again act normally.

Characters reduced below 0 hit points or lower as a result of lethal damage fall unconscious and begin to die. They must make a Fortitude save every round (DC = number of HP below 0) to stay alive. They can be stabilized (brought to 0) through healing magic or through use of the Heal skill.

Magical healing targets lethal damage first. Spells that grant Temporary Hit Points effectively affect lethal damage, not non-lethal.

The Heal skill provides the following benefits:

If the healer makes a DC 10 skill check, the wounded character can add 1 to their CON mod when determining how much Lethal damage they recover after an extended rest or a full day of rest. For every 5 or more the Healer exceeds the check, they may add 1 more to the wounded character’s CON mod up to a maximum equal to the healer’s WIS mod. These Healing checks require a minimum of 10 minutes, can be made once before or during each rest and its benefits apply to that rest only.

A Healer can make a skill check to stabilize a wounded character (DC 10 + number of HP below 0). They can make this check once per round as a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Success brings that character to 0 HP.

A Healer can make a skill check to identify a poison or disease (DC equal to the save DC) by examining someone afflicted with it.

A Healer can make a skill check to grant an additional save against the effects of a poison or disease (DC equal to the save DC). This check may be made once in the case of a poison as a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity or once per day in the case of a disease by administering a minimum of 10 minutes of care.

---

Abilities and class features that affect what a character can do when reduced to 0 hit points or lower (like Ferocity) are to be handled on a case by case basis.

These rules would theoretically be used for significant foes and villains, but for convenience sake not with run-of-the-mill grunts and minions.

Example:

Hector the Fighter has 100 hit points. His first encounter he takes 40 points of damage, none of it qualifying as lethal. He and his companions take a short rest and he heals up to 80/100. The next encounter he takes another 40 hit points of damage, this time 20 of it lethal, putting him at 40/80. After another short rest, that goes up to 60/80. The next battle sees him take a wicked critical for 40 lethal damage and another 25 non-lethal, putting him at -5/40. He falls unconscious but stabilizes after five rounds (0/40). His companion casts False Life upon him, granting him 15 temporary hit points which bring him to 15/55 and another short rest raises that to 35/55... at least for the time being, but when the spell wears off Hector will still have 60 hit points of lethal damage to recover, either through rest or magical healing. An extended rest at this point (8 hours of sleep) would allow him to recover his CON modifier + whatever his companion is able to offer through use of the healing skill in lethal damage and 100% of his remaining non-lethal damage.

Thoughts?

This is my first attempt at a Swashbuckler, but I am really intrigued by the class. The build below should be suitable for both PFS play and homebrew games, and I'd appreciate a general critique from those of you playing such a character (including missed legality issues with PFS) as well as any input on some of the specific questions below - thanks in advance!
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Illyrio Silversliver
Halfling 17th level Inspired Blade / 2nd level Brawler / 1st level Urban Barbarian
FCB for Swashbucklers (+1/4 uses of Charmed Life per day)

Attributes:
STR - 7 (-2)
DEX - 18 (+4) [+1 @ 4th, 8th, 12th & 16th]
CON - 14 (+2)
INT - 14 (+2)
WIS - 7 (-2)
CHA - 16 (+3)

Racial Traits:
Fleet of Foot (30' movement; replaces Slow Speed & Sure-Footed)
Small sized (+1 to attack rolls, +1 to AC, +4 to Stealth checks & -1 to CMB and CMD)
Halfling Luck (+1 to saving throws)
Keen Senses (+2 Perception checks)
Skulker (+1 attack against foes who lose their Dexterity bonus to AC; replaces Fearless & Weapon Familiarity)

Traits:
Fencer (+1 attack when making AoO's)
Irrepressible (use CHA modifier instead of WIS modifier on saves vs. Charm or Compulsion effects)

