Im still running a 1st edition game based around the gothic horror setting of Ustalav as the players have formed a secret society of monster hunters. Ive written dozens of adventures for it already as I have tons of inspiration for the setting and the players are loving it as well
So Ive been running iron gods for the last few months one of the things my players did early on was take Meyanda's head as a literal trophy. They're a pretty neutral party and have a Scrap worth of about 5 right now and they've been very careful to not reveal Meyanda's head to anyone but leaders and their closest people, plus they've convinced everyone to stay quiet about Meyanda until they're ready to strike. In our last session my players managed to secure the Steel hawks assistance through killing birdfood and nailing some diplomacy with Sevroth Slaid. They've basicly agreed to hand over Scrap wall to the Steel hawks once they overthrow the lords of rust. Today we had a long session where they decided to infiltrate the Smiler's base after one of them got ambushed and almost eaten by a few of their gangmembers. They killed just about all of them except Marrow (Hatchet hands is long dead never making it out of the fort alive) and rescued Whiskiss. They returned Whiskiss to the Redtooth's and now they're trying to forge an alliance between the two groups. The book doesn't really account for something like that but I like their initiative so Ive already decided, yes I want them to go for it if its what they want to do. However here are my thoughts, they need to have a formal meeting between the two leaders to work out some sort of formal alliance. I already figured Divinya would be willing to host a meeting at the clockwork cathedral as a good neutral territory. I figured it could be a nice dinner, serving roasted rust monster but where I'm struggling is what would the gangs ask for in order to form an alliance and would it require the PCs constant vigilance to keep it going? The ideas I have so far include 1. A formal Non-aggression pact between both parties at least until the lords of rust are overthrown
So Im coming to others out there for some more ideas. What are some other things both gangs might argue over and I would also love some more food ideas to include in this scene as I want it to be an important meeting.
how might a high-constitution wizard be visualized/role-played? Ive always seen high constitution as being very fit. Not necessarily quick or very muscular but having a body type that says you eat right, excersise regularly, and generally live a healthy lifestyle when your not killing monsters and exploring dungeons. The person for sure doesnt look like that body builder who goes to the gym everyday but they would have a fair bit of muscle mass on them without being what an average person would call muscular if that makes sense.
So from my point of view I keep hearing that Pathfinder needs to be streamlined to allow for ease of teaching new people to play but lets explore that idea. Is Pathfinder to hard for people to learn how to play? I can prove that its not. In september I started a new group after not having a Real life group for several years. I took the role of the GM and I admit I have years worth of experience under my belt with 2nd edition D&D, 3.0, 3.5, Exalted 2E, World of darkness 2E (mostly werewolf, mage and changeling splats), Shadowrun 3rd edition, and even some Rifts games. 2 of my new players had no experience at all. 2 others came from other games (1 4E d&d and the other 2E D&D). I taught Carlos, Josh, Andrew, and Darrel how to play the game using the kingmaker adventure path. We talked about concepts, I walked them through character creation and options using only the core rulebook because I didnt want to overload their brains with Pathfinders vast amount of information and character options, each one made a character they were happy with and that I felt was somewhat interesting. Carlos made a human necromancer, Josh made a gnome cleric of Sarenae, Andrew made a human ranger, and Darrel made a human fighter. Over about 3 months real time I took this small band of adventurers through the greenbelt and they founded a kingdom. It happened to be a chance encounter with an Aboleth side quest I had been building up that they were killed/enslaved and the game ended. Due to real life two of my players left and I got a few replacements (one of whom is going to move away soon) and Ive taught them starfinder (a game that Im frankly not liking as much and when I finally kill them were going back to pathfinder but my god mystic healers are OP!). That said, if I can take 2 players with no experience and turn them into competant players then why cant anyone else? IMO Pathfinder teaches perfectly well as its written and I have proven that we dont need a new edition for that reason. So what other reasons are there. Well theres the idea about changing the few things in pathfinder that dont work very well. Yes, actions is something that can use a major overhaul. So are feats. So are skills. Even a few classes could use a once over to put them more in line with other classes of similar ability. However Im not convinced a new edition is needed for that when a well rounded and detailed errata could fix the issues. I cant think of another reason why you would need a new edition. So let me close by saying this. I came to Pathfinder because when 4th edition came out I hated it with a passion. I didnt want anything to do with the thing but Paizo rode in like a true knight in shining armor and offered me a hand up out of the mud when they said Pathfinder is going to continue the 3.5 line, the game I already had. The game I liked. Thats why you got my money and my support. Yet you took it a step further, you fixed many of the issues that plagued 3.5 like skill bloat and mass prestige classing (although Im not so sure mass archetypes was the way to go). This time you dont have me in the mud after being dumped by my old games company, you are the old games company. This time you have to show me the game has significantly evolved in such a way I want to play that instead of what I have and feel works perfectly fine.
