So we have finally finished our run through Kingmaker. It was a long run, and certainly the longest campaign i’ve run. Frankly i’m exhausted (i did have some breaks from GMing in that time, but still).
The whole AP was a blast and all had a great time, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Apart from people joining/leaving we had no PC deaths (but several close calls). The PCs finished the campaign at level 15 and were:
Human Paladin of Erastil (also Ruler), and alter his wife/cohort an Archer-Bard
Human Fighter, and his cohort Cleric
Elf Wizard (air mage)
Gnome Magus
Between them all, they had Item Creation pinned down and at their mercy.
Somewhere during chapter 2 i started using the 6 Player Conversion. During Chapter 4 I started toughening up and adding more enemies to the 6 Player Conversion.
The AP went pretty much as written, with me adding tiny bits to the frey. I originally envisioned having plenty of NPCs and side stories, but then my twins came along and so the AP was kept to bare minimum :-)
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Chapter 1: went pretty much by the book.
Chapter 2: I used the Hargulka’s Monster Kingdom s presented by DM_aka_Dudemeister. And it was a blast. Thanks Dudemeister!
Chapter 3: They stopped with the Hexploration. It bored them. The module was straightforward with plenty of Role Playing with the centaurs. The party had one of the toughest battles here with big V, and this mainly due to the fact that when V retreated to heal himself, the party teleported away to Restov to heal up and rest in turn. When they came back he summoned some more demons to help him. This wore them down and they had a tough showdown with V.
Chapter 4: They stopped with Kingdom Building as well.
Chapter 5: We decided not to use Mass Combat rules. Instead i created a set of encounters for the heroes to run around, and let the outcome of those combats dictate the whole Battle.
Chapter 6: This one is a whole lot of encounters which do not necessarily advance the plot in any way. Only after all the Blooms were defeated did they party think of looking for the source (they were too focused on creating new Items). Once in the First World i started cutting encounters, and making things from combat encounter to social encounters or just plain nothing (for example: i dropped the dragon keeping guard on the moat, defaced nymphs were just there, tending Nyrissa’s room).
The final showdown with Nyrissa was tense, though short. Lasting about 5 rounds i think. Her high saves and high DC made all the part susceptible to her spells, which finally made things dangerous. With the Paladin holding Briar scoring a critical then cursing as Nyrissa’s wish let her survive the beheading, but then on his next attacks he finished her off.
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All in all, as i said: good campaign, and great fun was had.
But for me, i’m done with Pathfinder for the time being. I’m tired, and i hate having to spend around ¾ of a combat turn with players calculating their damage output due to so many abilities. I’ll have no problem Playing in PF, but i do not want to GM it again…. OK, maybe short low-level adventures…
Currently, we have started playing 50 Fathoms using Savage Worlds.
My party has started KM6, and have defeated the first bloom and are currently retreating from the first encounter with the second bloom (a Nap Stack to better prepare for dealing with the Mandragora).
So far even though I dropped several hints they do not seem to keen on investigating anything regarding the First World/Thousand Breaths/etc.. That's quite unlike them, but I think that they have gotten so used for Downtime between major events during which they can Create equipment that that is all they can think of: "Bloom defeater, going to lab..."
They have not spoken to Evindra because she's still in the Clock (probably on a shelf in one of the homes, they did not figure it had something interesting in it even though i told them the water was slightly glowing); they have her shawl but do not know what to do with it.
In short, i fear they might just wait for some big clue to land into their lap, and I don't do that kind of stuff (i removed most divination spell from my campaign also).
TL/DR: So that leaves Briar. Once it gains speech, how talkative is the sword? how much will it know? how much will it reveal?
So my players opted out of Mass Combat and i'm down to creating some missions for them to play out instead.
Note: There are probably mistakes in the stats and i usually give the enemies higher if not full hp, and even then the party wipes the floor with them...
This is what i came up for the Fort Drelev attack (which will occur next week):
Fort Drelev Battle
The attacking armies will be the same as in the module. I've seen recommendation, i think in the GM thread for the below, and added one idea of mine:
Trolls at the gate! - A troop (as in the subtype) of trolls lead by a troll fighter 7 will attack the gate with a battering ram.
