bulbaquil's page

Avoron wrote:

drbuzzard wrote:

As we are handwaving away physics here almost completely, I'm not really sure we should make any predictions.

We're not handwaving away all physics, just the parts that say magic can't keep things cold.

Actually, yes you are. If you assume you are maintaining a 30' ball of 10-40F temperature you have issues of boundary layer conduction and blackbody radiative heat transfer to consider. If the brown mold can maintain that temperature no matter what, it has to be either an infinite heat sink, or somehow there is a perfect adiabatic layer at that radius (which would prevent all radiation, including light from moving back and forth).

No, it doesn't.

Brown mold lowers the temperature of things within a 30 foot radius of itself.

It has no effect on anything 35 feet away.
It has no effect on anything 31 feet away.
It has no effect on anything 30.0000001 feet away.
It has no effect on anything 30 feet + 1 Planck length away.

There is a physical discontinuity of temperature created. Heat SHOULD flow from the lava outside into the brown-mold-cooled ball, but it doesn't. Why? Because the brown mold entry specifically says it doesn't. That bestiary entry is the salient law of physics, not the heat-transfer equations in your textbooks. It contains no mathematical equation other than "for r <= 9.144 m, T = 277.59444... K."

Why does it still reflect light? Because the entry doesn't specifically say that things become invisible, nor does something typically become invisible just because it happens to be at 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let's suppose Sheriff Hemlock does send guards to check with Thistletop. Sandpoint's "army", for lack of a better word, consists of:
- Sheriff Hemlock (fighter 5, CR 4)
- arguably Vachedi (barbarian 3, CR 2)
- 12 guards (warriors 2, CR 1/2 each)
- 62 militia members (officially, warriors 1, CR 1/3 each).

This makes the entire Sandpoint "army" effectively a CR 11 encounter. On the surface, this would be more effective than sending in the party (who, assuming four 3rd level characters with PC wealth by level are effectively a CR 8 encounter), but:

1. A stealth approach is all but useless. Sandpoint Guards have -2 Stealth or must discard their armor to reach +0 (with AC 10).

2. A sea approach is all but useless. Sandpoint Guards have -1 Climb or must discard armor to reach +1 (with AC 10), and would have to make multiple DC 15 Climb checks or risk plummeting.

3. The bridge is trapped, and I wouldn't put it past the goblins to, if the alarm is raised, intentionally trigger the trap (by untying the rigged rope completely) to make the bridge impassable except by shimmying across on the rope (same Climb check issue).

4. No magic or AoE/battlefield control on the part of Hemlock and his posse... unless they conscript one of the few NPC wizards, who will probably not be happy about that and may not necessarily even have combat-optimal spells in their spellbook, let alone prepared.

5. The militia members are part-timers and Sandpoint natives who would be willing to defend Sandpoint if attacked, but probably will be reluctant to do a pre-emptive strike... and if forced into it, might grow resentful of him and/or the "outsider" PCs for not helping along.

6. As Latrecis mentioned (their point 3), until Tsuto's journal is brought to light, by which time Hemlock has left for Magnimar (and there would almost certainly not be any such expedition approved without him present), they have no idea where to go. They could try to follow the tracks, but Sandpoint has a wet climate and the DC to follow increases by +1 for every HOUR of rainfall.

If the party still insists on having them take care of it, some possibilities:

1. If Hemlock is still in town, he and a handful of guards and militia, including at least one named NPC that you think would reasonably be a member of the militia, go off to Thistletop. Hemlock survives, but is badly injured, but 2d3 guards and most of the poorly-equipped militia (including the named NPC) die in the failed assault.

2. NPCs will start treating the PCs as bums or layabouts. Ameiko will likely rescind her freebie and may well shove a broom into one of their hands, making a comment about "maybe my father was right about you all along". Start tracking everything's price (food, inn stay, etc.)... every last copper. Have businesses start hiring for 1sp/day positions... the shipyard needs more dockworkers, Gorvi could use another cart-pusher, perhaps even have Crade Hambley need a few more field hands for the upcoming harvest....

3. As a corollary to point 2, is Lonjiku still alive? If so, he can always show up and reinforce point 2. If not, the Scarnettis are likely to be equally as unfond of "filthy vagrants", and might well want to use their Sczarni contacts to e.g. implicate them in petty crimes and generally paint the PCs as no-good troublemakers.

