RPG Superstar 9 Season Star Voter. Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path Subscriber. Pathfinder Society GM. 350 posts (354 including aliases). 2 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 34 Organized Play characters.
On page 6, it says Jirelga rolls along with the PCs to get victory points, but I dont' see a stat block for them anywhere. I was just going to assume a +10 to all relevant skills.
At this point, my players were all very tired and we agreed to skip the last two encounters. I had been planning on skipping the Rotgrub Swarm (they have no means to kill it) and I didn't mind skipping the Living Walls.
Agree the Rot Grub Swarm is an egregious monster to put in this book. There are no area damage treasure in the mod (we've found one scroll of fireball), and no opportunity to get them.
Any time an AP puts you on low resources, it needs to avoid obstacles for which there is a single solution (as you're not likely to have it). Only hope a party has is an AOE arcane caster, and that might not be enough for an 85hp swarm at this level.
Lots of good Questions Archpaladin. I'll answer what I can.
I played the main game through 6-7 times with different builds and alignments, with different consequences. I have not done a playthrough on the new Enhanced Edition, so I cannot tell you how the DLCs interact with the main game.
Also, there have been changes to the main game with the Enhanced Edition that might make any guides or advice obsolete (such as item rarity).
That Said, here are some pointers:
1. Any polarized (not True Neutral) alignment will have consequences to options, both in terms of Kingdom options and NPC interactions. The playable NPCs are all accessible for all alignments, though later in the game alignment differences will come into play with consequences.
2. There are no critical items in the game. There are lots of +X stat items, weapons and armor. It is hard to find EXACTLY the weapon and armor you want, but there are a lot of options - and the new EE is supposed to have better shopping selection.
3. The only must-have skill for the main PC (IMHO) is Persuasion. I also take Skill Focus Persuasion at First level for this reason. The #2 skill is Perception/Trickery for Traps, hidden doors/items and locks. I always have a "Spotty McRogue" Mercenary in my group with these two maxed out. From there, make sure your party has all skills covered - as they come up in game. The only skill I have NEVER seen needed is Use Magic Device.
4. Timers and quests are odd. The only way you run into trouble for this is if you do a kingdom thing that fast-forwards the clock 14-28 days, especially when close to the Season of Bloom Event that happens every chapter. The new EE is supposed to have a better documentation of when quests expire.
5. There are a handful of times when you will choose one NPC over another (their goals or urgent need of help are in direct conflict). No way around that.
6. There are some side-quests that you may find unsatisfying, (the Hellknight Quest and Val's Redemption come to mind) as they don't (IMHO) give you the options you should have. But that's a writing choice.
7. the game follows a strict timer of when events happen relative to each chapter, and you can plan for it. I usually quickly solve the main-quest of a chapter, then finish exploring/doing sidequests and doing kingdom setup/management last. This is because some Kingdom events force the clock forward, which can auto-fail quests. In addition, you'll want kingdom features that facilitate fast-travel, and plan your "quests" to minimize travel time.
In Summary, I've generally beaten the game and gotten the "best" ending (you have to do all the Curse Researches for this to work) multiple times, with multiple alignment/choices, so don't fret your Lawful tendencies.
Playing through the game 2-3 times honestly made it better for me, not sure if that is meaningful advice (you may not have the time or patience for that). It would take a thorough guide/walkthrough to explain all the details of the game and how best to manage your Kingdom/Adventuring time.
If I am running this for three players/characters they will effectively have 25% fewer social round actions to influence this in the senate (and anywhere else social rounds are used in the AP). Is this likely to cause a problem? Would I be better off adding enough extra rounds to account for the missing actions of the fourth character, or is there a "better" way?
If you have skillsy characters, I would make sure to use the rule that if they beat a Social check by 5 or more they get an extra piece of information, or an extra influence. Maybe go so far as to grand a 2nd or 3rd if they beat it by 10 or 15 (that might not be relevant in Book1, but it could in future books). That would help off-set it.
other wise, you would need to add an extra social round or two (remember, the PCs are losing 1 action per round, but gain 3 actions per round you add, so you only need to bonus in a few rounds).
Make sure to spread out any bonus rounds throughout the event, as certain NPCs cannot be approached at various points.
I'm trying to figure out how the PCs pay for things in this adventure.
When they arrive in Merrit County, they (likely) have less than 400gp between them from Book 1. There are a few opportunities to "win" some fancy jewelry during the Jubileee, but not much.
The Manor and especially the town of Stachys require thousands of GP to fix, something level 4-5 PCs don't have. Am I missing something?
It feels weird the PCs are expected to take over a run-down manor house, and turn things around with zero funding. Do the PCs have an income source from the land? Although I can't imagine local peasants contributing more than a few silver pieces a month.
Also, how do they sell things? If they do find some 3000gp item, where would they sell it? They'd have to head back to Oppara. Lotheedar has a purchase limit of 5000gp, but even that seems weird (the Count sees the PCs constantly pawning random treasures, maybe even gifts from him, in his backyard)
PC2: Human Soundstriker/Arcane Healer Bard (STR, reach weapon with disarm, some healing ability and standard bard song - only PC with normal bard song and bardic knowledge)
PC3: half Orc Archaelogist Archer bard (range focus)
PC4: human magician bard (arcane / magic focus, with greater spell focus enchantment at level 1)
Everyone has Cure Light Wounds as a level 1 spell. Greatest weakness (especially early game) is Armor Class. They have some healing/staying power, but cannot go multiple fights until level 3-4 with useful gear.