Enemies:
TROLL HORD CR 13
NE Medium humanoid (troll, troop)
Init+2; Senses Perception +10
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 12, flat-footed 22 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural, +2 shield)
hp 300(19d8+171=256), regeneration 5 (acid or fire)
Fort+16, Ref+8, Will+7
Defensive Abilities troop traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee troop (4d6+11)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
STATISTICS
Str 32, Dex 14, Con 28, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 6
Base Atk +19; CMB +30; CMD 32
Feats Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception)
Troll Fighter
Male troll fighter 7
CE Large Humanoid (Giant)
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +21
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 13, flat-footed 22 (+8 armor, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural, -1 size)
hp 171 (6d8+7d10+7 favored class +100); Regeneration 5 (fire or acid)
Fort +18, Ref +7, Will +6; +1 vs. fear
Defensive Abilities Bravery +2, Fire Immunity 60
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 ranseur +22/+17/+12 (2d6+17) and bite +16 (1d6+4) or bite +18 (1d6+8) and 2 claws +18 (1d6+8)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (15 ft. with +2 ranseur)
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 1d6+8), weapon training +1 (pole arms)
STATISTICS
Str 26, Dex 14, Con 23, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 6
Base Atk +11; CMB +21; CMD 33 (34 vs. disarm and sunder)
Feats Combat Reflex, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Perception), Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (ranseur), Weapon Specialization (ranseur)
Skills Climb +10, Perception +19
Languages Giant
SQ Armor Training 2
Gear +2 breastplate, +2 ranseur, Potion of protection from energy (1)
Destroy the catapults - as the title says, but while being harassed by several troops of soldiers. After several rounds some Wyverns will sweep down on them
Enemies:
Catapults hardness 5, 50hp, 100 ft. apart
Wyverns I think 4 will swoop down after 1d4+2 rounds, and 4 more some 2 rounds later
INFANTRY TROOP CR 10
LN Medium humanoid (human, troop)
Init+6; Senses Perception +14
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 12, flat-footed 22 (+6 armor, +2 Dex, +4 natural, +2 shield)
hp 147 (14d8+70)
Fort+13, Ref+8, Will+7
Defensive Abilities troop traits
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee troop (4d6+7)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks crossbow volley (DC 21)
STATISTICS
Str 24, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 9
Base Atk +10; CMB +7; CMD 29
Feats Ability Focus (crossbow volley), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Crossbow Volley (Ex) The infantry troop can fire a volley of crossbow bolts as a standard action. This attack strikes a 20-foot radius within 800 feet of the center of the troop’s space. All creatures in the radius take 5d8 points of piercing damage (Reflex DC 21 for half). The save DC is reduced by 1 for each 80-foot range increment beyond the first. The save DC is Dexterity-based and includes the bonus from the troop’s Ability Focus feat.
Hydra from the lake - Since my players did not deal with the Hydra from KM4 (nor did they deal with almost anything in that area, having lost interest in exploration) they'll face her here. It was drawn to the city by another Pitaxian force which did not survive being the bait.
The hydra will be the 13 headed one from the 6 player conversion thread
They might try to go after the general of the armies, Avinash(?), at some point. They can, but if he start to look like loosing he'll teleport away or something... I want him there at the end.
I also think all these encounters will be timed. Take too long and you might loose the fight.
My players decided last night to leave kingdom building behind and move it to the background. We are starting Book 5 and they concluded that building a kingdom is no longer challenging; everything is too easy, and they only fail on a 1 on any of the rolls... not much drama.
So if we leave Kingdom Building behind, how do we handle the armies for Mass Combat? consumption is not that relevant. I will not feel comfortable telling them: "you have such and such BP in you treasury now for armies", because it'll just be number i throw out of my ahhh... mouth.
I think they might also not mind ditching Mass Combat; I haven't asked yet because I don't want to give them hints at what's coming, so i want to be ready with the Mass Combat option should they want it.
Last night I finally got around to run the Gyronna's Cult event from KM2. We are currently between KM3 and KM4, just didn't have the chance to run it before.
The event started two month after the first son was born to the Ruler of the Kingdom. A cult member was identified in their newest town, but being paranoid they told the Spymaster (NPC) to look into things in the larger towns beginning with their Capital. Of course, the Spymaster unearthed the local Cult and they had a showdown, with the leader teleporting away.
I took the stats for the Black Sisters and gave them to Goody raising her to level 11 so that she will have Word of Recall, once things got south she teleported away and they will face her again in Armag's Tomb... or maybe somewhere else?
Now, Goody was the main Midwife for the Capital these past 2 years or so. She delivered many babies, among them the Ruler's fresh heir and the Councilors baby as well. From their investigations into the cult, the party knows that the cult switches babies from time to time, but currently believes they only switch females Changelings... but of course, anything can happen.
So... what about the babies? do i leave it at that? have them discover a baby among the Tigerlords (give to them for safe keeping by the Black Sisters) which is clearly not a Tigerlord?
What mischief and torments can i bring upon my "parent" PCs (even if it's all dark images they conjure-up thinking of what might happen)?
Hi folks, here's something that came up last night.
Party was fighting Hounds of Tindalos. It was a tricky fight, what with all the fog, invisibility, and quick teleportation of the Hounds. So the party settled to Readying Actions, specifically ready attack and ready spell.
The Hound would attack some party member and then come out of invisibility, at that moment the ready actions would come into play. I ruled that the moment they took their action, they had to save vs. the Gaze... both melee and spellcasters.
One player said he thought that ready action should come before the gaze, but I though it was logical for the gaze to affect during the readied action, so a caster had to perform a Concentration check due to damage dealt during casting.
After facing all that Vordakai’s tomb had to offer, they finally came to him. They walled of the water elemental outside his door with a Wall of Force (i’m using the 6 player conversion so it was actually a second elemental that appeared right after the first was destroyed), and rushed into Vordakai’s room, where they finally came face to face with big V and his champion.
The champion managed to to take out half the Paladins hp before the wizard sealed him off with his second Wall of Force (leaving the graveknight to pound with his axe at the Wall while power attacking (thus almost automatically passing the 30 hardness).