Feats:
1st Sw1 - Weapon Focus: Rapier, Weapon Finesse (Rapier only), Fencing Grace
2nd Sw2
3rd Sw3 - Combat Reflexes
4th Sw4 - Weapon Specialization: Rapier
5th Sw5 - Improved Initiative, Improved Critical: Rapier
6th Br1 - Improved Unarmed Strike, [Martial Flexibility 4/day]
7th Bn1 - Extra Rage, [Focused Rage, Crowd Control]
8th Sw6
9th Sw7 - Greater Weapon Focus: Rapier
10th Sw8 - Critical Focus
11th Sw9 - Sickening Critical
12th Sw10
13th Sw11 - Greater Weapon Specialization: Rapier, [Evasion, Uncanny Dodge, Improved Uncanny Dodge]
14th Sw12 - Lunge
15th Br2 - Staggering Critical, Critical Mastery
16th Sw13
17th Sw14 - Stunning Critical
18th Sw15
19th Sw16 - Extra Panache, Extra Rage
20th Sw17

Skills:
Acrobatics* (1-20)
Diplomacy* (odd levels)
Escape Artist* (1-20)
Intimidate* (1-20)
Knowledge: Local* (even levels)
Knowledge: Nobility* (1)
Perception* (1-20)
Stealth (2-20)

* class skill

Questions:

Should I swap out Skulker (+1 attack against foes who lose their Dexterity bonus to AC) with Underfoot Dodger (crowds are not difficult terrain, +5 Acrobatics checks to move through the spaces of larger foes)? I'm not very familiar with using Acrobatics in combat, and I don't know how often either ability would prove useful.

I absolutely love the Irrepressible trait for both flavor and mechanics, but taking into account that the Fencer trait would apply to Opportune Parry and Riposte, is there a better option out there that I'm overlooking? Would it be worth a Trait to make Stealth a class skill, considering that I'm basically maxing that out?

I dipped Brawler because I feel like being able to take any combat feat I qualify for 4/day is just too useful not to take advantage of. Whether its Deflect Arrows, Risky Striker, Blind-Fight Weapon Versatility, Combat Stamina - it really does open up a whole bag of tricks, and the dip doesn't disrupt my Fighter level progression for the purpose of Fighter-only feats.

I dipped Urban Rager because I like the versatility of Focused Rage, thought Crowd Control would serve the character well and couldn't turn down the mechanical advantage of increasing Dex AND having a Furious weapon become an available option. Initially I'll only have 12 rounds of Rage, but that should be good for at least two combats a day if not three, and its not often you see more than that, especially in PFS.

I'm strongly considering dipping yet another class - Cavalier - because it suits the character concept so well and might provide a better mechanical option than yet another level of Swashbuckler. At the moment I'm thinking Order of the Dragon for the benefits it would provide the group, or Order of the Flame that I might maximize my limited Challenge use with Glorious Challenge. The twofold question is, is it worth it to bump things like Rapier Training, Nimble, Charmed Life, etc. down another level and if so, when would be the ideal time to take it? Up until 15th level everything is carefully balanced to be able to take each feat at the very first moment it would be available (Brawler and Swashbuckler levels counting as Fighter levels), and after 15th level, is it really too late to be worried about the benefits Cavalier might get me? My thought was to take Seize the Moment as my teamwork feat (Tactician) and really have fun with my criticals, but again, that's just 1 use per day.

Any better feat options out there than Lunge at 14th level? I thought about Risky Striker, but figured I could take via Martial Flexibility as needed. I considered trying to work up the Spring Attack tree or the Dazzling Display tree, but nothing seemed to fit with the rest of what I was trying to do. I take it that since Power Attack and Piranha Strike are both out, there are no other solid damage boosting options out there? Alternatively, I could take Combat Expertise, opening up a variety of additional feats for Martial Flexibility... or would Crane Style be worth pursuing in this build?

Regarding skills, is Intimidate worth pursuing considering that Menacing Swordplay eats up a swift action and I take a pretty hefty penalty for being small (-4 I believe)? It seems too good to pass up without a second look. Also, is Acrobatics a worthwhile investment for the character? He should be without an armor penalty for most of his career and there are some bonuses out there to be had...

When it comes to gear I'm looking at the usual - mithril chain shirt, cloak of resistance, belt of dexterity, headband of charisma, eventually winged boots, etc. I'm planning on taking a Furious weapon as soon as I am able, but that leaves me wondering whether or not the Answering quality is worth pursuing as well. It seems you get diminishing returns as the weapon improves (doesn't stack with additional enhancement bonuses or even Furious) and if you have anything beyond a +1 Answering weapon you're wasting your coin. Sound right? I assume Swordmaster's Flair comes as a set of four with the initial 2,500 gp cost and are not calculated separately? If there are any other ideally suited magic items that I've overlooked, please let me know.