They rocked book1-part1 skills section (obviously).
A bit of ad-libbing on the dataphiles quest, created some hilarity. Once Granny Ceren realized she had "accidentally" done some hacking she all nonchalantly opened up a chest and pulled out a "go-bag" and started pouring gasoline on her house and told the PCs to help her work on getting a new identify for her and her son.
The 180-degree pivot in her language (but no change in her granny demeanor) was well received.
Everyone wanted to help out with "granny's go-bag"
Poor little Jubair was a little overwhelmed by it all though...
Perhaps Rick got black-out drunk and tried to "fix" the pathfinder rules system. the only way to put it back was to switch dimension to C-137 and start over with slightly altered game mechanics.
How could the Blakros have survived that long? that must be one of the greatest mysteries (or perhaps the actual cause of) the GAP.
I figure there must be an entire faction of the Pathfinder->Starfinder Society who's only job is keeping the Blakros Museum from destroying itself and/or the Multiverse.
But Yeah, Definitely cannot wait to explore it!!!!
Shouldn't be a problem with Orcs in principle. Orcs generally don't fit the Molthune monster legion. Hobgoblins were chosen because they make sense geographically and culturally. Hobgoblins are lawful, so they can form a cohesive military strategy as opposed to "rage, pillage, burn".
There really are no Orcs nearby to pull this off (the hordes of belkezen would have to plow through Lastwall to get to Nirmathas, and they'd be coming from the north).
If you're doing a re-write, it might help to re-do the local geography, or use a different home-brew world.
Thematically. the Iron Fang Legion relies on organization and discipline (hobogblins are typically fighters and alchemists - they have +2 DEX and CON - as opposed to ORC +4 STR and -2 to all mental stats; which makes Orcs good barbarians and not much else).
You may need to change more than just orc for hobgoblin (change lots of standard monster choices).
If thematically you just want to call them 'militant orcs' that can also work, but at that point you're really stepping off into non-Golarion / homebrew world territory.
(also, Orc Ferocity is nasty at low level... it gives orcs +12 hit points...)
@ Reebo Kesh: I didn't even think of the "leaf on the wind" reference, and I've been watching Firefly reruns all week!
I think a number of options are possible. @ Douglis Muir 406's Curse suggestion is a good idea - the curse could also be a pre-existing condition (she was cursed by an evil fey in the forest). Better yet, maybe she was cursed by the Fey such that her Curse only manifests around goblinoids, it could even be the last story Aubrin tells:
"So hhere I was, with this Fey Witch over me and she cursed me saying 'Goblinoids shall be your downfall', and I was all "but I never see them around here, I only fight orcs up near Lastwall! Bah, I ran from her like a Leaf on the Wind - watch how I GURK SPLAT----"
And @Porridge is also correct, the bleed and Stun sound a lot like the conditions in the critical decks; but you could also just have the stun part be her realizing that her Curse has finally come to pass. "OMG, the Gypsy Woman was Right!" (Archer reference...)
@ Joana's comment about just sticking in a wand of Cure Light Wounds is also a good idea. It could be Aubrin's last act to pull it out and hand it to the PCs. The Command Word is "Serenity".
I have a negative opinion of a scenario that spends 10 pages (almost half of this 25 page scenario) on a unique encounter and rule-set. I am prepping this adventure to run and am very annoyed that I am spending the majority of my time reading this one-off ruleset from Ultimate Intrigue (a book I do not own, that is not even on the Paizo PRD yet).
I hope running it goes well. I have printed off 6 sets of the Player handouts for the players to pre-read this alternate rules. I also find that this rule-set is being used in a non-standard way additionally frustrating and unnecessarily complicated.
I think this could have been handled with a half-page of skill checks and Role Playing commentary. I would rather spend this encounter & game-time role playing basic concepts and a few skill checks, then get mired an overly mechanical setup.
The remainder of the adventure looks straightforward, and the story is good. I will post a review after running it with real players.
I am highly tempted to Kobayashi-Maru this (scrub the whole encounter rules and re-write it myself to be something simpler), if that wouldn't set such a bad precedent for others.
Drendle Dreng told me I just needed to get 5-10 other adventurers to join the society and they would pay me (and they could get paid if they convinced 5-10 other adventurers to join the society).
If you play Core you don't get to use any of your additional resources (except those unlocked by chronicle access). But you still get to play.
If you don't play Core, then you don't get to use any of your additional resources, and also don't get to play.
That line of thinking has some assumptions buried in it:
1. Assume you have infinite Free Time
2. Assume there is no cost to playing (monetary or otherwise)
Given the choice between playing a game I'm not interested in and doing something else, I'm inclined to do something else (another hobby, get caught up on personal obligations or work, spend quality time with wife & family).
Not everyone likes playing CORE (for various personal reasons). It is a great option for some of us, but not for all of us.
