chkflip's page

They sell on eBay for anywhere from $40-$100. The ones on amazon are a part of a much larger lot. They're wholesaling a bunch of stuff leftover that survived a fire or something. I messaged the guy several months ago and that's what they'd told me. I've personally just slowly been buying the plastic minis a couple at a time to make it affordable to me.

I've run RotRL on nothing but a two-sided dry erase blank mat with tokens that didn't match and markers that barely worked. The bells and whistles are nice but don't make yourself feel like they're required. As long as you know the material, play up moments as required, and allow your players a little flexibility on their railroad? You'll have a great time.

My PCs have decided to sneak into Scarnetti Manor and spy on them. Any good maps in other modules I could adapt for the encounter?

Anybody have anything good on this?

Also, has anybody considered the jailor's one-sentence backstory as a sidequest when they start moving to the turtleback ferry area? I saw that his kids are owned by slavers in Kaer Magan. Anybody have any ideas for that either?

Do "inside props" include tables, chairs, or perchance barbed wire bats? Because bah gawd King I'd be way too into that.

Love the idea. Commenting for follow and to support this great idea.

I know it goes against your preferred alignments, but Paladin would probably have a higher survivability rate in a solo game. High saves, high charisma, swift action heals on the spot. Throw some points into UMD for a wand or two and you should slide into at least 5th level with relative ease. I could help with archetypes if you're not opposed to the idea.

Anybody? Bueller?

...BUELLER?

Oh, crap. I didn't know it was an AP.

So not sleeping obv isn't going to help long term, but I'll go until the minuses are devastating I guess.

We did just run into some inmates but they were decked out in gear. Might not be a bad idea to talk to them anyway.

Anything else?

Oh, we reached level two and I picked up opening volley for the once per fight +4 if I hit them with like a brick or something.

So, a new game I'm in pits the party as inmates in an insane asylum. When we go to sleep, we have nightmares about a large monster that is powerful and kills us every night. We had no gear to start at level one, but I've found a longsword, a breastplate, a maybe magical ring, and a couple potions. I'm probably the weakest statistically (we rolled stats), so I've gotta play smart even though I've a WIS of 8 and a CHA of 6. I went with human fighter and chose power attack, weapon focus (lucerne hammer), and throw anything. He had us buy equipment but we don't have it yet.

So, my dilemma is many. Help?

Also willing to DM. I have RotRL and my own world. Looking for an in-person game.

Looking to join an established or new game. I live in Carmicheal but am willing to travel.

Hey, remember when this thread was about helping someone with a build and not bickering at one another?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

You may want to consider the fact that your spellcasters are over-extending themselves in combat with no repercussion. Two to three encounters, while they may take entire sessions, shouldn't have realiatically lasted longer than an hour or two. Parties can only rest once a day. So, what are they doing with the reat of this time? Why are the enemies not chasing after them or fortifying their holds?

This doesn't exactly apply to the undead in the mansion, but the haunts definitely reset.

Food for thought.

On a more general note, I can recommend two splendid books by Kobold Press, the "Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding" and the "Kobold Guide to Plots & Campaigns", which are collections of essays written by some great designers out there and cover a lot of stuff regarding those topics.

Would you happen to have links for those?

When it comes to being a dungeon master, I prefer to build from the ground up but not necessarily on my own. The world map and general direction of the campaign will be all me; however, finding loot and crafts every single room and hallway can sometimes be cumbersome. I found an app a while back called ProDnD that generates some fairly interesting maps you can work with. Maybe not square for square every time, but decent as far as apps go.

What I hands down recommend is donjon. It's a website that generates names, maps, loot, encounters, etc. It's fantastic. The encounters are a little repetitive and the loot can be, too, but for a website that you can spam a randomize button on makes it more than worth your while.

As far as little ideas go, I'll be fishing soon for the old encounter threads to post links here. Our quaint little community came together for several hundred different scenarios that one could easily draw from.

In this thread, I'd like there to be civil discussion on such topics with no barriers. I'm by no means an expert, with my piddly fifteen years of tabletop experience with only five or so of which I've focused on Pathfinder, but I keep seeing small threads about this get little to no love and I find it's a topic that many out there need help with.

So, do you have any tips or tricks? Broad generalizations or fine-tuned theories? I want to hear them! There's a brand new DM out there somewhere who could use our knowledge and what better way than to finally have a standardized thread on all topics of game mastering, campaign design, works building, and all that fun stuff in between!

