impureascetic's page

I came to this forum specifically looking for a post like this. Thanks so much for writing all this out.

Sorry about the delay. I think, "I'll see what someone else does," and I forget to check the site again when there aren't updates. I guess this is what happens with PbP campaigns, but I'm still here and into the game!

I think I have a good idea, and I shared it with my players. I didn't see that description in the second module. That helps a lot, Magical_Beast. Thanks.

I get that it's about 300 miles south of the Sun Temple Colony (book 1, page 6). The only reference to the failed Sun Temple Colony is on pp. 42 and 203 and of the ISWG-- neither of which give helpful instructions beyond being west of the gate of Aroden and in the Arcadian Ocean.

Does anyone have anything more specific?

Is there any friction between worshippers of Gozreh and worshippers of the Green Faith? Likewise, is there any friction between the good-aligned gods and the green faith?

I recently ran a situation where a local church of Serenrae was reluctant to resurrect a prominent druid PC of the green faith because she was so vociferously against the role of the gods in people's lives. While my players went along with it, one of them made the case that the church of Serenrae is simply more compassionate than I depicted them, and they wouldn't be that petty. I recognize that it's my game, so it's canon, but I want to render an honest version of the wonderful world you've shared with us.

Thanks for your thoughts and advice, everyone.

Last night, we started playing Ruins of Azlant and quickly ran into what will inevitably be a key communication issue for the duration of the campaign:

Can humanoid races speak Aquan clearly and be understood underwater?

Clearly, if a creature has the aquatic type, it's a non-issue; of course they can speak Aquan underwater clearly. So water elementals, merfolk, faceless stalkers, and aboleths all speaking the same language works.

The thing is, water elementals, merfolk, faceless stalkers, and aboleths don't have anything like the same biology, so it's hard to make the case that there is something special to their form that enables clear and intelligible underwater speech. Their varied biologies suggest that the intelligibility of Aquan underwater is a property of the language itself, not a feature of the subtype of the creatures speaking it. That said, it's fantasy and real world biology in Pathfinder is slippery slope toward fun killing.

I thought for a second that it might be more about those creatures' ability to breathe underwater, inherent to all creatures with the aquatic subtype. The thing is, that ability does not determine whether a character can speak underwater.

From Aquatic Adventures:

"While various spells have different effects underwater, the most fundamental hindrance to spellcasting, at least at low levels, is the fact that a creature holding its breath must succeed at a concentration check (DC = 15 + spell level) to cast a spell at all, whether or not the spell has a verbal component. If the spell has a verbal component, expelling the air needed to incant the spell reduces the creature’s remaining number of rounds of breath by 3 (which stacks with the reduction from performing a standard or full-round action; see the Drowning section of Underwater Hazards and Features on page 47), and a creature can’t fnish the spell if it doesn’t have enough breath left. Spells that have verbal components and casting times of swift or immediate actions instead decrease the caster’s remaining number of rounds of breath by 1."

So a PC can speak clearly enough to cast spells underwater. And there is no biological limitation on a character's ability to speak Aquan. Aquan is the language that aquatic creatures use to communicate underwater, so much so that it is the ONLY language spoken by water elementals. Therefore, I ruled that speech in Aquan was free underwater, and by its very nature could be clearly heard and understood. I plan to charge rounds of breath (as per the spellcasting/bardic performance rules) if PCs get too chatty, but this is the only ruling that made sense to me.

For balance reasons (and real world sense), though, I think it makes sense that humans shouldn't be able to speak any language clearly or to make out clear speech underwater without the ability to breathe water.

I told my players I may retcon my decision, and I was wondering what the boards think.

He TPKed my party tonight. Three failed their saves to the frightful presence, and the other two were too late in figuring out the weakness to silver. With his regeneration, DR, and frightful presence, no, I'd say he's just fine.

Dot

I'm new, but I'm very interested. Never done a PbP before, and I'm eager to get my feet wet.

