Zed Corvin's page

Yes, yes. Move on to book 3, but there's a problem.

Book 3 is supposed to start when the PC's kingdom is large enough that it can connect to, and absorb, Varnholt. Mine are nowhere remotely close to that; I think they have less than a dozen claimed hexes at the moment and little incentive to expand.

So here are my options as I see them...

Option 1: I could continue to give them side quests but then it will take forever to start book 3. Since it has taken so long for the main plot to kick in, many of my players are starting to wonder if the entire AP is nothing *but* side quests.

Option 2: I could run several sessions of nothing but kingdom building. While this would likely get us there the fastest, it also runs the risk of being rather boring for many of the players and doesn't really allow for careful planning from month to month.

Option 3: I start up a second AP (likely Mummy's Mask as a change of pace to Kingmaker) and start each session with a month or two of kingdom building.

I'm currently leaning toward option 3, but wanted to solicit advice before committing to it. I still have several sessions before I'll need to implement a plan as there are some other threats to be dealt with before the kingdom is "safe".

I've been playing around with the Undine Watersinger and have noticed there doesn't seem to be a roll associated with the lifewater ability if used to generate the sickened quality.

Lifewater (Su): At 5th level, the watersinger can spend 1 round of bardic performance as a standard action to manipulate the water, blood, and other fluids within a creature's body, causing the target to become sickened for 1d4 rounds. Alternatively, he may use this ability to attempt a reposition combat maneuver, using his base attack bonus and his Charisma modifier as his CMB. This ability has a range of 30 feet, only works on creatures whose bodies contain fluid, and does not affect creatures that are immune to critical hits.

Am I reading that correctly? Did I miss something?

Just finished the last Wheel of Time novel and would love to toss one of the rings the Bloodknives have into a game I'm running. Here's what I'm thinking:

+4 STR (untyped)
+4 DEX (untyped)
+10' move speed
+10 Stealth

-1 CON every 24 hours worn. Cannot be healed save through the use of a wish or miracle spell.
-1 CON every 3 days if removed. Cannot be healed save through the use of a wish or miracle spell.

Yes, I know this will kill the wearer at lower levels. That's somewhat the point. Is there anything I'm missing or anything that should be altered?

Sheesh. Long title, but I wanted to be as descriptive as possible. If you're not interested in the background, feel free to jump down to the end of the post. That's where the questions lie.

Some background first... Also, anyone in the NoVA area planning to attack the Stag Lord this Friday (Jan 25) should probably stop reading.

The first time the party attempted this, they were trying to rescue Svetlana and got her out, but lost one of their number in the process. The ranger jumped into a well to try to hide; it didn't work well. After being captured and tortured for several weeks, Akiros broke her out and took her to Oleg's.

Unfortunately, the PCs didn't know this when they assaulted the fort for the second time. This one was a mix. The PCs managed to defeat Auchs and kill the Owlbear but suffered rather heavy losses to their kobold allies. This led to very demoralized PCs returning to Oleg's trading post and a happy reunion with what remained of the ranger. She eventually got healed courtesy of the Witch Market, but it cost her more than she currently understands.

Later, as they explored the southern edge of the territory, the ranger fell into the pit containing a hungry and confused thyrcene. A Benny Hill montage later, the cavalier is dead having jumped down to rescue the ranger. It was quite beautiful, really. The two players stood there saluting each other as the dice decided who would live and who would die.

The point is, after a little over a year of play, my PCs are finally ready to assault the Stag Lord's camp for realsies.

There are five PCs: a blind oracle, a frost sorceror gearing up for dragon disciple, an urban barbarian, a natural weapons ranger, and a chirurgeon alchemist going for Master Chymist (I think). They've hired nine level 1 warriors and Akiros to help in the attack. It's taken a little more than two weeks to have the word sent out and folks trickle in.

Meanwhile, the bandits are preparing...

Currently, the bandits still have the zombies in the moat (Auchs might show up here), the lieutenants (minus Akiros and Auchs), a good chunk of bandits (since they get something crazy like d4 per day), level 3 Happs (who is #1 on the party hit list), and the Stag Lord himself. I don't plan to change anything about the guy in the basement.

