I'vr had the deck for a number of weeks, and finally used it for the first time yesterday, in my own game. I was a bit nervous about using this and making up a sensible reading.
But it worked really well!
We've been playing this campaign for almost 2 years, so had lots to draw on from the past, and was easy to suggest he has knowledge and true divination powers. The current reading was fine, with a means to suggest one of the RBDM encounters is not best resolved with steel, and the future! Wow. I've foreshadowed some of the hidden aspects of things as well as painted a picture the future holds real danger to them and the nation as a whole, and another hint about a RBDM encounter.
Players loved the art, and I'm excited to see how they look back at the reading once this "module" is completed!
just a brief note to mention how glad I am of the quality of the paper in pathfinder.
I had a leaky roof over the weekend; a weekend of non-stop rain and my container with pathfinder in got wet and the pages were stuck together. My heart was in my throat! But they dried out absolutely fine, no ink smudging, no paper tearing just alittle crinkled.
I'm planning on making this a bit more personal and want to introduce at least one of the siblings earlier in the AP, just so they've met, perhaps even appreciated the music. Certainly going to make them hear of this talented young man on the up.
As for the party itself, I was thinking it was intended to be one of those "close the doors, let the city burn around us while we party for days" events, so the nobles aren't really missing yet. Ruan can be considered missing as the musicians are hired for a performance, they would go home and rest inbetween. Other performers might have turned up, shrugged at the locked doors "they do party hard" and then rushed home.
You probably want to give Joli the scrolls of animate dead otherwise its a very short encounter.
you've got 2 options for the party: either the PCs are there as the attack happens and get to stop it midflow (perhaps start in the house when they are spread out, in the gazebo etc). Isn't Joli' using Voral Phage or a stronger strain of blood veil? This may be more deadly to the PCs. Joli still gets to run around, hiding in the colourful throng, the party-goers themselves pleading with the PCs, her invis and raising dead.
OR
The PCs are invited, but their carriage is delayed (a spot check by a doctor and grey maidens or nobles guards keeping the commoner out, to ensure no plague victims moving around - perhaps the carraige driver has been hiding his marks and a maiden questions the intent to let him drive them to a party). So they arrive after the carnage perhaps only 1 animate has been cast. You may just need to change some of the locations of the zombies.
Either way you can still save lives for the body count, but you may make it more dynamic as you need to consider stopping infected but still living nobles fleeing as well as prevent plague zombies scattering.
Background:
In the near future I'll be starting an urban game. My intention is to have a number of locations within the city the PCs can visit (adjusting EL as appropriate), as well as storylines driven by the history and stated goals of the PCs.
The PCs (3 gestalt players, gith~whatever ftr-wiz, celestial paragon-ftr and human bard-binder) start with no knowledge of each other, the first game needs to draw them together.
Originally I was going to run Goodman's DCC "Legend of the Ripper", but then this caught my eye (to run Ripper I need them to be of heroic nature, but there's more self-serving types than heroic in this group!).
the Questions:
does hangman's noose pull together a group of strangers of a variety of races?
What level would the PCs come out at?
Any other reason why this module seems to fit with my outline above?
Have they got the sort of group that looks [to the gobbos] to be able to deliver this threat?
Nualia certainly won't be impressed, so I think Bruth' doing a recce/sweep would be good idea as mentioned, although one of the goblin "heroes" might take it upon himself to protect his tribe.
Perhaps Nualia thinks she will show them who's boss and send out a Yeth hound to scare them away, right in view of the goblins who will have a new line for their chant!
Certainly Lyrie would go ape.
Can't see Orik running because of this ploy, but he might think the group might give him the chance he needs to get out of this place.
The first things Mammy would do is ensure the PCs are gone: she's moves too slowly to flee at speed, so will want to check they've not just gone down the road, and will probably get some fortifying done for the short term. If they have cleared off you probably want her to set a trap in the house, especially as she will need time to make good her escape.