I have an human arcanist and a tiefling abyssal bloodrager ready tog go, but I can prepare whatever the party needs.

The mammoth is the redheaded hunter's animal companion.

I had this painting commissioned of the battle in the deep dungeon of the Choking Tower. When I returned to PnP role-playing games, I resolved to do something like this whenever my players' PCs reached level 10, since most of the time the only thing to commemorate our adventures together are the stories we share and, if we're diligent with our paperwork, our character sheets. So far I have this and one for Kingmaker. The artist's name is Nick Silva.

I figured you guys might enjoy it.

Bumping this. (If that works on the Paizo forums)
I want to add two more people to this campaign.
Characters just got level 8 and are neck-deep in the third module.
I can fill you in on plot details and integrate your PCs.

Let me know if you're interested.

We primarily play on Saturdays around noon, although we very occasionally play on Friday evenings.

The next session will be November 5, 2016.
House rules are here.

If you don't have regular access to a computer that
a.) can run LogMeIn Hamachi
b.) can run Fantasy Grounds
and
c.) has a headset or working microphone, your role will have to be consigned to dungeon furniture.

If a PC is wearing armor with the delving enchantment and fighting someone else with the delving enchantment, do they fight as normal? Do they use underwater rules?

If a PC in that same armor fights, say, an earth elemental or other creature who just goes through the earth, I assume the PC would accrue whatever penalties are appropriate above while said naturally burrowing elemental creature is able to attack normally. What do you all think?

Mathmuse,
Thanks for liking my idea! As far as tracking separate uses, we play in Fantasy Grounds, so it's trivial to add the debuffs. I see what you mean, though, that the intent behind consecutive uses isn't to warp an object different but to warp a single object at all. That's a useful distinction. Thanks.

Claxon,
Please see my note at the end. The designers use hardness rules, normally reserved for objects, as a matter of course for damage reduction. I don't think your hard line in the sand re: this spell's effect on constructs/robots is in line with ostensible designer intent.

One of the players in my Iron Gods campaign asked me how I would adjudicate the spell warp metal when it came to robots.

I am happy with my ruling and content to run with it, but I wanted to subject it to the scrutiny of other players before I charged in.

First, warp metal is a 4th level spell. That means it's the same level as, say phantasmal killer. Using that as a my guide, I decided there are five possible outcomes.

• Successful Will save: Nothing happens.
• Failed Will save, successful Fortitude save: The robot is affected, but the spell doesn't do enough damage to destroy it. The player can select a dirty trick outcome applicable to a robot. The outcome is permanent; this seems powerful, and I wouldn't want it in print, but since 99.9% of the time the PCs are going to be exploding whatever they're using this spell on, it won't actually mean much for gameplay besides a useful debuff.
• Since this spell allows repeated castings, the caster can stack the dirty trick debuff. When a fourth such debuff is applied (arbitrary number), the robot is killed.
• Failed Will save, failed Fortitude save: the robot is deformed past the point of functioning and is "dead."

Can I get some feedback on this adjudication?

Also, how would you guys handle the spell being cast on someone wearing a suit of plate mail? Would it be appropriate to lower the affected character's AC and deal damage? Thanks so much.

Oh, and in an effort to hedge possible rules nitpicking, I am aware that the spell stipulates that it affects objects and that robots are, from a rules standpoint, creatures. To that objection, I urge you to check out the stats for many of the higher CR robots in Pathfinder (e.g. the myrmidon robot, CR 11); they all have hardness, a trait usually reserved for objects. When it comes to robots, the rules seem to deliberately treat them as objects and creatures, so I believe-- and will act accordingly in my game-- that spells like warp metal do apply to them.

The acrid mixture of blood, ozone, and sulfur pounds against your nose. Either the cavern walls or your ears still ring with the screams, the shrill hisses of hot beams shredding the air, and the impossible bass of the explosion that killed two of your companions.