I know I've dumped a ton of stuff in here, and if you've gotten this far you already have my thanks. Any advice or (helpful) criticism would be most welcome.

Two that I haven't seen mentioned but that I personally love:

Halfling Opportunist, because Exploitative Maneuver is just plain awesome in its potential. I wish the class were limited to small size characters (like Goblins and Gnomes) and not just Halflings.

Living Monolith, in part because a 1 level dip gives you a self-only Enlarge Person as a swift action 1/day (along with a host of other things) but also in part because an all-Dwarven party venture into the Emerald Spire resulted in re-flavoring this class and merging it into Dwarven culture as a sort of bloodline of sacred guardians and champions. Make a few minor changes, like summoning earth elementals instead of sphinxes and the sphinx language requirement with Terran instead, and you've got a fantastically flavorful Dwarven prestige class...

My Tiefling Paladin is about to hit 8th level and I'm trying to decide the best way to go with his remaining levels. FWIW, he's taking the Oath of Vengeance & Holy Guide archetypes. Should I stick with Paladin or dip into Oracle? If Oracle, which Mysteries would be the best fit? Is there something other than Oracle that I should be considering?

He's been damned effective up to this point, and I want to make the best informed choices moving forward.

Yes. My players love their die rolled stats, and in the interests of everyone having fun, I am loathe to take away one of their favorite toys. They have a system where everyone rolls a set of six stats, and then we pool all of those stats together into one giant mess and negotiate with one another to draw from the pool for our own characters. On the one hand, this approach ensures that you don't have a huge power discrepancy between characters, leaving that one player who rolled like crap feeling like crap; on the other hand, it contributes well to optimization, since the wizard doesn't have to roll his own 18 int, the sorceror his own 18 Cha, etc. They can just take mediocre stats and effectively min max from the pool.

That's an interesting system, I haven't heard anything like that.

Biggest problem I have with rolled stats is that they are almost never the actual 'random' rolls they are supposed to be. No player wants to play a character gimped from the start due to bad rolls and no GM wants to force him to either... and what we end up with once the option of poor is eliminated is, more often than not, something fairly ridiculous. Think about on these boards how often we hear about how 'lucky' players got and how high all their stats are - its pretty much constant - but almost never hear stories about trying to make a 7, two 8's, a 10, a 12 and a 13 work or how much fun it was to play such a character. Those characters almost never seem to actually make it to the table...

Point buys have saved both them and me the aggravation, and I've never met a group who was openly opposed to them. It actually seems to have become the norm now.

Honestly, one of the best 'fixes' I've read for M/C disparity is upping caster times. Standard Actions become full rounds, full rounds become two rounds or a full minute. Small price to pay for being able to shape the universe to your will...

Sorry, I'm with Cap here. I went into the modules all enthused because I'm a fan of the old TSR module series Against the Giants. And... this AP fell flat. It just never really drew me in.

Not all APs do. Reign of Winter and Rise of the Runelords are the two that truly caught my imagination. Hell's Rebels has done so as well. But some of the APs just fumble the ball, like GS, WotR, and SD.

I think a lot of it can be what you make of it... the AP's as presented are, to me, a starting point. With the characters we made, Wrath of the Righteous really came alive - sure, we ditched the Mythic rules, but that seemed like the right choice from the get-go... a little adjustment of the backstory, a few tweaks here and there and it played like a dream.

Giantslayer looked a little generic on the surface, but again, its what the group makes of it. We created an all Half-Orc party patterned after the movie 'Four Brothers' that tied into the opening book really well, and it became more about the group and character development than the novelty of the adventure. To that end, it worked out superbly. It was very exciting and very rewarding, though I'll admit we didn't get past the fourth book, gaming groups being what they are.

I get that some who want to run an AP as written, who don't have the time or the energy to re-write it as needed, to fix what needs fixing in some cases... they might find this adventure or that one less appealing, but every campaign has passionate fans and every campaign has detractors... kinda tough for me to write one off knowing that others have enjoyed it immensely. For instance, Iron Gods and - I suspect - Strange Aeons will do nothing for me. In fact, I'm cutting my subscription out before it begins... just not my cup of tea, but that doesn't necessarily make them bad APs.