It is difficult, but not impossible for the experienced player base to exhaust all current gameplay options. Mostly, it requires having access to 4+ games per month (which is easy to do out here in northern California, and likely in other areas). That play-rate easily out-paces the publication rate.
Modules, APs, etc. are nice - but difficult to schedule (and are also eventually exhausted).
While I like Roy's idea in principle, I don't see an easy way to execute it that wouldn't be fraught with abuse and misunderstanding.
My recommendation is to encourage replay for no credit: Get your players to name the scenarios they CAN play (ones they have missed from by-gone seasons). Up to three other players can play for no credit at a four-player table. This is really nice on Season 0-3, Modules, and APs (which were designed for 4-player tables).
This may take time to set up - as your player base needs to really understand how it works (and lock to 4-player tables). But, by definition they are savvy experienced players, so that shouldn't be too challenging.
Sprinkling in no-credit games with new games at a rate of 1:1 is mathematically the same as going on SLOW progression (you get the same amount of PP/XP/GP per game played... on average).
What I've noticed is that I have gained a bias towards playing PCs with classes that grant more skill points per level as I've gotten more experience with PFS.
My first PFS PC was a dwarf monk with a 9 Int and 5 Cha. If it doesn't involve cracking heads, he isn't too useful.
Where I tend to dip fighter levels I tend to go towards Lore Warden as an archetype. The only exception is the PC that dipped 1 level into an Eldritch Guardian fighter to get a familiar. But in his case all the rest of his levels are inquisitor which is a 6+Int class.
There are plenty of martial PCs that get at least 4+Int skill points, barbarian, bloodrager, brawler, cavalier, ranger, slayer, swashbuckler, etc.
Even with only 2 skill ranks per level, you can still find something fun/useful to do outside combat if you pick a skill or two to specialize in.
I have two fighters with charisma below 7 (dwarf and tiefling). The tiefling is an intimidation specialist, and has profession: chef (which he's really not good at), so he can growl at NPCs and always has his obsession to talk about to make him interesting (see point 4 in my post above).
The dwarf is a merchant in The Exchange, so his profession: merchant skill can be used in place of a social skill once in a while. He's not great at talking, but he's actually pretty good at Sense Motive, so he still helps in social situations.
A couple of other "tricks" for skill points:
- Humans, or Half-Orcs with the Skilled racial trait get +1 skill point per level.
- Your favored class bonus
- Consider having a 12 INT instead of a 12 CHR or WIS. That's one more skill point every level to spend as you please.
- Some of the Faction Cards offer skill utility options. Sovereign Court can let you use Diplomacy for Knowledge in certain situations. Grand Lodge can give bonuses to physical skills to allies.
- Elixirs are Fun. For one hour and 250gp you can have a +10 to Swim, Acrobatics, Stealth, or Perception. Similarly, a potion of Spider Climb is 30 minutes of climb speed for 300gp.
My CORE human fighter gets 5 points per level. (12 INT, Human, Favored class). Combine that with a Trait that adds a non-Fighter skill to my class list (in my case, Knowledge Arcana - but just as easily something else), and I've got a great repertoire of out-of-combat skills.
For a lot of builds, Players tend to take their primary attack mode to 150%. While Awesome, all those build resources put into "overkill" could have been put into secondary abilities that increase the chances of success in odd situations, or non-combat encounters.
I have noticed many season 7 scenarios are expecting all PCs to participate in skill challenges (with diverse skill options). This is a shift from just needing one PC to make a Diplomacy, Knowledge, or Disable Device check to get past a non-combat encounter. So it is beneficial for your PC to now have a few good skill options.
I'm theory crafting a Fighter/barbarian/bloodrager/slayer/ranger/cavalier/brawler/swashbuckler/gu nslinger. Her name will be Lilu-Dallas Multiclass. She will only take single levels in +1 BAB classes. There are 9 core/base classes that can be combined, 10 if you're lawful (lose barbarian to gain Paladin and Unchained monk). Toss in a prestige class like Sentinel or Duelist and you're good!
Page 31 of the PSRGG provides for players missing sessions during a module (or adventure path). I think the OP can add new players for the final third of the module/AP (but not for a normal 4-5 hour scenario). The GM should issue partial credit (either 1/3 or 2/3) to the players that dropped, and 1/3 credit for any new players that join.
Relevant Text::
Players who do not complete each game session earn 1/3
fewer gold pieces, 1 less XP and 1 less Prestige Point for
each session missed. This also applies to players who join
later sessions ; they receive 1/3 fewer gold pieces, 1 fewer
XP and Prestige Point for each session missed. In both
cases, players earn a minimum of 1/3 gold pieces, 1 XP and
1 Prestige Point. If a character earns more XP than she
needs to reach her next level, she may not choose to switch
advancement tracks at the new level earned.
- if the PCs kill the Black Scorpion at B1 before it severs the one of the two remaining chains, then the castle is secured by two chains. The adventure mentions the castle can do a forced take-off if only one chain remains (it makes no mention of how easy it is to move with two chains)
- With the castle stuck over the Caldera, or at least slowed down, the PCs could reach the bomb within 10-20 minutes of the start of Chapter 6.