Lawful and chaotic versions of planetouched races (I.e. what good aligned planes are to aasimar). Golems: Including Paper (Yes paper I want my oragami themed wizard to have a cool golem), Gravedirt, and Dragonskin New agathions: Really the only one I want is Pachydermals (elephant/rhino/mastadon type Agathion) but I dont think Frog or Bear agathions have been done yet. All three animal types have themes surrounding exceptional intelligence and/or insight Mamlambo: We still dont have that brain eating river monster Ive been asking for since bestiary 2 More positive energy creatures: The Jyoti were a great inclusion to the positive energy plane but I feel like it could have several races that inhabit one of the most dangerous and interesting planes in creation.
I dont recommend the dragon be on the horde, I recommend the horde be in the room though With Brass dragons being the fire subtype I recommend setting the final battle in a volcano or other lava rich enviroment. The dragon can easily shatter the floor making PCs that fail an acrobatics check fall into the lava taking 20d6 fire damage every round till they crawl out (a difficult climb check). To fight the dragon close range they must jump from slab to slab of ground (more acrobatics checks) and the dragon can easily reposition without the fear of being hurt by the environment. If they elect to use fly or energy immunity spells the dragon can easily use targeted dispell magic and antimagic fields. If you want to make it harder the dragon could even set up traps before hand that reset every 1d4 rounds and perform targeted dispel magics to someone that comes in proximity. If you want to make it even harder put a gateway to the plane of fire in that lake of Lava and the Dragon has fostered an alliance with a group of Efreeti warriors causing 2d4 Efreeti fighters with as many class levels as you want and specializing in combat maneuvers (bull rush, disarm, trip, grapple, etc) to come to the dragons aid. If the dragon gets low enough it can fly upwards breaking through the roof and causing a cave in, dealing 20d6 damage per round to anyone who fails a reflex save. Better get that treasure quick! Otherwise its going to slip into that lava and then they'll have no dragon and no reward. However this also causes massive destabilization of the earths crust causing lava veins all over the region to open, relighting previously dormant volcano's, and forcing mountains to erupt. Thus putting an entire region in danger from out of control volcanic activity which at the very least damages local civilizations and cripples trade giving them a whole other adventure Why yes I have used this encounter before :)
I'm really curious for the REAL reason all RPG-games, Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder (and what not?) doesn't use mantis monsters in their games, as there are enough possibilities with them and they aren't gentle at all. I just told you the real reason. Mantis are not a dangerous kind of insect in North america so we dont tend to think about them in terms of dangerous monsters Its not some huge conspiracy like you make it out to be
Having just my first read through of the guide I have some mixed feelings about it. The good: I love the stuff for scars and missing limbs/body parts. The Naval combat chapter is pure gold (no, really guys I cant give it enough praise). The pirate weapons are also really awesome, finally I can have a hook hand and know what it does. All of that is just awesome! The mediocre: Maybe traits. Some of them are really interesting, others not so much. The bad: The format for classes/races in the shackles. I feel I need to elaborate on this more. Im not terribly familiar with the shackles and other players may not be (and yet other players will be intimately familiar with the region). So at first glance I have some issues figuring how say an aqautic druid would fit into the setting. It pretty much says yeah they can be there and they'll be useful for the game but it doesnt explain how druidic characters (or really any class) fits into the setting. The same goes for races, I mean would say a half orc be common in the area and if so would they be an immigrant or born there? Would they be welcomed or have the same racial tensions as every where else? I guess I just liked the previous formats like Carrion crown and Serpent's skull better because I felt like I could make any character and be pretty confident about why they would be there or how they would act in the area. I dont feel as comfortable with this format due to the lack of setting information
Ive run into all kinds of gaming from hard core optimizers to people who just play crazy combinations for the sake of playing crazy combinations In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with either style of play. Theyre both legitimate. I do think its wrong for optimizers to expect and even force other players to optimize their characters. Likewise people who play these crazy things shouldnt be expecting other players to also play something crazy if they dont want to.
Let me draw a different comparison. It takes me 7 years to finish non-magical adamantine full plate as I am right now. If I were level 20 and had a +35 (if not higher check) and assuming I was taking 10 for each roll I would be getting 900 silver pieces each week. This totals out to 183 weeks or just over 3 and a half years to complete However an adamantine golem (a creature thats far more expensive at 350,000 gold pieces) would only take 350 days (just under a year) to create. One is a simple non-magical suit of armor the other is a complex "living" suit of armor. However just because theres no magic involved it takes over three times as long to craft that simple suit of armor then it does the super complex golem. I see a problem with that, purely because it puts crafting exceptional pieces of equipment from non-mage characters out of reach. Im just going to go out on a limb here and say I think the crafting system needs to be carefully looked at and reworked into a new errata or as an alternative maybe Advanced crafting could be a new book that tackles these kinds of inconsistancies?