SMNGRM wrote:

The problem is that I don't see much love for it when I'm reading forums for reviews. Is there something inherently wrong with the AP, is it because it's still relatively new, or is it backlash for traditional fantasy after Paizo did something so out there with Iron Gods?

Besides many of the other items that folks have already said in this thread about items in giantslayer.....the answer is yes, actually. There is a segment that does feel that way. To quote another person in this very forum:

"It's the most boring Paizo AP to date. I mean, it's not badly written or with structural problems, but it just doesn't have a single theme, NPC, location or idea which grabbed me. It feels like if after Iron Gods Paizo decided to put out a super turbo conservative AP to placate the grognards and compete with WotC in the field of traditional adventures."

To be fair, the people who are saying that were the exact same people saying the exact same things before the AP ever came out, so it seems pretty safe to say that they already had their minds made up... might not make them the best source on the subject.

Hi, all.

I've been building a Dwarven Investigator to start running in PFS, this being the Year of the Skill Check, and fun to be had by stepping outside of the 'optimized for combat' box every now and again... I've really enjoyed creating this character, but there are a few nagging details that I could use some clarification or advice regarding:

What, exactly, are the rules concerning Investigators and crafting Alchemical items and Poisons? Searches have led to contradictory or inconclusive answers on the topic and crafting isn't something I've engaged in in the past on any level.

With the above cleared up, how useful/effective are poisons in PFS? I ask because I'm seriously considering the Lamplighter archetype which eschews poison use entirely. I like the flavor of the archetype, and the initiative bonus in particular, but given the fact that the character is already 'combat lite', I'd hate to exclude a potentially potent combat option like poison, if it is indeed a worthwhile pursuit. I've never played alongside a PFS character who uses poison, so I don't really have any personal experience to draw from.

Has it been determined whether or not Inspiration can be used in day job rolls? What if you have a Talent like Expanded Inspiration which removes the limited use of your Inspiration Pool from the equation?

Finally, I would really appreciate it if someone with the knowledge would glance at the character build I've put together and let me know if anything jumps out at you as illegal for PFS play. Figuring out what is and what isn't PFS-legal is often a nightmare for me, even with the Additional Resources download because, like so many others, I use compiled resource sites rather than sourcing individual documents for every character option.

Thanks in advance!

Of course, any advice regarding the build or magical gear I should be considering is always welcome, but that wasn't the original intent of the thread.

In our campaign, we consider Paladins to be avatars of order, chaos, good or evil, with their abilities reflecting those allegiances (i.e. Detect Good, Smite Chaos, etc.). They may or may not choose to align themselves with deities or institutions but that is not where their power originates from.

This means you can have a Chaotic Good person and a Chaotic Evil person both be Paladins of Chaos (for instance)... an example I use is Batman (Chaotic Good) locked in his eternal struggle with the Joker (Chaotic Evil). Both work outside of the law and social convention, both do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, but their Good and Evil natures are clearly polar opposites.

Apologies for the intrusion (as I know this thread began as a simple inquiry as to why Improved Snap Shot was nerfed) and for my personal ignorance on the matter that everyone now is discussing (Paizo and their handling of "nerfing" game mechanics), but I am rather lost.

Unlike video games, such as World of Warcraft, where you are bound by the errata, the nerfing, and are forced to play within the new rule structure, TTRPGs are much more flexible and free. If you feel that Improved Snap Shot should be 10' as opposed to 5' then make it so for your gaming group. Can you not keep the rules you like and throw away the rules you don't like at your table to maximize your gaming experience? Of course, this sentiment should exist within reason. You want to keep the game as "balanced" as possible. Which, keeping the game as "balanced" as possible almost seems like something I would have broken my brain over in my meta-ethics course in undergrad...

I promise I'm not being coy, but rather am perplexed as to why so many people seem frustrated with Paizo's errata when you don't have to play with their new rulings at your table.

Is it directly related to PFS, which would be bound by errata? Is it also related to DMs who run everything as written with no exceptions?

Thanks for any feedback! :) And again, apologies for any sidetracking and for my ignorance on the matter :3

Cheers!