4. Sometime in Lamashan, the full-force goblin attack transpires, with Nualia and quite possibly a freed Malfeshnekor present. If Hemlock is back by now (which he probably would be, with some men-at-arms from Magnimar) he might very likely draft the PCs into this fight. Once about thirty combatants on either side of the conflict are killed, the have the runewell surge and Nualia transform into a half-fiend, gaining the template and all its benefits immediately.

5. If Sandpoint survives, the PCs - particularly Aldern's mark - should be suspect number one for the Skinsaw murders.

The magic item availability is simply "what's already at market" when the players show up in town. Base value and purchase limit do not prevent the party from hiring the services of an NPC spellcaster to craft custom items for them at standard market value, provided there's a spellcaster capable of casting Xth-level spells in that city/town.

What does tend to prevent them? The time investment involved (though if your campaign's on that tight a timeline, you're not having any PC crafting either), the possibility of PCs being unfriendly with the locals, etc.

GM says, "The local speleothems in the cavern indicate that this particular cavern is likely a solutional cave system, you note the presence of red streaks in the smooth limestone surroundings. And oh yeah, there's an orc here."

GM means, "I just read the 1e guide on underground caverns and thought it was really neat!" or "I did my research and I'm going to show you."

Alternatively:

GM means: "Can you believe there's a Pathfinder table at this geologist convention?"

Player says: "I'm playing a character who flirts with every woman he meets."
Player means: "I want the GM to include succubi in this campaign."

Player says: "I'm playing a gnome alchemist."
Player means: "I want stuff to go kaboom in increasingly ridiculous ways."

Rynjin wrote:

Problem.

Disguise Self wrote:

You cannot change your creature type (although you can appear as another subtype).

I've never liked that restriction. It is clearly intended to keep PCs from doing something like impersonating an angel or a vampire lord, but I think it's silly that it is more difficult for the illusion to make a zombie look human than to make a devil into an angel.

(Or make an aasimar to look human than make the same aasimar look like a janni.)

Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of GMs houserule (possibly unknowingly, in a de facto sort of way) that native outsiders count as humanoids rather than outsiders for things like disguise self, enlarge person, etc., unless you really would rather your undine disguise himself as a balor rather than an elf.

GM says: "Hey, can you guys tell me your Fort save bonuses real quick?"
GM means: "You will be exposed to diseases."

GM says: "Hey, can you guys tell me your Will save bonuses real quick?"
GM means: "You are being scryed upon."

GM says: "I recommend against playing a paladin in this campaign..."
GM means: "This campaign is going to be shades-of-gray. I really don't want any big alignment concerns."

GM says: "Sure, by all means you can play a paladin."
GM means: "Goblin babies."

GM says: "Its AC is 23."
GM means: "Let's streamline this battle by having YOU tell ME if you hit."

GM says: "Roll a wisdom check."
GM means: "What you're doing is an incredibly bad idea." OR "You're forgetting something really important."

Player says: "I want to play a dwarven bard."
Player means: "I want an excuse to sing badly at the table."

Player says: "I want to play an aasimar."
Player means: "I want to play a human, but with a bunch of free bonuses."

Player says: (while reading/discussing the house rules) "You nerfed <ability/spell/power>?!"
Player means: "But my build relies on heavily abusing <ability/spell/power>!"

Player says: "I spent hours upon hours developing my new character's backstory."
Player means: "So don't have him/her killed in the first encounter."

I present to you: the Banny Harker Affair, otherwise known as the convoluted conclusion to the Shayliss Vinder aftermath. It may not seem particularly "funny" while reading it, but it was quite hilarious at the table, full of cross-referencing NPCs with their tendencies and PCs with their backgrounds and were amused by how unexpectedly apropos some of this was.

Player W is playing a male aasimar inquisitor of Calistria, who actually started looking for eligible bachelorettes in Sandpoint before I sprang the Shayliss encounter on the party. Needless to say, he was the Shayliss-bait and easily accepted her invitation, knowing full well what she wanted. He got caught by Ven Vinder and managed to escape provoking only one failed attack of opportunity, fleeing naked into the Hagfish.

Well, he wants to make things right with Ven because he's still attracted to Shayliss, not to mention the party might feel the need to shop at the general store occasionally. Upon him asking around about how to do this, I bring up the Banny/Katrine relationship - Ven might be more inclined to be nicer if he "deals with" the issue.