If she can get a clean break (you mentioned 2 days earlier in the post, so it sounds good) she will be hell bent on a grisly revenge; anger directed first at the nearest group of totally unable to defend themselves and then a seething anger for the PCs. I love the idea of a harrow deck being used, especially if there's significant others for the PCs.
Following the genre idea, an attack on those of significance with a clear message to draw the PCs in, with as much of an ambush ready as possible, including animated "prisoners".
First, check the rules. A standard wooden building (not sure what it says in Hook Mountain) has 6 hardness and 60 hp. Fire does half damage to objects, and alchemists fire does d6 for 2 rounds. Fire won't catch without some help.
Second, take advantage of the situation. If the boys see some folks moving around with fire I suspect they'll have a thing or 2 to say. I imagine 3 ogrekin smacking the torch bearer around and dragging him inside will get the ball rolling. How are they going to cover ever exit? Spread out? means the boys have got local superiority.
Third, let them burn it down and then discover the pile of worthless metal, the chained up prisoner they burned alive. Heck, even let someone break free and claw at a window before a fiery beam hits them on the head. Build on the guilt with a burned-alive caused me to be undead creature.
I keep coming back here to see if there's any further updates, so I thought I'd better post something just incase the Paizo collective casts its eye this way and only see a couple of posters...well, posting.
3.5, or even PFRPG with its promise of compatibility would be great for this series.
This is my third Open Desing patronage but my first one as major patron. Can't wait to see what Wolfgang and Nick will create!
Can someone explain the difference between being a minor and major patron? I'm sure lots of people would like to know and it would probably benefit Open Design.
If I get this wrong, someone please correct me, but I think major patron's get to submit things like monsters and encounters, read draft versions etc, while minor patrons vote on the which monsters, encounters etc are included but don't have access to drafts.
There's probably other benefits, but I can't recall.
Did I miss a bit about the levels covered? I have a nice urban campaign starting soon and slotting this in at the 8th level mark would ensure its complete in time!
And well done to Wolfgang - his OD concept has succeeded and now he has an additional author/creator on board this rather unique approach.
I ask as there is a deal of interaction with other NPCs as well, and this might be a good opportunity to bring this aspect of roleplay to the groups attention, and you don't want to spoil what's ahead.
A good piece of PF2 derives from PC-NPC interaction.
I'd be careful of alienating the PC's from the townsfolk, some of the AP builds on these heroes defending these folk. If it gets a little strained perhaps you need to offer a heroic rescue of Shayliss, earning her father's open praise to bring them back into the fold.
divine intervention.
there's an ex paladin in town, perhaps he donates his left over kit to the new hero-paladin.
Paladin gets a dream where silver plays a part, suggesting he needs it.
I can't recall off the top of my head where the hounds are compared to a reasonable place to put a prisoner, but you could have the group rescue a prisoner who's the survivor of a group trounced by the hounds - can describe the ineffectiveness of their weapons.
To be quite frank I think I will have the same problem - not many of my players will look to silversheen at such a low level. I might foreshadow it with an encounter earlier with something else weak but with DR/silver. Thanks for the heads-up!
I was going to hand out sin points (carefully disguised as the seven virtues of rule) with little powers, like Wrath = 1 round of Rage. I haven't worked out how to explain those yet though, so we'll see.
Cool idea! Perhaps have the loremaster introduce some element of deciphering the sihedron rune and its component parts.
Maybe the most wrathful in the catacombs of wrath gets the rune of wrath, giving him that ability to suggest to the group there's power in them thar runes.
oh, and to OP; greed, greed, lust and perhaps pride. Greed for wanting to money, and doiing this to get it. Lust if the try to entice custom, pride if they choose the client only from those they deem worthy.
You could do one a one issue campaign; that's how long evil campaigns last 90% of the time anyway. Rogue pickpockets fighter, fighter stabs rogue, rogue stabs fighter, goblins kill rest of party... (ducks)
Sorry , that is not an evil campaign. That is players playing stupid. An evil campaign does not mean throw away all you know about roleplaying in a group (party cohesion being one). A runelord looking for people to empower his runewell would not employ such idiots.