That's one of the things that I find so confusing and frustrating about all these nerfs that trickle down. There is only one situation where players and GM's are bound to the rules as written - PFS - and that version of the game already has a specially set aside list of rules changes just for it, there is already an established mechanism to deal with any perceived rules imbalances... and for GM's in home games who want to run the most balanced campaign they can, all they have to do is look to PFS.

Meanwhile, in most home games, if the general perception is that people are free to use or ignore whatever errata they wish, THEN WHY HAVE IT? Why have print copies of rulebooks that contradict themselves? Why have characters' core mechanics suddenly and inexplicably go 'poof' when its not causing any issues in the game they themselves are playing? If GM's are perfectly capable of using whatever rules they deem appropriate, then aren't they just as capable of doing that without the inevitable controversy of Paizo's heavy-handed mid-game gear shifts?

Re-write and re-balance the game all you want, re-balance it into the ground for all I care, but use the existing mechanism for that, PFS, and leave the game that people play in their homes alone. Its as simple as that.

cuatroespada wrote:

@Mrakvampire

Wiggz wrote:

Maezer wrote:

August 2015 is when the errata'd improved snap shot.

Thanks for that. I only noticed it a couple of weeks ago.

It is REALLY wierd, I swear that I've checked Improved Snap Shot 2 or 3 months ago in my recently downloaded and updated UC, and it granted +10 feet.

It's really confusing...

I don't know which is worse with this endless parade of errata - everybody having rule books that contradict one another, or the certain knowledge that if you decide to play an AP, by the time you're done, pretty much every character at the table will have become illegal.

I see literally tons of people using reach weapons, I pretty much never saw anyone using Snapshot, in large part due to the multiple requirements in an already feat-intensive build. A 1st level Fighter can wield a polearm right off the bat (and benefit from little things like +1.5 STR to damage as well).

Under very specific circumstances - in the mid (and more often late) game - there may have been some imbalance, yes... but not until the archer in question had paid his dues and been forced to abandon other equally attractive options - and that's hardly demonstrative of the REAL issues in the mid to late game that continue to go unaddressed. Now, I don't worship at the altar of balance, and many who claim to seem to deliberately turn a blind eye to far greater imbalances out there, but even if I did, where was the outcry? Who's game was being broken, who's fun was being wrecked? Its bad enough that Paizo tends to over-react when faced with actual table issues, but is this kind of retro-active nit-picking really the best use of their time and energy?

Melkiador wrote:

Yeah, bows being a better reach weapon than any actual reach weapon is a problem. And while martials need nice things, archery is already high on the power scale and not limited to just martials.

With 3 feats though. It isn't just "being a better reach weapon than any actual reach weapon," it comes at a high cost in a combat style that is already feat heavy.

Technically 4 feats, plus a fairly high BAB and Dex score... where as Reach weapons require... none?

Still looking for a reason that makes any sense at all - honestly, I've never even met anyone who's character actually had it.

Alright, for those of you whom have been following this thread and/or offering a wealth of advice, this is what I've decided to go with. I'm not certain I could do much better, really.
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Dwarven 8th level Zen Archer & Quingong Monk/4th level Weaponmaster
alternate racial traits: Rock Stepper, Sky Sentinel, FCB = extra skill rank/Monk level

Attributes:
STR - 14
DEX - 14
CON - 14
INT - 12
WIS - 18 (+1 @ 4th & 8th)
CHA - 5 (+1 @ 12th)

Traits:
Deadeye Bowman
Reactionary

Feats:
1st (F1) - Steel Soul, (F) Toughness
2nd (M1) - (M) Perfect Strike, (M) Improved Unarmed Strike, (M) Precise Shot
3rd (M2) - Improved Initiative, (M) Weapon Focus: Longbow, (M) Point Blank Shot
4th (M3) - (M) Point Blank Master
5th (M4) - Deadly Aim
6th (M5)
7th (M6) - Extra Ki, (M) Weapon Specialization: Longbow, (M) Improved Precise Shot
8th (F2) - (F) Clustered Shots
9th (F3) - Extra Ki
10th (F4) - (F) Improved Critical: Bow
11th (M7) - Extra Ki
12th (M8)