Plot events interfere in the form of a kidnapped Ameiko, and the Vinder reparations are put on hold while the party delves into the Glassworks and then the Catacombs of Wrath, but when they emerge to the surface, so does the thorny Shayliss issue.

At this point Player M, whose character is a fetchling rogue with the Family Ties campaign trait and a pre-existing backstory relationship to Kaye Tesarani, decides to come up with a scheme to effectively end the romance between Banny and Katrine, involving a trip to the Hagfish for inebriation and getting Banny to become internally conflicted on whether or not Katrine really loves him or only wants him for his money, and then taking an extremely drunk Banny to the Pixie's Kitten, Kaye having been paid off to make sure everyone there referred to the nocturnal establishment as "the inn".

So after seven drinks and seven points of Wisdom damage, on the night of 27 Rova 4707, Banny found himself at the town brothel having very little idea of what was going on, and ended up involving himself with six different women, thinking all of them were Katrine. Meanwhile, W was upstairs in the Rusty Dragon involving himself with Shayliss, who had snuck into his room awaiting their return.

They get done and Shayliss gets dressed, and bumps into M. M tips off Shayliss that something is happenin with Banny at the brothel; she, being jealous of Katrine, goes to investigate and brings Katrine with her as M returns to the Rusty Dragon. Somehow Ven finds out about the event, and Banny gets into a drunken brawl with him; the party wakes up the next morning to find that both Banny Harker and Ven Vinder are now behind bars at the Sandpoint Garrison. Sheriff Hemlock is at this point still out of town, having not yet returned from Magnimar (he wouldn't until the subsequent day), and the deputy in charge is uncomfortable with the idea of running something on the order of a trial without the sheriff there. All involved parties certainly don't want to take this to Magnimar - it's a local issue and should be dealt with locally.

Enter Player A, whose character is a tiefling oracle. Of Asmodeus. Who is a lawyer by trade.

The aim of the party is, of course, to get Ven Vinder to let them shop in the store, and for the normal price rather than double price. A heads down to the garrison and proposes a deal with Ven that she'll defend him in the trial if he removes the bans/restrictions on their shopping. He accepts (and, being lawful neutral, intends on following through with the agreement), provided that W refrain from doing anything at all with Shayliss without his consent.

A spends the rest of the day basically gathering evidence against Banny Harker. But this trial actually does have some political ramifications, because of Ven Vinder's generally well-regarded nature in the community and Banny's relationship with the Scarnettis. A Scarnetti representative actually visits A over dinner and advises her for leniency - but not too much leniency - in the sentencing phase (there's just too many strikes against Banny for him to be found innocent, plus he had been effectively patronizing a brothel and the Scarnettis think he needed "a bit of reminding" that contracting such services is unbecoming of an upstanding citizen).

The whole affair takes us about 2 hours 45 minutes of real time, after the trial is all taken care of, it takes us about 15-20 minutes to calm down enough to progress with the main plot when someone is like "Oh, yeah, what about the whole goblin thing?"

...Now the operative question is whether an echo of this event will arise around, say, Sarenith 4708....

Having a "NPC cheat sheet" sorted by function (e.g.: Alchemist, Blacksmith, Brewer, etc.) is likely to be just as useful as one sorted by name, and is worth making one. The sheer number of NPCs, buildings, etc. - not all of which are necessarily plot-significant - can be overwhelming for the players, let alone the GM.

How familiar are your players with tabletop roleplaying in general? If not at all, you should definitely make full use of the Swallowtail Festival to help familiarize your players with the concepts of skill checks, attack rolls, saving throws etc. in a low-stress environment. Tempered with this, of course, is the need to keep any spellcasters in the party from using up their limited spells per day before the goblin fight!

I highly recommend, especially for a new group, awarding XP for roleplaying the festival, because doing so encourages roleplay - not to mention that with the time-consuming process that is character creation for a new party unfamiliar with the system, depending on the length of your session it's entirely possible that you may not get to the goblin fights (running RotR with an experienced party who walked in the door with their characters basically finished, I got to about the end of Part One of Book One after a 5-hour session that included 1 hour of pre-game "table talk"). You probably don't want your players leaving without having gotten any XP that first session.