closetgamer's page

Is the pocket edition also being updated to include the 4th printing errata and if so, when will it be available?

David Knott, this is correct in the real world.

A jungle is a type of tropical forest (typically considered a tropical rain forest). There are temperate forests, and boreal forests as well.

Depending on your GM/table, it might help to specify what kind of forest.

Okay! 'Nuff said... Magnuskn, Captain... already noted, but thanks for the heads up ;) The DM actually is encouraging a Gunslinger/Paladin - Holy Gun type of character. He is playing a Spellslinger/Eldritch Knight Munchkin atrocity in my RoW campaign now and causing all kinds of havoc. So much so that the rest of the table is "over" guns... Yet he implies being proficient in firearms will be extremely beneficial.

One of our sessions was a bit tedious when the party decided to destroy the troops on the outside of the prison. This lead to several combats in a row against similar type creatures with no role playing or exploring mixed in. So literally one Sunday we did combats for 7 hours.

This same sort of thing occurred in my last session. The PCs teleported into a tower, waylaid the occupants, teleported to the next, rinse and repeat (eventually they did have to resort to Fly potions and the like to get to the last few towers). After the second tower I moved some troops and tanks in to fire on them. The troops are certainly brutal with their fusillade, and the tanks pack a punch but my players systematically wiped them out eventually (I prevented the tanks from using the Hotchkiss on the PCs when they entered the Anchor towers though). The troop's vulnerability to area of effect spells was exploited for sure.

We left off with the Polovnik and his Cassocks entering the scene. I will release the Trench Mists/zombies right after a Flamethrower troop or two blast the PCs for a few rounds. The party has decimated a total of 4-5 troops at this point iirc (along with 3 animated tanks), but the players don't want to spend another entire session fighting the troops in the trenches "just because", so they are pushing for the monastery now that it has been called back to earth.

Any advice on running the final section inside the monastery?

It seems rather dismissive of the adventures to say that there is no point in running them at all, if you don't use the background story for Baba Yaga. I feel the writers are doing a lot more work when it comes to story, location design, encounter design, and so on, than just doing some Golarion fanservice.

I believe many of the Paizo adventures are very good in their own right, not because they use names from the Golarion setting.

I think what the general consensus here is "Why would you want to take Baba Yaga out of the 'Baba Yaga AP'?"

Even if not set in Golarion, I would still want Baba Yaga to be a central figure in the AP. There really doesn't seem to be any reason not to use her as is, even if set in a home-brew world.

Then again, this may be the first time some people have ever heard of the Queen of Witches... For some of us though, we are very familiar with her and her hut from previous incarnations in other games/systems/settings. I for one was sold on this AP the moment I heard about it, if for nothing else than nostalgia's sake.

Thanks again Jim! That does make more sense actually... and it will definitely be more dramatic that way.

I love these boards!

Note that rain does not state that it affects flying as severe wind, only the other stuff.

I did finally come to that conclusion Turin, I just wish some of this stuff was spelled out a little more clearly I guess.

But what about when they get to the Portal? Still no wind? Or is it Light, the fictitious "Heavy Wind", or severe?

I feel like this is a dumb question but I can't seem to find any definition for "arctic" (as in Tatzlwyrm, Giant Weasel, etc). Do these creatures get any resistance to cold or are they just inherently able to overcome the elements and nothing more? If hit with a spell that has the cold descriptor, do they take normal damage, half, resistance? There is no cold subtype or winter-touched effects pertinent to them... so it would seem they get no real "protection". I would think they would get some resistance though..

Not that I disagree in regards to providing optional endgame scenarios, but it could be argued that the ending (or what we assume the ending to be, based on available info) is a "restoring the balance" type of win. And while not quite as "sexy" as beating Baba Yaga to a pulp, it should still be rewarding to know that the PCs prevented the situation from encompassing the whole planet. That's a win in my book even if the mythical Demi-God manages to survive and get "away".