Skills: (level ranks are taken at)
Perception (1-12)
Stealth (1-12)
Sense Motive (1-12)
Profession: Teacher (2)
Knowledge: Dungeoneering (2)
Knowledge: Religion (3)
Knowledge: History (2)
Acrobatics (4-7, 11-12, 4, 6, 12)
Escape Artist (4-7, 11-12, 5, 7, 11)
Climb (3)
Swim (3)

Between Deadeye Bowman, Precise Shot at 2nd and Improved Precise Shot at 7th, I should have to overcome fewer obstacles than most. AC and Initiative should be high, mobility will be excellent and saving throws through the roof. The extra feats will allow for things like Toughness and Extra Ki to be taken, the latter of which should give me broader versatility both offensively & defensively. With no armor, excellent movement, high stealth and perception as well as darkvision, he'll be able to serve as a superb scout... and while he lacks social skills, Sense Motive should prove useful in those situations. Between Weaponmaster and the Gloves, even my bow should be relatively safe from reprisals.

Are Vows PFS legal? I ask because, RP-wise, I could see playing this guy as someone who immediately sees to the truth of things (Perception, Sense Motive) and has a bad habit of calling people out on lies or telling it like it is, with no sugar-coating whatsoever. I wouldn't get much out of it mechanically, (1 extra Ki point), but it would definitely suit the character concept.

Here's a snapshot of him at 10th level, defaulting to standard wealth by level:

Anybody see anything that looks odd or incorrect to them? Anything I'm overlooking?

So here is what I'm thinking... take 6 levels of Zen Archer and 4 levels of Weapon Master and 2 levels of Freebooter there at the end... that should get me where I want to go, and I can do it as a Dwarf which opens up some nice options. Let me know what you think about feat arrangements.
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Dwarven 6th level Zen Archer/4th level Weapon Master/ 2nd level Freebooter
(Rockstepper, Sky Sentinel)

Attributes:
STR - 14
DEX - 14
CON - 14
INT - 12
WIS - 18
CHA - 5

Traits:
Glory of Old
Reactionary

Feats:
1st (F1) - Steel Soul, (F) Point Blank Shot
2nd (M1) - (M) Perfect Strike, (M) Improved Unarmed Strike, (M) Precise Shot
3rd (M2) - Improved Initiative, (M) Weapon Focus: Longbow, (M) Rapid Shot
4th (M3) - (M) Point Blank Master, (M) Zen Archery*, (M) Fast Movement*
5th (M4) - Deadly Aim
6th (M5)
7th (M6) - Toughness, (M) Weapon Specialization: Longbow, (M) Improved Precise Shot
8th (F2) - (F) Manyshot
9th (F3) - Clustered Shots, (F) Weapon Training*
10th (F4) - (F) Improved Critical: Bow
11th (R1) - Advanced Weapon Training: Trained Initiative
12th (R2) - (R) Quickdraw

I get Precise Shot at 2nd and Improved Precise Shot at 7th level, get very strong saves all throughout, a ridiculous Initiative and enough skill ranks to keep me useful outside of combat. Figure I'll max out Perception, Sense Motive, Stealth... dip into a few Knowledge skills and some Survival, Escape Artist and Acrobatics along the way. Is there anything listed above that's not PFS legal?

I'm very appreciative of everyone's input thus far - it seems to me that I really need to include the build so that my concerns are easier to see and some of the advice I'm being offered better addressed.
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Dwarven 1st level Inquisitor (Sanctified Slayer) / 11th level Alchemist (Lamplighter)

Attributes: (after racial modifiers)
STR - 14
DEX - 14
CON - 14
INT - 15 (+1 @ 4th, 8th & 12th)
WIS - 16
CHA - 5

Traits:
Reactionary
Glory of Old

Feats & Talents:
1st - Steel Soul
3rd - Weapon Focus: Heavy Pick
4th - Talent: Expanded Inspiration (Diplomacy, Heal, Perception, Profession, Sense Motive)
5th - Extra Talent: Quick Study
6th - Talent: Underworld Inspiration (Bluff, Disable Device, Intimidate, Sleight of Hand)
7th - Extra Talent: Inspirational Expertise
8th - Sickening Offensive
9th - Extra Talent: Alchemist Discovery?
10th - Talent: Combat Inspiration
11th - Extra Talent: Alchemist Discovery?
12th - Talent: Alchemist Discovery?