- There is no reason to attack the giants in Area E, they cannot hurt the PCs at range (the ballista attacks are laughable at range). The PCs could easily use Fly magic to ascend to the castle, then approach the landing platforms at F2 in 10 rounds are less (with Fly, Haste, Mass Fly, Airwalk, or some combination).
- Once inside, it will not take long to clear the lower level and find the bomb. The toughest fight will likely be the phase spiders (because of their phase in/out attack), but high level PCs can have wall of force, blade barrier, and readied actions.
- Once they find the bomb, how hard is it to set off? Summon a hound archon, tell him to count to 15, then Dimension door to landing platforms (F2) and fly out.
This could take as little as 20-30 minutes. The castle has a maximum speed of 500 miles per hour. It cannot possibly go any farther than 250 miles from the caldera in that time.
This doesn't have to end the campaign, either. If anything, it makes it more interesting. The PCs are somewhat unfairly forced to do the final 1/3 of book 5 and all of book 6 in the span of a day or two, possibly not even resting or getting any gear (where are they going to sell loot and buy things in that time? let alone craft or level up properly).
A new second half of book 6 is now fighting through the ruins of IronCloud keep at the base of the caldera, hunting down the last remnants of Volstus' cadre and of course, taking down Volstus himself.
At the end of book 5, the PCs likely know all the details about the bomb, where it is likely located, and how it works. So it's reasonable to assume that intentionally setting it off is a viable strategy - and one that should not be shot down instantly.
Heck, the first few chapters of the AP somewhat foreshadow the importance of Craft Alchemy in this AP - it would be nice to have someone with a high Alchemy check at the end re-wire the bomb to detonate in 30 seconds while the PCs run out the side. That could make for an interesting series of encounters - where the PCs are fighting their way off the engineering level, knowing that the bomb will go off in a few rounds....
And regarding the dragon Naximarra - the adventure makes her useless. She is pretty useless in Chapter 4, but at least that book alluded to her "helping" later. The sidebar indicates she won't even show up to the final battle.. She shows up after the adventure ends and maybe destroys an artifact for you? (if you want it destroyed...).
My thought was if the PCs could give her a Mind Blank and Greater Teleport scroll, then she could arrive suddenly without Volstus' knowledge. Since Mind Blank is not stopped by artifacts (in fact, wish spells cannot be used to learn about the target), it's arguable that Volstus cannot use the Orb to detect her presence within 100 miles while Mindblank is up. And of course, it grants a +8 bonus to will saves (which includes the Orb's dominate effect) - so I'd think she'd be inclined to help. All she has to do is fly up to Volstus and breath on the orb - then it explodes, subjecting volstus to that 20d10 breath weapon, and leaving him next to two VERY ANGRY red dragons....
I think what Kanebaenre and others might be getting at is the common Summon (sp) ability that many outsiders (such as Demons and Devils) have should be a standard action.
These abilities are not "Summon Monster #", and as such don't have a casting time to reference. So there is a strong argument that these summon abilities are a Standard action.
Generally, any other summoning (such as a sorcerer casting Summon Monster 2) takes a full round, and is not a good tactic for a BBEG - especially a BBEG with little or no blockers to at least hold back the Melee PCs for that first round. It is also bad for BBEG to have a SCROLL of summon monster - because first it's a Move action to get out the scroll, a standard to START the casting, and a second standard action to FINISH the casting in the second round.
On outsiders, I've found Summoning to be useful. On Devils, it's ESPECIALLY useful - because devils also typically get Major Image as a (sp), and it's fun to use the Illusion to create some fake allies (especially if those allies are slightly more numerous or powerful than that devil normally gets - enough to make the PCs sweat a bit).
For BBEG casters with summons, I always cringe - except in the rare case of a caster that has a feat or ability to summon as a standard action. But even then, most summons are speed bumps at low levels. It's not until the higher level summons - when you can get poorly CR'd elementals (that cannot be hedged out by protection from evil, because they are neutral) that it gets interesting.
One of the OPs concerns was, if the trap cannot be Disabled (or avoided), what are the consequences of Springing it?
Keep in mind that traps (by adventure design) should not end an adventure. Not having a rogue should not make the adventure impossible, just more challenging (or require a creative solution).
Springing a Trap can have several consequences:
- Damage (HP or Ability or Condition) that must be fixed
- Alert enemies to your arrival
- Hinder the party at an in-opportune time (badguys attack you right after the trap goes off, while you are wounded)
- Delay access to the next part of the adventure (giving bad guys more time to buff, or wearing down the party buffs)
- Eliminate access to a secondary success condition, or secondary treasure.
I have seen traps with alternate methods of de-activation (A knowledge check, or a "turn off" button). Typically the "turn off button" is on the WRONG side of the trap (otherwise, what's the point?). These options are always written specifically by the adventure, and are typically seen in very low level adventures.
Page 35 of the Guide (for PFS) talks about Creative Solutions. If a trap provides a very big obstacle to success, and the players have a creative solution to dealing with it, GMs should feel empowered to allow the PCs to succeed, possibly with caveats.
The game is supposed to be fun, and running into a situation where not having a single specific skill makes it impossible is frustrating. If that is a tangential goal, that's one thing - but for critical adventure progress, the game should not shut down so easily.