The rogue should pick pocket the innkeep, and when the innkeep discovers this, the fighter threatens the innkeep into shutting up.
Yeah well, that duck was well timed in US time...
As others have said RotR is easy to make into appropriate for evil party - and it is. you can still be an evil bunch of humans who are willing to defend humanity no matter the means or cost. It really wouldn't make much difference to the campaign so far.
A self serving evil that takes every chance of power might be different as it agrees to serve the runelord (I hope there's a note on what happens if the PCs fail in the later parts!).
I would expect a lesser of two evils campaign might be a good way to explore some of the dark regions of Pathfinder, but I can accept such an AP wouldn't be as well accepted as Paizo need.
It is odd that so many people post about the cool evil-wickedness of Logue and Pett, but seemingly only if it stays on one side of the table.
The Runelord Alaznist has seen the mistake made by Karzoug; he chose monsters as his means of gathering souls to his runewell.
Learning from this mistake she instead spends time seeking humans with the strength and determination (AP part 1 and 2)to see her awoken with full power. Once she has found these men and women she sends them forth to raze the wrath of the common populace, creating a world of rage (AP 3 and 4) before bringing them to her sanctuary and awakening her (AP 5). The PCs have relished the chaos they have caused, and their new found power, but something about awakening the epitome of rage, and being in close proximty to it once awake doesn't sit right. So they amend the awakening process to their benefit (AP6).
Done - an AP with a less heroic focus, with all the power the PCs want, without the necessity of doing good.
Or could Cheliax be the centre of an AP with a different focus.
Traditionally adventures/APs are reactionary - some big bad is striving to get power and much of what the PCs undertake is preventing this plan's fruition.
It would be a great AP to be the right hands of such a big bad and accomplish various goals to see this plan come to fruition. Loose the evil moniker that puts some people off, and also maintains the cohesion.
Originally I wasn't too interested in this one, I did a 2 year stint as DM in my own homebrew Egypt-esque setting and am a little burnt out on it.
Then the store blog showed up with the "see the four sigils, became a mummy of the tombs" and I was cackling in a most heinous fashion. What a wonderful idea, and a choice piece to show in the blog!
Beastman: Same here in Finland. I think I have one session of Burnt offerings left, and all the game stores have to offer is preorder. I figured out earlier that by subscribing I would get the book the same time I would get it from my local store. But now when I'm running out of material I'd be very glad if I had the pdf on my computer =). So I think we should just subscribe... ;)
Salama, subscribe!
I'm UK based and I get the pdf when my credit card is charged. With international shipping that's at least 1 week before the issue comes through my door.
You're running the adventure now, so getting your hands on it early is a good idea, it increases the prep you can do, and might let you do a bit of foreshadowing.
On a post about the Foxglove sisters (RotR#2) here., I'm informed one of them makes an appearance in GoE. Can you give me a little bit of a spoiler, just about her, so I can see if this ties in with my current line of thinking for a side adventure.
Under the heading, "Sin and the PC," it instructs the DM to begin tallying when PC's undertake any noteworthy "sin"-like activity, but what should happen, if anything, if the PC's actually do the opposite?
For example, my PC's subdued Tsuto at the expense of nearly provoking a TPK (everyone was below 0hp but stabilized, and it was down to one, single PC and a lucky roll of the die).
Also, they were careful to leave the goblins prisoners of Thistletop alive, they freed the harem, and they accepted Orik's surrender and paid him for his assistance to clear out the rest of Thistletop.
My tuppence: we're looking at instances of sin, not of virtue. Someone somewhere, sometime said something (how's that for vague) like "you can do good for all your life, but do 1 bad thing and you'll be remembered for that" (wow, Heather Mills, you're a great example of this!).
By extension whatever occurs in RotR #6 hooks onto these instances of sin, like a chink in the armour, hence its important, whereas displays of virtue are not.
I wonder though, what was the motivations about the above: was the blow v Tsuto a prideful display or prowess that unnecessarily endangered the group? Did they get Orik to help as they needed the extra sword or because they showed Sloth and let him take all the risks?