Inquisitor Abilities:
Conversion Inquisition (apply Wisdom instead of Charisma to Bluff, Diplomacy & Intimidate checks)
Monster Lore (add Wisdom modifier to Knowledge checks when identifying foes)
Stern Gaze (+1 to Intimidate & Sense Motive checks)
Studied Target (move action; gain +1 to Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive & Survival checks as well as +1 attack & damage rolls against target until target is dead or changed)

[That's an awful lot for a one level dip, plus spells and save bump]

Investigator Abilities:
2nd - Alchemy, Inspiration Pool, Lamplighter
3rd - Alchemical Illumination
4th - Ready for the Revelation (add Inspiration to Initiative, use Intelligence for Initiative)
5th - Studied Combat & Studied Strike, Swift Alchemy

I do delay Studied Combat for a level, but I get it at the exact same time as Quick Study and in the meantime, starting at 1st level I get Studied Target which in time will stack, so that more than makes up for the delay in my opinion.

What I don't know enough about are the Alchemical options and if I should make an effort to pursue them sooner - mutagens, with a cursory glance, seem to be a superb combat option.

Here is a snapshot of the character at 2nd & 6th level with basic gear and no spells active:

Dwarven 1st level Sanctified Slayer / 1st level Lamplighter

STR - 14, DEX - 14, CON - 14, INT - 15, WIS - 16, CHA - 5
HP 17, AC 20, Init +4, Fort +4, Reflex +4, Will +7 (+3 saves vs. Poison, +5 save vs. spells & SLA's)
Attack (War Pick): +4, 1d6+3, Crit. 20, x4

Skills:
Appraise +6, +8 involving precious metals or gemstones
Bluff +9
Craft: Alchemy +7
Diplomacy +10
Disable Device +7
Intimidate +9
Knowledge: Dungeoneering +6(+1d6), +9(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Local +6(+1d6), +9(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Nature +6(+1d6), +9(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Religion +6(+1d6), +9(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Perception +8, +9 when detecting traps)
Sense Motive +9
Spellcraft +6

Dwarven 1st level Sanctified Slayer / 5th level Lamplighter

STR - 14, DEX - 14, CON - 14, INT - 16, WIS - 18, CHA - 5
HP 43, AC 22, Init +5(+1d6), Fort +6, Reflex +7, Will +11 (+3 saves vs. Poison, +5 save vs. spells & SLA's)
Attack (War Pick): +10, 2d6+6, Crit. 19+, x4

Skills:
Appraise +7, +9 involving precious metals or gemstones
Bluff +14(+1d6)
Craft: Alchemy +8
Diplomacy +15(+1d6)
Disable Device +12(+1d6)
Escape Artist +6
Heal +8(+1d6)
Intimidate +13(+1d6)
Knowledge: Arcana +9(+1d6), +13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Dungeoneering +9(+1d6), +13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Local +9(+1d6), +13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Nature +9(+1d6),+13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Planes +9(+1d6), +13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Knowledge: Religion +9(+1d6), +13(+1d6) to identify abilities & weaknesses
Linguistics +7(+1d6)
Perception +13(+1d6), +15(+1d6) when detecting traps
Sense Motive +14(+1d6)
Spellcraft +8(+1d6)

I'm actually really happy with my skill spread as it is, though obviously there will be occasional tinkering, and that's what I want the strength of the character to be (little things like Studied Target or Guidance aren't even included above), and I'm fine with my defenses for a non-frontliner - who doesn't love a +11 save vs. Enchantments at 2nd level? What I'm looking for from those of you more experienced with Investigators and Alchemists are what alchemical options I should pursue and when and how they might synergize with the existing character, as well as what changes I might have to make to accommodate them without unraveling the whole thing. Weapon Focus seems like an early feat I could part with if necessary, but I was thinking Deific Obediance/Irori might start drifting into overkill territory. Also, is there anything I've included which looks like it might not be PFS legal (I can never keep track of all the exceptions & eratta).

Any special gear I should be especially looking at? A Keen Warpick and the usual 'Big 6' are all I'm thinking of right now.

Thanks again for all of your help and advice.