Combat mounts can be useful in Tier 1-7 adventures, as they provide a little extra combat power and potentially much greater mobility.
If they are not mounted on the animals, they will need Handle Animal to get them to do things.
Handle Animal:
It is a DC 10 Handle Animal to get a mount to perform a trick it knows. This means that anyone can attempt the Skill check, because even Trained Only skill checks can be made untrained as long as the DC is 10 or less.
The Combat trained mount only knows attack, come, defend, down, guard, and heel.
The DC increases by 2 (making it 12 and not possible for untrained people) if the animal is wounded
However, I assume they will be mounted when they're using them, which requires using the RIDE skill.
Common Checks (and it can be done untrained - it's a DEX based skill and Armor check penalties apply):
RIDE
DC5: Guide with knees. You use this if you want both hands free and don't need the mount to attack
DC10: Fight with mount: You use this if you want the mount to attack with you.
Encumbrance:
A Light horse has a STR of 16, which means a light load (triple for a large quadruped) is 225 pounds. That's typically not enough for a medium size creature in armor with any reasonable amount of gear. A wizard is probably OK.
A heavy horse has a STR of 20 (with the advanced template), which means a light load of 400 pounds. That probably covers most medium PCs, even in heavy armor.
A horse does have a decent attack sequence, especially for Tier 1-7.
Attacking:
A light horse only has two secondary hoof attacks (a pretty poor attack of -2 to hit for 1d4+1 damage)
The Heavy horse gains a Primary bite attack (and +4 STR), so his attack sequence is +5 bite for 1d6+5 and two hooves +0 for 1d4+2.
The horse is an ally, and can benefit from Flank, a Bard's Inspire Courage, the Bless Spell, etc.
A horse is also an expensive investment (110gp for a light combat horse and 300gp for a heavy combat horse). Plus you'll need about 30gp-60gp for bit and bridle, saddle, and feed. I would recommend they also invest in
barding:
It's worth investing a bit in keeping your horse alive. A horse is not trained to wear armor. But just like a PC, that just means applying the armor check penalty of the armor to a lot of things. if that penalty is zero, then no big deal!
Leather barding has no armor check penalty and costs 40gp (x4 price) and gives +2 AC. A Light Horse has an AC of 11 and a Heavy horse an AC of 15 (thanks to the Advanced Template), so that barding is important.
A few final notes:
- The horse won't attack unusual creatures (that's a special trick) even if you're riding it. That means it will only attack humanoids, animals, giants, and monstrous humanoids. That's most things you see at Tier 1-5, but not all.
- Some GMs want animals to go on separate initiatives (if you are not mounted). This can make matters complicated. I personally don't do this as a GM (because I feel it adds unnecessary complication).
- You can't take them everywhere. At some point they're getting tied up outside a cave or in a parking lot in a city.
- I am assuming they are buying combat mounts. non-combat trained mounts are a horrible liability for little savings. Non-combat mounts are difficult to control in battle and likely easily killed.
- In the end, the PCs are making a decent investment. They can always sell the animals back for half price (if the animal survive).
- At Tier 4-5 and Tier 6-7, if the mounts enter combat there is a decent chance they'll die. They've got AC and HP less than 20, and a smart opponent might attack the mount to bring the rider down. If the mount goes unconscious, It's a DC15 Ride check to make a "soft fall" and not be prone.
I am reminded of the above quote from Pirates of the Caribbean, and I would encourage others to tell stories of the "worst pathfinders". Not in a mean way, but in a comedic way. I'll set the tone with last night's game:
A certain low level adventure. The Pathfinders find a special coin. They appraise it, use knowledge local and history on it. Then someone thinks to cast Detect Magic. The coin is magical!
They take the coin to a magic-shop in Absalom and pay to get it identified. The merchant completes the Identification, looks up at them in disdain and says
Merchant: "You are the WORST Pathfinders I've ever met. This is a PATHFINDER COIN. How did you not know what it was?"
Pathfinders: "Hey, we're new. What does a Pathfinder Coin do?"
Merchant: (*sigh*) "You place it in a Wayfinder and it relays a message."
Pathfinders: "...Do you have a Wayfinder we could borrow?"
(At this point, we all start laughing)
Merchant: "Just... Just leave my store."
The Pathfinders then decide to head to the Grand Lodge, where Wayfinders are sold - the plan is to just take one "off the shelf" and "test it out" with the coin to retrieve the message.
(The players are laughing even more at this point, as many of them had worked retail earlier in life - and had to deal with people constantly tearing open packages in the store to look at products, without buying them. This seems like a karmic balance to them).
With the message in hand (and without buying a Wayfinder), they totally complete the adventure with 2 prestige (barely).
You should totally get her a Mithril Shovel! When I think of a shiny silver shovel, I think of the ones they use to ceremoniously break ground on a major project. That would be the "special occasions" shovel!
This isn't actually legal in PFS. The special materials rules specifically talk about weapons and armor. There is no way to make anything other than a weapon, shield or armor with special materials in PFS. It's not explicitly costed out anywhere, so it doesn't exist.
The best improvised weapons of DR-bypassing I've found are the Trusty Buddy*, Mithral Manacles and a Hex Nail.