Hello Pathfinders of new and old.

It's time to discuss, give and take advice, and overall just have a healthy debate about the topic of campaign -- and on the broader scope, world -- building for your TTRPG sessions.

Pretty simple question (to which I'm almost positive the answer is no), but is there any legal way for one race to gain access to another race's archetypes?

Say (for example) I'm Human, but I want to be the Goblin's alchemist archetype. Is there something similar to the adopted trait that could do this feasibly?

I guess it does counterattack the fact that my LoH is 1d6-50%+1 on myself right now. But it helps my other cures more, too, so in the long term I suppose it's worth it.

Thanks.

That's what I'm talking about! Help!

Since you took blade of Mercy it looks like your GM is using material from Legacy of Fire. If that is the case start tracking how much you heal and try qualify for the Achievement feat Healer’s Touch. It will be difficult to do with a paladin but if you can pull it off it will significantly boost your healing spells.

Maybe take improves Sunder to give you more ways to end combat without having to deal damage. If your GM does not count non-lethal damage against you than you may be able to get Healer’s Touch without too much difficulty.

I had no idea that even existed. Seems pretty powerful, so I'll definitely ask about it and how they feel about non-lethal being counted against the requirement.

If you can rebuild your character, take fey foundling at level 1 and rework your stats to have a 14CON.

Fey Foundling I understand, but why as a healer do I want 14con over str or dex? That would mean I'm there merely as a meat shield healer instead if adding to the fight as well. Unless I'm missing something.

Extra Mercies, extra LoH, Greater Mercy. And get the Sanctuary Mercy (lvl6 Targeted).

Extra Ch Pos Energy can be nice too.

Greater Bull Rush is great for non-dmg combat as well. It provokes AoO's from nearby allies and you can get quite a bit of battlefield control.

The thing with putting feats into a combat maneuver like bull rush or sunder is that it takes more away from healing than my slight pinch in actual combat already does and then the character wouldn't be particularly good at any of the three things.

I love where you guys are going, though. The "extra" feats were already on my list, and I've considered Fey Foundling but I want to focus on others than just boosting myself.

Just joined a game looking for a healer and a tank option (the rest of the party consists of a monk [new player], a rogue, and a wizard) so I took a dive into an option I've been meaning to play for a while, the Hospitaler slash Oath of Charity Paladin. I'm just looking for tips on how to get the most bang for my healing buck. We did sort of an introductory session with myself and the rogue and, suffice it to say, the DM doesn't have kid gloves. We leveled. I love it. Anywho, the build:

Macias, Human Paladin II

25 point buy
16 (+3)
14 (+2)
10 (+0)
10 (+0)
10 (+0)
18 (+4)

Feats
1: Weapon Focus (Long sword), Extra Traits

Traits
Blessed Touch - +1HP for LoH, Channel Positive Energy, and Cure spells
Blade of Mercy - no penalty to go non-lethal damage, +1 nonlethal damage
Magical Knack - +2 CL
Rich Parents - 900gp starting

So, I clearly took Rich Parents for the lulz (and the healing potions, of which I used 3/4); however, I've based everything else off of getting as much heal as possible. Currently, I've got LoH at 1d6+50%+1 five times, one casting of CLW at 1d8+2, and one potion of CLW.

Basically, I think I've got a decent lock on it, but I'd like some feat/item suggestions if at all possible. I appreciate any input from you guys. You've always been very helpful in the past.

Gotta give 'em time.

5) The party finds out that the town guard they work for is riddled with crime, the reason the town has been crumbling underneath itself all this time. Outgunned and outnumbered the party must find the ways and means to turn this once beautiful city around.

/Gotham

Thank you guys so much! Amazing stuff here.

I'm definitely going to check out Jolly's guide when I can.

Thistlefoot, I guess my main issue with those is that they're all late game choices. I've no idea what I should pick earlier on. I was going to pick precise bombs, but being a grenadier makes that a freebie. And all the earlier ones are Fort saves. No point in picking them up early if they're just going to end up being worthless, right?

I hadn't looked at it tbh.

But can an alchemist with str this low be remotely effective in melee?

What with feats that will all most likely focus on range/splash, what's good about being able to swing a weapon that isn't that likely to hit or do much damage at all?

One is a human ranger (or slayer, they haven't decided) and a third is a human kensai magus. A fourth person hasn't responded yet.

"We're all.. gonna.. die." ~ Rattrap

Fair points. I'll switch my point in Nature to UMD.