This is pretty much copied and pasted from my last suggestions that didnt make it into Bestiary 3 Yowie, Skunk ape, Almas, and Yeren (all off shoots of bigfoot/yeti)
As for other ideas 1. We need some more smaller dragons. Drakes are nice but smaller dragons like felldrakes and the Ninki Nanka would be a nice addition
Finally, its not a monster but I would like to see updated random monster encounter listing that includes monsters from all bestiaries and Adventure Path monsters
After looking through some of the books (namely UM and UC), it has occurred to my group that PF has pretty much given up on being a fantasy game and just gone "screw it, let's go Steampunk". Especially after UC. I mean, just look at the picture of the Spellslinger Wizard... Not that this is a bad thing, just an observation and a thread to see if anyone else has noticed this and what people's thoughts are on it. Personally, I quite like it. I assume you mean fantasy as in Tolkienesque style. If so I think your expectations were never in the right place. Pathfinder and especially Golarian has always had a kitchen sink approach. Everything has a place in it whether it be hyper intelligent sorcerer kings/queens, gun wielding warriors, or good old gothic horror settings. You find everything in Golarian and for me that only adds to the majestic beauty of the setting If Pathfinder was ever to add official psychics to it I kind of expect it would be a science fantasy based setting akin to Star Wars.
- Is he being rewarded by acting as a coward? He seems to be having fun with it so I would say yes, his reward is having fun in the game. Thats what were all looking for whenever we sit around the table to play. You say he still uses skills outside of combat, which still supports the party. If I were in your shoes I would want him in combat too, at least with a ranged weapon if he didnt want to enter melee but this is his playstyle. I dont think I or anyone really has a right to critisize it
No. Never. Optimization is one of the many kinds of playstyles out there. Some optimization is really good and some of it is really bad. Moderation in all things as they say - Is not contributing to combat at all ok for your standards? As I said its a playstyle thing. Not contributing to the group at all is not ok for my standards, as a GM and player but clearly he is contributing outside of combat. - Am I a huge drama queen? (yeah maybe a bit, I think so...hum ok huge Dramarama Queenzalor lol) I dont think so. I think you have some legitimate concerns that bother you and you've brought them up calmly with your GM and us as an adult. I wish all players were that mature. That said, your GM has made the call so it seems to me you either have to accept that or find another group The one question I have for you is this: Is this person and their playstyle somehow hurting the fun of the entire group? If not, then I dont see a problem
Pardon my ignorance, but what the heck are those things? I used to consider myself farely well up on cryptids, but I never even heard of these guys before. Ropen: Often thought of as a flying dinosaur in Papau New Geneui (similar to a terodactyl). The Ropen is known for being a large featherless bird that has a wingspan reaching up to 15 feet. The defining characteristic is usually the glow that comes from its torso and tail and that many people claim to have seen it he night sky (interesting bit of fact here some videos Ive seen of Ropen sightings are in areas that 1. Planes cant fly in at night and 2. there are no significantly large flying birds) Mamlambo: Its supposed to live in the Mzintlava River near Mount Ayliff in South Africa. The creature is supposed to have a fish like body ending in a horse shaped head. People think its a brain sucking river monster who can either control lightning storms or believe lightning storms call it Ninki Nanka: Its an amphibious creature from west african folklore/legend (specifically Gambia) that has the body of a reptile and the head of a vicious horned dragon. Some locals believe that even seeing the beast will make the person die within a few days after Kikiyoan: The Kikyoan is also from Gambia and legends/folklore say it is a huge owl (about the size of a person) that has incredibly sharp talons able to gut a man with a single swipe. Even today some tribes still perform rituals to depict the ferocity of the Kikiyoan Salawa: The Salawa (arabic for scary wolf) is basicly a huge dog from Egypt. The Salawa is said to hide in dense sugar cane fields and attack anything and everything without provication. Defining characteristics include a bushy tail, muscular canine body, pointed ears, and huge claws for goring prey Kalanoro: This one comes from Madagasgar. The kalanoro is a small creature (about 3 feet tall as the story goes) with a humanoid shape and covered in hair or fur. Its said that Kalanoro are incredibly strong which is unusual for a creature so small. There are two calling cards, the first being razor sharp fingernails that can extend outward. The second is the feet which are reversed (heel facing forward and toes facing backward), making it nearly impossible to track Fangalobolo: This one is also from Madagasgar and is basicly a massive bat but has a white coloring. People say the Fagalobolo is known for scalping unsuspecting villagers and dragging people away into caves. It supposed to have huge dagger like claws able to tear people apart and grotesque face with massive fangs that can shred prey easily Namibian Night stalker: The night stalker comes from, you guessed it, Namibia. The night stalker has a very compact body made for stealthy and quick take downs in large animals and the calling card is the long claws that are always out. The night stalker is supposed to impale prey on its claws leaving a huge puncture wound on the neck and keep prey pinned down till it bleeds to death. |