* Available on a specific chronicle.
The Special Materials Rule in the PFS GOTP (or whatever it's called now) read as follows:
PFS_Season7:
All basic armor, gear, items, and weapons from Chapter
6 of the Core Rulebook, including Small and Large-sized
items. This does not include equipment made from
dragonhide, but it does include equipment made from
the other special materials, such as alchemical silver
and cold iron (see the Special Materials section on
page 154 of the Core Rulebook).
It says "Equipment" not just weapons and armor. In the CRB, pricing is given for anything made of Mithril as 500gp/pound. So you could buy any (metal) item made of mithril, as long as you had a weight for the item. Adamantine does NOT have that pricing structure, which makes the Trusty Buddy so valuable and unique (there is no other way to buy such an item).
This exact wording is the same in the Season 6 guide (I did not check earlier seasons). If there is a separate ruling I am unaware of, please help me find it.
actually was showing this to her last night over dinner - and this may be the way she goes. Problems are, it's actually a weapon (not valid for "Rough and Ready" trait, and she's not Prof. with martial weapons) - not an Improvised Weapon and "it looks funny" (showed her the picture in UE...sigh, there is no winning sometime...) I think I'll get her around to using it though, maybe get her to switch off to Grenadier Archetype to get one Martial Weapon Prof. Or maybe she'll just use the current shovel (heck, she can throw a one handed weapon - so she could throw shovels. That might appeal to her...)
You should totally get her a Mithril Shovel! When I think of a shiny silver shovel, I think of the ones they use to ceremoniously break ground on a major project. That would be the "special occasions" shovel!
Can I request that the Faction Journal Cards be edited to have the appropriate Season label on it (Season 6 vs. 7.)? The cards look nearly identical and it will be less confusing if they have a big Number 6 or 7 on them, or the symbol of the Season (Sky Key vs. Serpent).
I love the Faction Journal Cards, btw. They've added a bunch of flavor to the game, especially older scenarios.
I have seen lots of successful gamedays build a culture of rewarding GMs in various tangible and intangible ways (across multiple organized play campaigns). The rewards are not always obvious, and generally do not originate from the campaign itself.
Here are some reasons to GM, and some things you can do (as players, organizers, and GMs) to make GMs feel rewarded, and thus hopefully encourage others to GM more, or at least give GMng a try:
- Thank your GM after every game. It's nice to have that extra work (of prepping and running) acknowledged.
- Do nice things for your GM. Help with the game (set up tables, clean up)
- Offer your GM a snack. Buy him or her a soda, offer one of your twix bars.
- Some game stores offer store credit. That's how I got my Technology Guide and my last batch of Iconic miniatures
- If you're the organizer, find out what Scenario your GMs really want to play (maybe they missed one). This has been a huge boon to me - as there are random season 3-4-5 scenarios I have missed, and only by the grace of the organizer are they getting put on the agenda.
- Organize a "thank you" game for your regular GMs. Modules are hard to organize, but an invitation only event for your regular GMs shows they are appreciated.
Here I get into the intangibles:
- This may sound elitist, but I've found that gaming with other GMs and experienced players can be more rewarding. I have been invited to many home games, private play sessions, etc. over the years primarily because of my GMng. GMng a table of 4-7 people gives you an opportunity to really display your RPG capability for others that are looking to recruit another player.
- Sometimes this gets you invited to a well put together table for Bone Keep, or Eyes of the Ten, or some other special event.
I appreciate that smaller or more spread out communities cannot all take advantage of this (as BNW suggested) - but I hope that some of these suggestions are viable for all of your gaming opportunities.
I wish I could write a review, but I was only a player and not the GM.
I had an absolutely amazing time in this adventure! Played tier 5-6 non-core. My season 6 "technology" character is an improvised weapon master with elemental fist and an adamantine crowbar.
I have to say super thanks to Fabian for running this at Kublacon. That was the most memorable and fun event I've had (since last year's Kublacon).
Spoiler:
Intro: The GM showed us the cover, and we fully embraced the idea of the Salamander on the cover wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses. This would be important later.
First Part: We had so much fun with the over-seer manscorpion droid. The GM had it constantly prodding us to hilarious effect. It even offered to "repair" me with its sparking bits and a band-saw at one point. We knew this thing would go nuts later and attack us, but we really just wanted to see what it would do for as long as possible.
Interlude: we all put on technology items without thinking. We laughed a lot. I glued (what turned out to be a flashlight) to my adamantine crowbar in the hopes it would become a "lightsaber".
Second Part: Chainsaw. Just.... Chainsaw. I actually called "DIBS" in the middle of the fight. Using the Monk of the Empty Hand style (wielding it as an improvised weapon) and making chainsaw noises, while activating elemental fist - proved hilarious.
Third part: Chainsawed the poor overseer droid. We knew it was coming, but were sad to see it removed from the story.
FInale: When the Salamander flew in, ON A JET PACK, we all just squeeled with glee. The GM actually had him say "who brought the party.... THIS GUY!!!". I threw the chainsaw at him.
Other notes: I finally got to use my Brown E-pick I picked up in Trial by Machine, which made me happy.