With the PCs advertising for mercs, I figure the bandits could fairly easily hear about this and would start preparing for the attack. Heck, the Stag Lord might even try to stop drinking for a few nights(try being the operative word). However, other than posting bandits in the guard towers and lining the rest in the yard and having them riddle anything that comes through the door with bolts, I'm somewhat at a loss for what their strategy should be.

Any thoughts?

As an exercise I am trying to price up a tattoo that will grant fire, acid, cold, and lightning resist 10. Here's how I see it:

Cost to buy a ring of elemental resist:__12000
double to make it a slotless item:______24000
add second element (+24000 * .75):___18000
add third element (+24000 * .50):_____12000
add fourth element (+24000 * .50):____12000

Total cost to purchase:______________66000
Total cost to craft:__________________33000

Since the item is slotless and the abilities are similar, I figure it falls under the rules presented at the bottom of the estimating magic item value table.

My GM disagrees. He feels it should go like this:

Cost to buy a ring of elemental resist:__12000
add second element (+12000 * 1.5):___18000
add third element (+12000 * 1.5):_____18000
add fourth element (+12000 * 1.5):____18000

Total cost to purchase:______________66000
Double to make it a slotless item:_____132000
Total cost to craft:__________________66000

He feels the doubling for the slotless item doesn't come until the very end, so the tattoo is not subject to the discount given to slotless items with similar abilities as it isn't a slotless item until the very end of the process.

We're both ignoring the *1.5 modifier based on the duration of the endure elements spell because it was ignored when determining the price of a ring of resist elements.

Anyway, thoughts?

Bit of a GM advice question. Not quite sure where to put it.

Anyway, the party I GM for chased some mounted bandits overland to a kobold cave. The party scared off the bandits' mounts, then tied up their own to investigate the cave.

Long story short, a long running enemy of the party has escaped from the kobold caves and the PCs are stuck tending to their wounded. He's going to steal the PCs' mounts; he's done this before, so they should be used to it. I'm torn, though, on whether or not he should kill the cavalier's bonded mount.

The PC's are nowhere near leveling, so the cavalier would be inconvenienced for a good long while, but I feel it would be an appropriate thing to have happen.

Thoughts?

I'm running Kingmaker#1 at the moment and have run into a wall I made for myself.

While the party was out exploring the Stolen Lands, I've had the bandits (specifically, the archer from the first encounter) pop in and out as periodic threats because I didn't want them to simply retreat to their fort and sit there for a month or two waiting for the PCs to arrive.

The bandits have stolen horses and other supplies from Oleg, stolen horses from the party during the night, and, in their most recent raid, kidnapped Svetlana.

The party has determined that the bandits are now too much of a threat if they managed to accomplish this and is going directly to the Stag Lord's fort. They're currently second level (with a 1st level oracle that started late) and I'd rather not TPK this early in the game.

So here's my thinking:

The PCs can have their raid, but arrange it so that the Stag Lord (and most of his lieutenants) is absent. He's gone off to a meeting with other folks (perhaps even the BBEG herself), or is out gathering supplies of his own, and has left a skeleton crew manning the fort. He's likely not even aware his crew made that attack.

Thoughts? Suggestions for a better way to fix to predicament?

There is a cavalier in one of my games contemplating the Improved Overrun feat for use from horseback. Unfortunately, neither of us can figure out how the heck this is supposed to work. Here's how I envision it:

Scenario #1

For this experiment, the horse has Improved Overrun, but the cavalier does not.

Step 1: Cavalier declares overrun as part of a charge. (no problems here)

Step 2: The horse does not provoke an AoO because it has Improved Overrun. The horse gets its attack. (no problems here)

Step 3: The cavalier does provoke an AoO because he does not have Improved Overrun. The cavalier gets his charge attack as per normal. (Maybe? This is where we get lost. Does the cavalier need Improved Overrun to avoid the AoO?)

Scenario #2

For this experiment, Improved Overrun doesn't matter.

Step 1: Cavalier declares Overrun as part of a charge. (no problems here)

Step 2: Target declines the AoO and steps out of the way. (no problems here)

Step 3: Cavaliers charge attack happens. Horse's charge attack happens. (no problems here)

Step 4: Target gets an AoO on both the horse and the rider as they move through his threatened squares. (maybe?)

Thanks in advance for the help.