frank whited's page

Personally, I'd like to see some examples of the more intricate types of Encounter Mode play given in the blog posts because sometimes the small bulleted ideas do not translate well to others. In those cases an example would provide context and other information that people can use to replicate or extrapolate into additional uses of the Mode.

I found an error in the Archetypes section of the CRB:

Page: 224

Description: in the Divine Breadth feat, the last sentence says - "Increase the spell slots you gain from cleric archetype feats by 1 for each spell level other than your two highest druid spell slots."

I assume it should be: "Increase the spell slots you gain from cleric archetype feats by 1 for each spell level other than your two highest cleric spell slots."

Please excuse me while I get my Somatic, Material and Verbal components correct to cast Raise Thread... lol

I wanted to point out that it is also possible to use the fast advancement speed (800xp) to level the group faster and possibly account for missing parts of the XP needed to hit the full 1,000xp.

Another thing I have noticed about my attempts to run this adventure is that the Hazards give a set of XP that does not look like they are accounted for completely in the write-up. For example:

All-in-all, I think doing milestone levelling will be the easiest for DMs who are running this adventure.

YMMV

Nifty

I cannot imagine that there are DM's out there who are so nit-picky as to rule that there are no items laying about that would not allow this cantrip to work every time.

The only situation where this might be a possibility is an area that is perpetually cleaned by a persnickety entity of a "Rain Man" OCD caliber and is described in such a way that a signal is given to the players that this cantrip may not work reliably.

NiftyB

okay, I am now ready to receive this product. Paizo, feel free to press the "Release" button.

That will be all - Thank you,

NiftyB

...One of these actions must be a successful command an animal check. The other two are then able to be used by the rider to tell the mount what to do or to act himself.

This is incorrect as I understand it - the rider of a normal mount must use Command an Animal each time he wants the mount to do something - want it to Stride three times, then use Command an Animal three times with no extra actions left for either the mount or the rider

NiftyB

From what I'm seeing in actual gameplay, shields are really popular for the AC and rarely used for blocking damage. Mainly, because a lot of characters are picking up shields who don't even have the Shield Block ability.

The most peculiar may be monks, because shield-bearing monks have never really been a thing before. But they work pretty well.

With the way the math stacks up in PFS scenarios, I'm starting to hear a lot of "well your monster hit me but didn't crit me because I had my shield raised". 2 AC is a lot in this game.

I can certainly see this, but definitely put me in the category of "uses shield to block".

My fighter [Tank] feels that it is worth 5 extra hp every time he is hit and his shield is not broken. I've considered carrying an extra steel shield for this very purpose.

NiftyB

The animal companion continues to support your attack without being commanded to do so every round. That is, as long as the enemy doesn't move away from the animal. This is quite effective for an archer ranger.

I don't think this is correct. The first paragraph of the Animal Companions & Familiars section (pg. 214) says that animal companions gain 2 actions when you expend one action to Command an Animal. Support is a single action activity and without the master/mistress expending the action to Command an Animal to begin with, the companion would not have the 2 actions to use at all.

If this is modified from another section of the book, I am not aware of it and encourage you to show me the error of my ways.

NiftyB

Any likelihood of getting a picture of what the cards actually look like?

Sorry,

I forgot to answer your question,

The players will know about the inclusion of Mythic opportunities from the get-go and that they will be very difficult.

For the starting adventure, I plan on it being the very last thing they can do on the Shiv prior to being rescued - at least until after they defeat/drive off the BBEG. On the others, I feel in the latter 1/3 of the adventure is the appropriate place to put them.

I am thinking about slowing the leveling progression to the Advancement Track recommendation minus 1. This will keep the work of advancing critters to a minimum.

Nifty

I also think it depends largely on what the background of this critter is hiding in:

Is the Assassin Vine hiding among a mass of other, normal vines? If so and the Assassin Vine remains still (depending on the result of another Stealth check), I don't think the PCs should auto-spot it. They would have to take the Move action to try (maybe even do so twice in their turn for the round).

Is the Assassin Vine simply hanging by itself against some bare rocks then it would be pretty easy for a highly perceptive party member to point out what they suspect is an enemy ("Hey, that vine just moved! Right there, the vine on the rock! It moved!!"). Depending on how the PC has been roleplayed, the others may just think he is pranking them, but they could see it - even if they failed their Perception check.

Again, adding distance & darkness to the mix would alter this by each PCs vision & Perception rolls.

Nifty

these others have all touched on some good advice. my group is going through Carrion Crown and we play every other weekend for about 8-10 hours each session. We are older gamers and tend to be sticklers for the precise wording of the rules. We realize this slows us down (not counting the normal delay that age throws in there too) but want to make sure that we are using the RAW.

To combat some of our pace issues we have also developed a few things that help mitigate this slowness. They are:

• Enforcing a rule that you roll "to hit" & damage together - its amazing how much time looking for your damage dice can add up over the course of a game.
  
• We'll reuse initiatives from combat to combat. This helps to remind everyone when they are supposed to take their turn and be prepared for that turn.
  
• From time to time, we will have people sit in initiative order and tap the guy next to him when he is done. This speeds the combats tremendously and if people like to switch it up, we re-seat at breaks for food/snacks.
  
• I use DM's Familiar when I run and it helps a lot to manage keeping track of combats and even Campaign Details. Hero Lab is also a recent purchase that I think may help me with my time.
  
• We sometimes use a dry-erase board to show the initiative order and buffs which are active.

Hope these help somewhat.

Nifty