I have to ask, though, which bombs are you seeing that call for a Will save? A LOT of them are Fort saves which is a little disheartening given what you've just said about them.

I'll give the group composition as soon as I find out. :)

Fantastic! I really appreciate that, Thistlefoot.

I was considering going the TWF -> Rapid Shot -> Fast Bombs route so I could pelt enemies (obviously at a much higher level) with several bombs in a single round (I think that'd be three, right?). Would that be effective in this campaign, or do you think I should stick to status effects that aim for Reflex/Will saves?

I'm going to be playing in the Rise of the Runelords campaign very soon and was wondering if anyone had any tips as to what I should change about this character to better fit the bill as far as what the challenges will be goes. Aaaaaand here's the character. Though I should tell you that the starting stat array was 18, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10 and starting coin was 350gp. But don't worry, this GM has ramped the difficulty of the campaign significantly. As far as I know, though, the types of challenges are the same otherwise (types of opponents, skill checks, etc).

Issil "Smarts" CG RATFOLK ALCHEMIST I
STR 11 (+0), DEX 18 (+4), CON 12 (+1)
INT 20 (+5), WIS 14 (+2), CHA 10 (+0) [yay no dump stats~]

Skills: Appraise +10 (+12 if it has small markings/detail), Craft (Alchemy) +12, Handle Animal +4 (with riding rat and rodents only),
Heal +6, Knowledge [Arcana] +9, [History] +10, [Local] +10, [Nature] +9, Perception +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Profession [Merchant] +3,

Equipment
(x6) Bomb +6 (d6+5/x2; 30')
(x2) Pox Burster +6 (DC 13 FORT v Filth Fever; 20')
(x1) Thunderstone +6 (DC 15 WILL v Deafness 10r; 20')
(x1) Tanglefoot Bag +6 (DC 15 REFLEX v -2 to hit melee, -4 DEX; 20')
All used in conjunction with Bomb Launcher (+10'; added above)

Tailblade +0 or-5 if used as secondary attack (d2/x2)
Purely for lulflavor

Lamellar Cuirass (+2 AC) and Buckler (+1 AC)
Went low armor with shield bc weight restriction

MW Backpack + Belt Pouch
Formula Book, Ink + Inkpen
Bedroll, Iron Pot, Mess Kit, Flint + Steel, Soap
Trail Rations x5, Waterskin

Skeleton Key (+10 Disable Device v locked doors)
Periscope (-4 Perception v look around corners)
Magnifying Glass (+2 Appraise if item has markings/detail)
Hybridization Funnel (Combine alchemical items)
Formula Alembic (obtain new extract formulas)
Veterenarian Kit (+3 Heal v animal care)

Combat Trained Riding Rat (medium-sized dire rat, no filth fever)

Feat: Precise Shot

Extracts: Ant Haul, CLW, + either Firebelly, Shield, or Longshot

Traits: (He said to pick 3, but 1 campaign trait. Could get extra trait with 1 drawback)
Loner (-1 AC when adjacent to ally)
Business Venturer (+1 Appraise, Know Local, + Prof Merchant)
[picked Know (Local) as class skill]
Firebug (+1 to hit with bombs and splash weapons)
Rich Parents (+900 starting gp)
Scholar of the Ancients (+1 Arcana, History, read/speak Thassilonian)
[picked Know (History) as class skill]

That's everything. I've got 1/2lb left in encumbrance and 1gp 1sp tender.

You're probably just going to have to flavor something up.

My first dumb/funny thought was "I woke up like this!" (Beyonce, anyone?)

This could give your DM a story arc, a side quest, et cetera.

Maybe the soul of an evil blahblahblah magically fuses into your wolf.

I'm no good at this, but flavoring does appear to be your go-to option.

Charachters of their own. I personally haven't had the time, but I'd like to see the folder be used lol~

I'm probably going to keep him as the adept and make some Orc fighter guards for him. Make the abandoned tower his lair of sorts.

Like I said, the ranger isn't optimized. He went high dex over high str and hasn't picked up weapon focus or power attack (no matter how many times I suggest it). I did, however, read favored enemy incorrectly. I thought it was only +1. Yikes.

I don't have his sheet in front of me, but I know I'm going to try to sit down with him again and talk about where he wants this character to go. I need to do the same with the Cleric too because she now wants to go range after picking the dodge->spring attack chain for her first three feats. :/

Wait, so they're introducing a new gestalt-style where you give up feats for abilities from other classes?