Now I'm debating whether or not to buy the Jetpack, the Chainsaw, or EVERYTHING ON THE ADVENTURE....
Adding rulings for something like this seems unnecessary. I just leave it up to the table GM.
The other night I tried to recruit Nigel Blakros to my faction (Sovereign Court), but the GM felt he didn't fit what the Goal was asking for. I'm OK with that. That's why we ask the GM.
Generally, I always have some other (easier) goal I could do - or I just don't complete a goal that game.
I think we should encourage GMs and Players to have the discussion at the end, and abide by the GMs decision. It shouldn't be a big enough deal to require a ruling from campaign leadership. And there shouldn't be a need to argue with the GM, even if you disagree with his/her ruling.
Generally when we demand rulings from campaign leadership, it ends up with more hurt feelings than not (because they tend to rule conservatively to protect the campaign). basically "this is why we can't have nice things".
I would agree that you should try and keep the encounters specifically, but make it more directed. Say instead of the PCs stumbling on the Barbarian camp, have someone direct them there. Just ignore the map and have "intelligence reports" or "scouts" "tell" the PCs where to go. You can also keep the sandbox feel by giving lots of options and letting the PCs choose what to do first.
You can skip all of Chapter 5. It's not relevant to the main story. In Chapter 3 and 4, the destruction of the Ivory Labyrinth (end of chapter 3), the midnight fane (start of chapter 4) and the mining operation (end of chapter 4) pretty much ends Baphomet's involvement in the Worldwound - plus Nocticula puts him on house arrest by setting off his one year "please don't kill me" counter.
You could just delete the whole Herald getting kidnapped thing and have Baphomet's speech at the end of Chapter 4 be more of a "I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids" and have him swear revenge, etc., etc.
Then you can move straight to Chapter 6 where the real climax of the story is. You can use the interim between Chapter 4 and 6 to do more PC story building, and control what levels you want the heroes to top out at (and when) during the conclusion.
And as others said, a bunch of the hexploration of Chapter 3 is unnecessary (and boring). You can make Chapter 3 more about building Drezen and RP.
Unfortunately, the PCs still need to earn about 10 levels and 7 mythic tiers in that time, so you need to find a way to feed that out. If you and your players are OK with just hitting "fast forward" and skipping levels, that makes it a bunch easier. I've done that with other campaigns, where we went from 11th to 14th to 17th level to focus on the key plot points.
Tonight is probably the night. They still have to encounter Adlerpash and try to save the herald but they usually go fast.
@grandpoobah, your setup is gonna be extreeeeemly frustrating for the players as they wont be able to hit him. With so much AC they will fill useless and that the AP(and me) is mocking on them on purpose.He is there, hitting you and you cant. Also, if he becomes subject to Mage's Disjunction then it's all over. He is back to square one(plus, without mythic timestop he has to buff himself before the battle. Lame for a DEMON LORD. Would Baphomet do that? I plan on having him attacking furiously on cinematic, without effect, and when the battle begins he casts M. Time stop and buffs himself)
They can always use the stole of the inheritor and leave but no demon lord achievement for them!
I hope your players had a Fun Challenge!
As always, we generally know our players best. The Spellbane spell is neat, but realistically it's just begging for a Mage's Disjunction like effect to shut it down. A big monster like Baphomet (much like a Dragon) Could just cast AntiMagic Field and go to town. his static abilities (that always work in an antimagic field) are so much better than the PCs.
My Baphomet gets his time next weekend (the 25th), so we'll see. My players have a Paladin and a Witch - so as high as Baphomet's AC will be (59 fully buffed on my version), it'll immediately deal with a -4 from a Witch's Hex, and the +11 to hit from the Smite Evil. The Witch also rolls with Greater Arcane Sight - so he'll either see all of those buffs, or just see a Mindblank / Aroden's Spellbane - either way he'll likely open with a Mage's Disjunction (and the party has two scrolls of it spread around). I'm not worried about their ability to hit him - I'm more worried about their ability to survive his full round attack.
When it comes to unhittable enemies, I've taught my players to immediately go with a Dispel of some sort. Dragons typically have AC >45 for the same reason (shield, mage armor, etc.). I did errata Mage's Disjunction a bit so it's not as devastating - but it always dispels at least 5 things (with no caster level check required). So the scrolls of Mage's Disjunction they've hoarded should get good use.
My party also never used the blood of the father of Worms. So if one of them thinks to splash it on Baphomet, I'm tempted to make it a -5 to his AC (as it melts away his natural armor a bit). I would actually prefer a fight where they have to do special actions for a round or two just to make him hittable. In my opinion, that makes for a more dynamic battle than just rolling lots of dice every turn.
My party is also going into this fight with three key allies:
Alderpash (a re-statted up Level 19 Evoker lich)
A Gate'd unique 20HD Half Celestial Elder Earth Elemental (that hits like a truck)
and the Redeemed Herald.
So the odds will be Baphomet + 6 CR18-20 monsters vs. 4 level 18 PCs and 3 CR 18-ish NPCs.
That, and I have placed Nocticula's mini in a little plastic case with a sign that says "Break in Case of Evil", if they want some help (or the Iomedaen in the party can use the Stole as an immediate action to escape at any time.