It looks like we'll be "catching up" this month. We're going to be starting the shipping to customers process for Pathfinder 3 this week, and Pathfinder 4 is already several weeks into its print cycle. I suspect that Pathfinder 4 will probably be shipping to customers and distributors by the end of this month, which would indeed make November the "double month." Pathfinder 5, then, would be back on schedule and should be shipping to customers in December. Which makes me happy; it's proof that the 60+ hour work weeks did something to get Pathfinder back on schedule.
Out in the wilderness, a lonely voice is heard "but I need a chance to read it, absorb it and reread it first"...
Wow, by the end of this month we'll possibly be 2/3 of the way through RotRL. Doesn't time fly!
So, is there news on a subscription to Chronicles?
The other MIGHT be mentioned or play a role in Curse of the Crimson Thone. Not sure yet.
right. Well, I guess I might have to wait for that to clear it up then - I have plenty of time as won't be starting AP this year.
Anyhow, what I've been toying with....
Spoiler:
The Foxgloves are poor, so much money has been wasted by Vorel and then Travers....The 2nd cousin has tried to find a match for the eldest daughter, but no luck yet. Any interest from a notable adventurer might result in taking advantage of that situation, albeit written correspondance to start with, perhaps leading to a visit to the family holdings.
Otherwise, well, they've looted the family home, legal proceedings beckon.
The youngest daughter has little value and so has been neglected, left locked away as the cousin and oldest do the round of parties etc. unfortunately, being alone in the dark with haunted memories has driven her mildly insane.
I think I'll leave her with the belief returning to the family home could bring back happier times, and her sister certainly wouldn't want to abandon her. From there Vorel may see a chance at another go.....child of his blood conceived in his haunted house leading to his rebirth. I'll have to think on a way for him to manipulate things if he can.
mentioned? to what extent? in passing, no further detail, or with "since coming to Korvosa.." hang on, isn't GoE in Absalom..., so she's moved on a bit then.
Can you give me a spoiler if necessary....I've contemplated getting GoE as there's always space for a side quest
Hi, I've read through the Skinsaw murders and there's a glaring hook that I expect one of my players to follow up, and I'm seeing what ideas others may have for this.
Aldern has 2 sisters, named by their portraits in the Misgivings, and suggested to be living still. Often I get a goodly PC who will be interested in following this up and seeing all is well with the orphans. Occasionally I get a cad who will see orphaned noblewoman as a means to better their station in life. The blaggard!
So, a question for Paizo guys; do either of the sisters make another appearance in a product? If not, all the better.
So, what do we know? Well, they are both older than Aldern (who is 19 or 20), and like him raised by their father's second cousin in Korvosa. Korvosa receives much more details in chronicles and is the subject of the next AP, and is where Aldern had "unpleasant upbringing".
So, brainstorm away please, I shall share a couple of my ideas tomorrow.
that's a good idea Cintra, as is the suggestion of putting some virtues in as well.
I can understand where you are coming from; my typical session is now a mere 3 hours, so its good to get on with the game, and there's little time for exploring down time. I can pull out the obvious sins but some of those others aren't easily derived from direct game play.
Yeah, I can see the problem of undefined deities. Whilst its cool as you're free to make up whatever you want, its not quite the same as finding a way to champion your faith.
I like to read about deities, I like to choose the one that best suits me, and often have a rivalry with another player. I also like oddities, like the Paladin of Wee Jas concept, they can provide quite unique PCs.
As a DM I also like to get churches and cults involved in plots. Whilst I can say this one roughly equates to Talos, its not doing Paizo and Pathfinder justice, especially if there's a humbinger of an idea in there that just begs to be played out.
So, in all a vote for greater detail on the deities, leaving the detail for Pathfinder as planned. OF course this could be in the gazetteer...someone come by and confirm this please!
My group will not be transfering to 4ed. We have plenty of investment in 3.5 and like the system (bar a few parts). At most we'd buy 4 some months after release to take any improvements (I personally like status based on HP).
I'm subscribed to pathfinder and will maintain that as long as its 3.5 and good quality. I would stop my subscription should it become 4.