They closed in on V, starting with a Silence spell on his throne, which he of course recognized and stepped away from. They continued the fight and having incredible good luck with all saves on the spells V was casting at them... then the Wizard failed and went blind, and they were already low on spells, and then V Diminssioned Door away to “heal” and re-group... these guys are a bigger threat than anticipated.
Now some of the fight took place in the dungeon of souls and the party recognized those Jars for what they are, and as soon as V vanished they started gathering Soul Jars into the bag of holding (i ruled one soul jar per person per turn). Two rounds after they started the Graveknight breaks free from the wall of force and heads towards them...and they teleport away!
Now.... i don’t know how long they’ll regroup before returning to try and save the rest of the soul jars and kill Vordakai, it might be the next day it might be more than that, but i’m pretty sure they will not tarry long. I’m trying to think of how Vordakai will react/prepare for them. They are obviously a greater threat than he thought, he will not “hold back”, so to speak.
V’s prep:
He already has two Soul Eater wandering around searching for the PCs in his dungeon, and he’ll summon another this night. He’ll keep them around him for extra protection.
If he’ll have time he’ll send a Nightmare to the Wizard
He’ll assume they’ll come again by teleporting into his sanctum, so he won’t necessarily be there, or he might prepare some surprises?
I’ve given V a scroll of summon monster V to summon a Babau. He didn’t use it before because he thought the party will be push-overs.. i was planning on having him come back with it after healing himself when he dimension doored it away during the fight. He’ll summon it quicker this time.
He noticed having some trouble with mind-effecting spells during the fight (whether due to high saves on PC part or a spell such as protection from evil he couldn’t figure out at the time) so maybe switch around his spells for the next couple of days?
Here is Vordakais spell book in my campaign (took it from somewhere on these boards and changed spells i do not use; mainly a house rule limit on divination spells, not all are allowed)
Vordakai's Spell Book:
Level 0- All CRB except evocation and transmutation.
Level 1- Shield, Charm Person, Chill Touch, Comprehend Languages, Ray of Enfeeblement, Mage Armor, Grease, Alarm, Obscuring Mist, Sleep, Magic Aura, Cause Fear, Ray of Sickening
Level 2- Blindness/Deafness, False Life, Ghoul Touch, Resist Energy, Acid Arrow, Glitterdust, Touch of Idiocy, Invisibility, Spectral Hand, Mirror Image, Steal Voice
Level 3- Dispel Magic, Displacement, Suggestion, Tongues, Vampiric Touch, Protection from Energy, Stinking Cloud, Deep Slumber, Hold Person, Ray of Exhaustion, Halt Undead
Level 4- Bestow Curse, Dimension Door, Phantasmal Killer, Lesser Globe of Invulnerability, Black Tentacles, Scrying, Crushing Despair, Greater Invisibility, Fear
Level 5- Dominate Person, Waves of Fatigue, Teleport, Sending, Nightmare, Blight, Magic Jar, Hold Monster
Level 6- Guards and Wards, Acid Fog, Legend Lore, Mislead, Eyebite, Circle of Death
Level 7- Spell Turning, Greater Teleport, Summon Monster VII, Power Word Blind, Finger of Death, Waves of Exhaustion
Level 8- Protection from Spells, Maze, Moment of Prescience, Demand, Clone, Create Greater Undead
Level 9- Imprisonment, Gate, Foresight, Energy Drain, Soul Bind, Wail of the Banshee
How else would he prepare to a re-confrontation with these pesky do-gooders? Any nasty, delicious ideas will be greatly appreciated.
I was thinking recently of the difference between Outdoor Encounters and Dungeon Encounters and to a realization I should have reached some time ago: most outdoors encounters (in adventures i've read and run) are a single skirmish during which the players will most likely use their strongest abilities, with no thought of conserving them (i'm running Kingmaker now, and this occurs a lot, at least during the first two books).
Sure I could drop some terrible,big, and ugly adversary at them which will hurt them badly, but the moment they enter a dungeon they'll know (call it metagaming if you wish) that they should conserve their strong abilities/spells as long as possible 'cause "this aint nothin yet, the big bad is deeper in..."
I want to instill this in the players always. Never to be sure that this one is just a short combat and well sleep it over soon. Keep them on their toes, so to speak, only without the ballet shoes.
Then I remembered that one adventure i've run did do this to a certain extent: Red Hand of Doom. This one had many of their encounters having several waves of enemies converging on the party once combat began.
So that's what i realized i should do: i should sometimes have encounters occur in several waves of baddies (logical waves, of course); at other times have encounters all thru the day and night; or maybe just a regular one encounter...
The idea is to make the players feel nervous about walking out in the wilds...
Just wanted to share my thoughts. Be welcome to write and advice on how you handle outdoor encounters.
In my game i have removed the majority of the divination spells; this means of course no "detect alignment" spells.
One of my players have made a Paladin and i need to decide what to give him in place of detect evil. My first thought was a bonus to Sense Motive, maybe free Skill Focus feat, or a flat bonus...
I'd appreciate any recommendations.
Cheers,
-arnon