On the flip side, if the (assumed) ending isn't what you are your party are looking for, change it! Of course this requires waiting on the rest of the AP to come out or to plan your changes last minute when you get the final book. Ideas from the writers, I'm sure, will be available. If not in the AP itself, then here on the boards. In the meantime, start fleshing out your BBEG Baba Yaga encounter. I'm assuming B.Y. to be more powerful than Nyrissa from Kingmaker, and that's pretty scary for PCs! I'm not sure what I'll do, but I can guess my players will want to wipe the floor with her...

To me, this is pretty clear. The spell specifically tells you that the PC can't take any further actions. Period. The Spell Combat entry doesn't state that it supersedes a spell effect. I would rule that it does not. It's a 1st level perk. You already get to cast and make a Full Attack (albeit at -2). Can it be argued that you should get to act after casting a spell that specifically says you can't? Sure, but you aren't winning me over with that argument. It's RAW vs RAI, imo. Teleport has no such verbiage and as such I would allow you to cast Teleport and then Full Attack. The Dimension Door spell is worded specifically. Specifics trump most anything in my book. I would explain it something like this; the Dimension Door spell is lower level and doesn't protect the caster/targets against the disorienting effects of teleportation magics, whereas the Teleport does (by it's absence of a statement that says you can take no actions or that you are disoriented).

Take Dimensional Agility and you're Golden in my book! Or just use Teleport instead...

But that's just me.

if you escape the other way you are grappled in it's mouth again.

Or if you escape the other OTHER way, you're still Grappled, but arguably in a less desirable location ;)

This is not an "answer" but just an editorial opinion as a GM, not a writer.

I think this is a very valid approach. The nature of the game is such that certain hazards do become more (but not totally) obsolete as the PCs gain levels. This includes weather hazards.

The lower levels of this AP remind me of the lower levels of Serpent Skull in that the GM has an opportunity to utilize the environment has a challenge and hazard. Eventually the PCs somewhat "outgrow" that challenge through higher level skill ratings, magic, and gear. Nevertheless you have that early opportunity to make a lasting impact with it and alter your players perspectives on the environment.

Its not bad that they eventually overcome the worst of those challenges either! That becomes one of the unspoken and implied ways the players can measure their PCs are becoming more competent and powerful—the side effect of becoming experienced.

Thanks Jim!

I agree of course. I would also say that this is the time where you instill the frigid atmosphere of the ENTIRE AP. Freeze the PCs butts off! Make it memorable! Have someone suffer some frostbite, maybe even lose a finger or two! They won't forget something like that. Of course, I don't plan to screw anyone over, but I certainly don't want the environment to become a complete non-factor too early in the campaign...

I see the first book being the only real time to hit the players with the frigid weather. By the time they reach 4th level and the second book, most parties should have managed to eliminate all but the most serious of threats from weather conditions. That being said, I plan to play up the cold as much as I can. I may even go so far as to include tactics that will nullify their precautions/protections similar to the river crossing in the Border Woods. The winter-touched fey are smart enough to know that normal humans/demi-humans will not do well if their cold weather gear is somehow taken out of the equation...

Thanks for the clarification Urath.

I've voted for probably about 6-8 hours since voting opened, maybe a few more.. I'm noticing now that many of the terrible entries are no longer showing up, and that I get more and more "good" items. (I saw my item once, on the first day of voting.) Though I am still seeing items I haven't voted on yet, many of them I have. I do have a few favorites so far, and I'm fairly sure they will be selected to the top 32. Mine isn't one of them. Mine is rather bland now that I see all the competition. I only learned of the contest the day it opened, and after racking my brain for ideas, finely settled on something I thought might have a glimmer of hope... I don't think it will pass muster. I do not like this voting over and over again, at least not for a month. That seems entirely too long, but then again, not everyone can sit around voting for hours on end (like me) so I guess it helps there. At this point though, formatting is one tie-breaker, price is another (too many items over 200k gp!!). After that, I judge on a "Cheesey Scale" or the "Makes GMing difficult" stand by. It starts to get much more subjective at this point.