But again, we can only ask each other for advice - we all know our respective players best, and what is going to work for them. I have found a well-stocked liquor cabinet and beer fridge helps smooth things over a bit too.
Rajul and Jammal. My Qadiran Elven nature oracle with a bonded mount (camel).
It was fun playing with the Camel. I did the favored class cheese, but it was a camel (not a pouncing kitty). And it was hilarious having Jammal *Spit* on monsters.
In the end, dealing with Animal Companion Grief, having to adjust the Favored Class rulings, and GM rulings requiring separate initiatives and Handle Animal CHecks (on an INT 8 Bonded mount) made me give up on the character around level 8-9.
It was both RP-wise and mechanically fun to play - but clearly something that should be done in a home game that is not subject to Organized Play changes and Variations.
I regret nothing, other than playing it in an organized play environment.
I have always been a five foot cube of infinite volume but finite carrying capacity. It's the Heisenberg uncertainty Principle of Pathfinder: You can know exactly how much I weigh, but not exactly how much space I take up.
The problem with paying (more) for scenarios is that the cost is directly to the GM. In many cases, the GM is a VO or a convention GM (and the cost is always Zero). Raising those prices may not actually increase revenue for Paizo (it may just encourage people to acquire those adventure by other means).
Perhaps a Kickstarter? I'd rather see PLAYERS pay for more content, not GMs. It has always irked me that I have to pay $$ to run a game for someone else (and not the other way around).
I think a Kickstarter like event on the Paizo website where you could raise money for specific things. Then you get direct, real feedback from players as to what they want. Want 5 extra adventures in 2016? Then we need to raise X.00$. Want a new Seeker set? Then it's 5X.00$$ (etc.) You can even have two or three parallel "investments". Then repeat the process in 2017 if it shows merit.
I currently don't need additional content. But my spare time is the limiter on play, not release rate. CORE campaign just guaranteed I don't need to worry about additional content for a long time (possibly ever).
Well, once upon a time in PFS we had a Nightmare themed Synthesist called Lady Nocturne. Unfortunately she got hit with a feeblemind and we had no immediate way to resolve the condition.
I was playing Farak, the Most Powerful Mage in All Absalom, so I took Lady Nocturne as my mount and spent the rest of the adventure flying around on a "Nightmare" being extra awesome.
In other words you're right. I already have a pony and it is a Synthesist. :Þ
That is the awesome-est story I have heard all week and you are hilarious.
I will try to top it.
I had a pet attack snake for my barbarian in CORE without using handle animal or any spells:
During Intro to Lore....
Step 1: Get Snake
Step 2:
???:
Step 1a: Watch cleric stick hand into wicker basket to get key
Step 1b: Repeat Step 1a because of reasons
Step 1c: Pour strange clear liquid onto snake (this makes snake ANGRY)
Step 1d: Rage, hit snake with SAP
Step 2a: Enter bar with shifty NPCs.
Step 2b: make loud bluff check "I HAVE A SNAKE" (it helps to roll a 20)
Step 2c: Meet up with shifty NPCs in an aly later
Step 2d: Wait for shifty NPC to cast obscuring mist
Step 2e: Loudly shout "I AM SENDING MY SNAKE TO ATTACK"
Step 2f: Throw unconscious snake as improvised weapon into cloud
Step 2g: Ask cleric to channel positive energy.
Pleasing all of us is a literally impossible job. We want different and opposing things. Mike does an excellent job of trying to keep us all reasonably happy.
I want a pony.
I WANT A PONY TOO! WHY DOES PIRATE ROB GET A PONY? IS IT BECAUSE HE'S A VENTURE OFFICER? THAT'S SO UNFAIR. I'LL BET HIS PONY IS A SYNTHESISIT SUMMONER TOO, RIGHT?
The OP mentioned this was for a convention, and sounds like a new adventure. So I imagine it's not feasible to "not run", and checking the boards may not be realistic (as few people may have information at this time).
My thoughts:
- get one player at the table (hopefully another GM or veteran player) to take over all the beginning of game paperwork - sign ins, interaction with convention organizers, and lead the player introductions.
Read the first two pages (background, summary). Then skim the adventure to get a quick flow for where the "big chunks" are (large encounters, lots of text for RP/investigation). Prep through the first big block, and plan on a break after that chunk (so you can read up to the next chunk).
Hopefully you'll run the adventure more than once during the convention, so you can get better as the convention progresses. In the future, I recommend (for conventions with new adventure) only sign up to run one new adventure, and run it multiple times - as this helps you prep more.
I don't want to bash on various rules elements out there, my philosophy is that certain players will behave a certain way, regardless of what you give them access to.
I look forward to just not having to look things up at the table (or at least, not having to look it up outside the core rulebook).
Additional resources becomes irrelevant. I don't have to worry if someone chose a banned rules element- because it's all banned!
Core mode makes half the job easier: whatever the players are doing they should be able to easily look up.
(the other half is the scenario, I can't remove a Magus villain in core mode, but I can at least choose not to run certain scenarios).
I'm really just looking forward to some simplification. I was hoping for some ways to make prepping a game easier (season 7 statblocks?), but at least CORE mode makes running it easier.