Tarrana pats down Stampy, and Stampy uses his trunk to do the same with Tarrana. They share a brief, bloody embrace. As they turn toward the wreckage of the giant mechanized spider, they see Gurka on her knees holding Harlock's limp body, most of his mystical tattoos scorched from his flesh, half his face a gory remnant of its previously handsome self. Tarrana grits her teeth. As always, her sadness and loneliness are quick to take the form of anger. Even in this aftermath of battle, she wants to hit something with her hammer.

Gurka takes a sharp, raspy breath in. It seems to rattle the metal mask against her face. Then she begins to sob. She has no vanity. Thick cords of phlegm fall from her breathing holes to the ground, and tears spiral down their long. Harlock shudders in her quaking grip.

But for the sound of Gurka's anguish, the cavern is silent. Hellion, the false god of Scrapwall, is dead. The Lords of Rust are no more.

What do you do?

James,
Thanks for doing this thread. Sorry for all the people who continually post rules questions here. You're awesome.

Marvel recently revealed a storyline wherein Captain America is an agent of Hydra and has possibly been all along. I have a soft spot in my heart for shining beacons of goodness like Cap and Superman and paladins... and I know you do NOT.

What do you think of this move or moves like it (since I know it's probably your reaction to say, "I don't care because Captain America is boring.")?

I feel like virtually any story can be good if it's well told and has great characters, but part of me feels like the best case scenario is that this is a ploy on Marvel's part done for shock value and the worst case scenario is that they are discarding what is essential to the character (even though it will probably just be him going deep cover as Hydra or whatever).

Even if your response is just laconic apathy, thanks again for all the brilliant work you do. (And, as a personal trainer, let me also commend you for your amazing weight loss!)

Yes. It is a great trade. My big issue is with the ability's duration, not the ability itself.

Psychic Battery is a Psi-Tech discovery for the psychic class that is meant to be used alongside technological items using the system outlined in the Technology Guide.

Psi-tech discoveries are taken in the place of phrenic amplifications, which are effectively metamagic feats applied to psychic spells.

Here is the text from the discovery:

"Psychic Battery (Su): You can expend an unused spell slot or a number of points from your phrenic pool as a swift action to power a technological device you are touching. Each spell level expended in this way grants the device 1 charge, and every 2 points from your phrenic pool spent grant 1 charge. Any charges unused at the end of the round are lost, and any charges used by the device that round that aren't provided by you must come from the device's own power reserves. You cannot use this ability to power timeworn technology. You can power only devices that use charges. You must be at least 7th level to select this discovery."

I cannot see why this ability isn't just garbage. I love the idea a lot, and it seems perfect for the psychic character my player is rolling up to replace his now-dead magus in our Iron Gods campaign, but since the charges are lost that round, it seems way, way underpowered. It's not nothing to sacrifice a spell slot, and it also means the character will never sacrifice more than a 2nd level spell over the duration of his adventuring career.

Moreover, how would the character use this? Why? Psychics don't wear armor. Psychics are unlikely to be using the technological weapons littered around Iron Gods except as a last resort, and most of the technological gear isn't suited for this because you're not likely to be needing a swift action charge buff RIGHT NOW.

Obviously it's possible that the ability is just underpowered, but can someone tell me why my reading is wrong?

If it turns out to be as bad as I think, I am going to boost the duration of the charges gained to equal the psychic level of PC and to allow the psychic to make a caster level check agains the Craft DC required to make the item in order to charge timeworn items. I've read the entire AP through twice, and with that in mind, even the short duration buff seems unnecessary, but I want to keep in the spirit of the original ability while enhancing it enough to be an attractive option for the PC in my campaign.

I'd love people's feedback.