I'm not a big customer with Paizo; I do keep an eye on gamesmastery modules and accessories, any I like or need I will dip into, but that's few products.
I wonder what Necromancer games will be doing though - I like some of their forthcoming modules, but I think they are looking to 4th ed for the longer term, and as Paizo/Necro will have some relationship, perhaps this would allow Paizo to try out 4th ed and see what the market is.
for years the longbow was mmore than a match for a gunpowder weapon. It had greater range, higher rate of fire, greater accuracy and did more damage.
The flaws with longbows is that 1) it took years of practice to gear up to the pull of a longbow strong enough to pierce the armour of knights.
2) an effective bow needed skill and the right material to make.
Gunpowder weapons were conversley easy to operate (push this in, light this once pointed that way). In short time you could have an operational group of "soldiers".
In massed ranks the gunpowder weapon put out enough shot to batter enough of the foe down (plus the noise and smoke scared horses).
They were also relatively easy to make en masse.
So, you went from a core of trained and experienced archers with well crafted bows to masses of commoners pointing a smoking barrell.
With this easy to train group the money supplied the means to improve the old gunpowder weapons and start the progression to where we are today.
just seen this on ENworld; product that looks at getting fiends of the 7 sins into the game.
Go to [url=http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=21815].
worth a look even if its just to see another's take on this?
Greed works as a deadly sin because it tempts the PC's. Do they really want to fight the bad guy, if he can offer them so much more to join him?
The main reason why I don't think greed is the top contender is its too blatant. A PC will see through the bribe, so will the player. Any reactions of PCs is dependant on the disposition of the character.
I do agree, greed is an aspect of what a PC does (I once helped a mate write Descent into Darkness where he did a number of adventures, tallying the acts of the group, after 6 levels he revealed the demon of corruption had manipulated them. Acts of greed, wrath and pride were commonplace).
The problem with wealth is that its an out of character concern (its now part of progression) so can be quite contentious.
Pride, sweet pride. Arrogance is easy to breed into PCs - give them several encounters where they overwhelm the foe with all their abilities and then they hit something innocuous with templates and levels. Hardly original or difficult. What is difficult it making a pride a theme running through an AP without it being repetitive.
I can see gluttony being a good AP as there's lots of materials to draw on; unending hunger, starvlings, feeding frenzies.
Which is the easiest to succumb too?
Which is the one that will hold you?
My original musing's was really which of the sins will prove the most lethal challenge to PCs?
Wrath is an obvious candidate chucking out lethal spells, but I felt it was too obvious and could be easiest to counter; the best thing you can say about wrath is its upfront and honest!
I think the writers will have difficulty writing for Pride; how do you make an adversary of pride; it seems you make his minions exceptional. Fair enough, but tricky to turn it around and make the PC's too prideful.
The obvious answer is Wrath; in your face, naked agression, wrath. But that seems too simple. Its narrow minded, too obvious and easy to avoid.
I think one of the other sins is more deadly.
I nominate Sloth. Lazy, indolent, idle sloth.
You sure you can be bothered to draw that sword? Isn't that shield a little too heavy? Sit, relax, let someone take care of things for you, you need not bother yourself.
Why try to make those complicated guestures and sounds, its too much effort. Rest and a servant will be by shortly, I'm certain.
Sloth takes your natural inclinations of relaxing and taking it easy, putting tasks off, finding the easy way out and and makes you lazy, surrounded by piles of trash, leaving it to others to take care of.
Its insiduous and creeps up on you, appealing to lazy side of people, affecting all that come close. At its worst it breeds disease (another silent killer) from the filth resulting from doing nothing.
Villains could be selfish characters where the motivation is not necessarily driven by honour or fame but wealth and greed - I don't thnk an evil campaign (where there would likely be a lot of charcater conflict) would work so well as a distinctly neutral one.
I've always considered a self-serving, mercenary attitude to be evil, only remaining neutral through some level they won't go past, even for that amount of gold.
I have played several evil parties, almost all with huge success and more fun than good: these are proactively seeking goals, making plots and plans, whilst a large number of goodly adventures are reactionary.