FULL BAB ROGUE BABY YEAH.

Lol'd! Yeah, this guy is way more deadly than I took him for. I assumed free action reloading only applied to his initial reloading. That's something to definitely reconsider then.

Oops, my last post was toward Koshimo.

Yay someone thinks its okay. Gives me hope. Lol

WELL WHEN YOU PUT IT LIKE THAT. :P

A little backstory: the party is currently in chase of the npc. Or, well, they're about to be. He allowed them to capture him after they swiftly defeated his pet girallon. The Baron charged him with several crimes of different levels and he was to be hung in the middle of the town. It comes to pass and not only does the rope break, he disappears (simple invisibility spell by a turncoat in the crowd). The party hadn't found this out and the session had to end. At this next session, they'll either find footprints or be led by rumor to the docks in the west. The chase will switch from land to boat and the npc will at this point have made an attack with the double crossbow to lose his invisibility. The wand and scroll are to be used at this point to extend the intensity of the chase which inevitably leads back to an abandoned tower. The final battle will happen at the top (fifth) floor. At this point the scroll, the wand, and probably the pearls will.be expended (the ranger and the bard both have bows as well as their melee weapons).

The players aren't INCREDIBLY optimized, but the ranger has a total of +11 to hit orcs with his greatsword of orcs bane from his bab, str, favored enemy and favored environment bonuses. That's before the bard hits his +2 to hit/damage song and before and buffs made by the cleric as well. The group itself is basically buff the ranger, heal the ranger, provide support for the ranger, and debuff the enemies in about that order.

I did not consider how often he would hit. Your answer leads me to believe his free action reloading for the double crossbow would allow him to fire it more than once per round. Is that the case?

Sorry, miscommunication. That was meant to answer your question re: building him so big.

Lol I did use wbl instead of npc wealth. I'll definitely alter it accordingly.

My thought process re: stats was given that he doesn't use CHA or STR much and has low everything else that it wouldn't really make that big of a difference.

Maybe I'll just make him Crossbowman IX (~60hp, 10 feats) and give him some low-level cohorts. Definitely keeping it as a double crossbow in that case, though.

See, I didn't think it'd be as easy as that Carla. They're npc levels and not particularly optimized ones at that. The ranger's orc bane greatsword hits for 4d6+6 (10-30 dmg outside of criticals) and the cleric is completely focused for healing. The bard also averages around the same amount of damage as well as has debuffs. Edit: the ranger also has entangle.

So if they average 30 damage between the two, that's only five rounds of combat including the debuff round. Is it extremely dangerous? Sure, but its a bbeg.

Wraith, I did build him myself. I'm willing to pull him down a peg. When you say "by the book" do you mean that I've done something wrong? If so, what?

I think if its unanimous that the party is hopeless, I'll definitely take out the Adept levels and equivalent number of feats (wind stance, quick draw, whirlwind attack, combat expertise). That'd put him at roughly 80 or so hit points and drop his saves a small amount. He'd also lose his ability to use the magic-related items, leaving him with his double crossbow and luck blade at +7 and +16/+11/+7 to hit respectively.

Does it mean anything if I say he was going to focus solely on using the crossbow to fight them? Hell, I could make the blade just a regular shortsword (+14/+9/+5) if that makes that big a difference.

My group of three level five adventurers (Elf Ranger, Halfling Cleric, Goblin Arcane Duelist) are about to experience their first boss fight, so I want to make sure I've done everything right on my end to make for a fun experience. Its going to be one guy on his own (I know, I know, but wait for it.) at a high high level with mostly npc class levels. Keep in mind I don't want to tpk but I also don't want to kid glove it either. Here he is:

Half-Orc Adept VII, Warrior V, Crossbowman V
Stats in order: 18, 15, 10, 10, 10, 20 (I just kinda winged it)
HP: 125 ; INIT: +2 ; AC: 21 ; BAB +13/+8/+4 ; SAVES +10/+6/+7

FEATS in order: Dodge, Mobility, Spring Attack, Combat Expertise, Quick Draw, Whirlwind Attack, Wind Stance, Exo. Wpn Prof (Double Crossbow), Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Rapid Reload, Crossbow Mastery

SKILLS: Climb +17, Heal +12, Survival +15, Use Magic Device +13

EQUIPMENT (with appropriate numbers attached):
Double Crossbow +10 (2d8 [19-20/x2])
or Luck Blade +19/+14/+10 (1d6+6 [19-20/x2])