As for an evil party infighting; its all down to cohesion and unity, and that's a factor we use during character creation.
Campaigns labeled as "Evil" have a lot of difficulty with preconceptions about evil, especially in a game where people sign on to play the hero. The evil PC need not be a compulsive killer, nor need the player go into uncomfortable detail about the pillaging. Quietly gathering material to blackmail a governor, bribing guards to turn a blind eye, breaking and entering, making an example of the resisting innkeeper, these are all tools of the villain.
Its also a matter of perspective. Both sides of every conflict view the other as the villain, the evil that strikes at them and must be stopped. Rome's conquests were evil acts, yet the Roman's believed they were bringing so much to the barbarian masses they saw it as good, as serving the gods.
Plus, a villians series doesn't have to be all that evil. The Pc's can willingly and knowingly hire on to research, locate and free Runelord Lust and reap loads of benefits without actually having to perform an act any more evil than lie about their motivations and kill a few guards and individuals trying to stop them.
I've been recommended a couple of adventures published in Dungeon mag to fit into something I'm putting together at the moment.
One of the 2 issues I'm interested in is available in pdf, the other (issue 135) isn't, at this time. I probably won't buy print (shipping to UK almost doubles the cost in a tight hobby budget and I really only want the one adventure).
Is there a time period between initial publication and availability as pdf, or it happens as and when?
I'm not actually too fond of the affiliations in PHBII. I find them too proscriptive. That's probably what happens when you put in place rules/mechanics for dealing with a character/personality lead interaction.
Its ok as a source of ideas, but really, if a players wants to join a guild he has to show why he's worthy, prove it, and then keep his involvement going (I do like guilds as a source of adventures and missions, but then the group has to be aligned somewhat or you get clashes). A PC might get a few good things out of it, but not a fixed, quantified return by playing lip-service to membership.
I do think guilds should be detailed; aims, members and resources, information they have and can gain, useful information like that. What happens when you cross them! Mechanical advantages to a PC should be minimal, adventurers aren't the long-term, put down roots type of people that gain from being part of a collective (usually of like skilled craftsmen or professionals) that looks after each other in terms of business, contacts and supplies.
A Villains series is something I would really enjoy, and there is plenty of scope outside of being a nasty-evil, self centred individual.
Treasure seeking - removing idols from a foreign culture is inherently selfish and bordering on evil. You might have good reason, but the act of plundering is evil.
I suppose most players don't want to be bad guy, they play to be heroic.
Villains have a much greater scope for adventure; the BBEG always has mooks doing his dirty work, aiming towards some clearly defined goal. More defined than the general "stop the badguy" hook deployed in other adventures.
A Runelord needs awakening, and they're going to be really nice to the group that awakens them!
Overthrowing the current government, whilst not evil, would cast the players as villians (within areas the government control) and provide a more thought out game.
I find it best to get general reference details early.
the sort of stuff that the character will know and what knowledge(whatever) can reveal.
This helps build the feel for the world and its populace, and that in turn helps the character creation process. Deities are a must for this, as is some level of general world knowledge. Monsters form an intrinsic part of the world; prevalent and powerful and the populace lives in well defended towns with capable guards, egotistical and you get cults, etc.
As an aside, I've never brought Dungeon or Dragon (availability in UK was an issue), let alone subscribe.
WotC yoinking your persmission for these mags (a defining moment?) has inspired you to create something new and exciting, so much so that I've subscribed and am looking forward to receiving this publication.
The ability of Paizo to comeback with (what seems) a quality product is admirable and I hope you have plenty of success.
With only the core books available this is a chance to create a couple of paizo's own core classes fitting the game world they have. WotC had a habit of creating new classes and providing little support unless the class proved popular.
Paizo have a chance to do this right; release a new core class and support it through later publications.
First off, they have a class name just from the title!
The Runelords have used glyphs etc to subjugate others. This begs for a supported PrC if nothing else (runic master). Runic Adept, for the return of the magic of the runelords, a basic runic caster.