Agile Half-Plate (+8AC)

(x2) Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+5)
(x2) Pearl of Power I (Obscuring Mist, Cure Light Wounds)
Pearl of Power II (Bull's Strength)
Wand of Summon Monster II (10 charges)
Scroll of Summon Monster IV

Spells:
0: Ghost Sound, Stabilize, Touch of Fatigue
1: Burning Hands (2d4+2), Obscuring Mist, Cure Light Wounds (1d8+2)
2: Bull's Strength, Web

Does that look right?
Should I nerf his hp (the ranger has a greatsword of orc bane)?
Is there a minus to hit if he shoots with his first attack and swings the blade with his iteratives?
Can he use his free action reloading to shoot the double crossbow more than once per turn?
Any comments, concerns, criticisms welcome.

obviously they would have to meet a certain standard of awesomeness and follow your format, but would you ever consider maybe a sub-folder for fan submissions? It'd even be cool if you critiqued them if you wanted to. This has more than likely been addressed, I just thought I'd chime in.

I'm a fairly new DM that just started and had a group go from two to one. It can be rough at times, but definitely still rewarding all the same. There are plenty of free level one modules on the site you could try out to get your feet wet. Remember, though, that his druid will have some decent strengths. Roll stats and give him a free 18. Make sure he picks a strong animal companion to increase his survivability. DEFINITELY give him a little extra gold to start -- maybe even a free masterwork upgrade to his weapon if you feel he needs it.

If you're going to run a module/ap first, as stated above, know that you might have to scale it back a bit if you're not going to gestalt him. (I wouldn't personally recommend gestalt since you're both new to this, but still). Just don't be afraid to kill him and DEFINITELY don't be afraid to make mistakes. Its going to happen.

Have fun.

I use the screen, like others, to hide minis, rolls, maps, and to use for its quick reference information. I also stand while I GM both to better orate the motions of rolls/actions and to access the battle grid with minis or a marker.

What's making you want light crossbow over longbow?

I'm of the opinion that not having to spend a move action to load your weapon would be better so you could move into better positioning if you have to.

Well that's SECONDS I'm never getting back. Thanks, guy! :P

Oh, and if you'd like help creating the villain party, message me. I spend too much time making NPCs and wouldn't mind helping or even being a third party to bounce your ideas off of.

It's a perfectly acceptable question, and actually I was a little off; however, you'll find that your party especially (very combat/martial heavy) will absolutely obliterate any CR 1 encounter you throw at them.

This will explain what I'm trying to say better than I can. But trust me when I saw you're going to have to hit them harder than you would if there were only four of them.

Good luck.

Your group is roughly a CR 3 iirc. So they'll demolish any single CR 1 encounter you put together. But 2-3 bugbears or 4-5 troglodytes should make for a tough fight, especially if you slap some armor or a +1 weapon on them.

Give the giant an item that shrinks him.

Have the giant find his way onto the dracolich's person.

Anti-magic hits before they get to the lair-lair, right, but at least the giant is in.

Voila.

Your BAB is too low for Power Attack, in my opinion, and you'd be better suited taking Step Up or that +5 reach feat since you're going with the reach melee bard. Step Up would work well with the extra feats Arcana Duelists get versus spellcasters, too.

Lol'd Krunchy's trait suggestions are superior. Go with those. /whine

Fair enough. For your traits, I suggest picking up Seeker (+1 perception and makes it a class skill) and Outcast's Intuition (+1 sense motive and makes it a class skill). With these traits, you're looking at starting with +6 on your perception and sense motive rolls instead of +2.

Also, I know being able to switch between one-handing and two-handing your weapon sounds good, but unless you plan on doing something useful with the spare hand then I highly suggest the greataxe for max damage.

Oh. Poop. Still, +2 isn't great. If they're dead set on percep and sense motive, they should take traits to gain at least another +1 on top of the +3 for making them class skills.

But I appreciate the correction. I had no idea and clearly didn't read the thread through.

You've already said you don't want to dual wield or use a shield, so, honestly, there's little reason outside of flavor/preference not to go with the greataxe (1d12/x3).

Unless you're taking traits for perception and sense motive, that's only going to be a half point in each of those. Meaning, as a non-class skill you're only rolling with a +1.5 for each.

What's your battle strategy? How do you feel about using Intimidate for a little battlefield control?

Is this for PFS?