Name: Gurka
Race: Half-orc
Classes/levels: Oracle of Metal 6
Catalyst: Kulgara and friends
The party was fighting the followers of Hellion, a mixture of orcs and acolytes and those pesky dark folk. One round after the action began, a roar of a chainsaw bellowed through the chamber. Many of Hellion's followers fell. The next round, Kulgara ran in with a bloodthirsty grin on her face as the minions chanted, "Kulgara carves them up!" Kulgara ran up to the party oracle and nearly cut her in half. As the oracle ran away on her turn, she provoked an attack of opportunity from one of the lesser orcs, who finished what Kulgara started with a lucky hit and, like, 6 DMG. Next round the orc used the oracle's severed head as an improvised weapon to bludgeon the party hunter, who killed said orc promptly. The party witch (see below) nailed her slumber hex, and Kulgara ate a coup de grace from the party magus.

Names: Harlock and Antinua
Race: Half-elf, Elf
Classes/levels: Magus 6, Witch 6
Catalyst: Hellion. Also the witch.
Explosions everywhere. The witch first used a zero grenade on Hellion to great effect. Next, she had the bright idea to use Kulgara's plasma grenade on Hellion. Hellion soaked the AoOs as he used his second initiative pass to grab the grenade and lob it at the party. The witch died right away, the magus was unconscious and dying, and everyone else got hurt. The hunter and (resurrected after the above death) oracle finished the fight, with some noteworthy help from the hunter's mammoth companion, at which point Hellion talked some smack and went boom. The dying magus became a dead magus. The oracle was 1 HP away from death, and the hunter 1 HP from unconsciousness. Close to a TPK. Brutal, brutal fight.

You make a strong case, DM_Blake. Touché.

I only take issue with your math regarding how long it takes an NPC to level. It takes exactly as long as the DM says it does. Period. If the DM says a 50 year old palace guard is a level 2 character, then so be it. That soldier's timeline above is purely a tool you have fabricated for this argument. You would be hard-pressed to see anything resembling that kind of consistency in any published materials.

Beyond that, with the Sandpoint NPC examples, you've made it clear that I don't run the official version of Golarion, and I appreciate you pointing it out. An enhanced Perspective is always a good thing.

Since you raise good points, it might do wonders for the delivery of your strong information and effective rebuttals if you considered lowering the rhetorical tone of your answers. As it is, you kind of come across as a condescending bully, which I don't think is your intention.

I work on the assumption that most people have never seen anyone use magic. Maybe the local priest can do some in a medium-sized town.
But it's very rare.
PC-level abilities are that much rarer.

I assume that even Albert Einstein or an Olympic gold medalist would be a 5th level character.

I play as if most 1st-level bandits will be surprised that the guy they're mugging can fire magic missiles at all, much less have the presence of mind to sunder or steal his pouch of blanched butt dust.

Hence my agreement above that a random mook isn't going to be taking out the witch's familiar (especially the centipede in the case of my witch at the start of this thread). The only person who's going to do that is someone familiar with arcane magic and someone who has been following the PCs' progress long enough to know their weak spots.

DM_Blake, I agree. I'd never have a mook do it in a random encounter. Obviously she would have to have time to recuperate after.

Just a joke, DM_Blake.

I've taken your collective advice regarding the familiar into consideration. I had all that in mind, including the familiar satchel. I guess I'm surprised that with all the kvetching on these boards about the martial/caster disparity that there would be so much blowback on exploiting one of the built-in mechanical vulnerabilities of a powerful class. Weird.

B-b-b-b-but... Misfortune + Cackle makes me sad!

One of my players' PCs has a centipede for a familiar. He claims that it stays in his pocket whenever he's in combat, but I think that is a little silly. I realize the game doesn't explicitly SAY what familiars are doing, but in the case of a witch, when they are the explicit conduit of magical power, isn't it a little silly that the creature would be just sitting in the PC's pocket nibbling on a piece of bread? I feel like it would somehow be making its presence know, even if it's just crawling all over the PC's fingers. Mostly I just want to use the familiar for its balance purpose: a soft underbelly for the eventually omnipotent casters. I don't WANT to screw over my player, but I want taking out his familiar to be an option without resorting to Sleight of Hand or interdimensional Sleight of Hand or whatever.

Help?

@Gargs
I like where you're going.
Drelev/Armag/Ivoretti are non-factors thus far.

What the PCs know:
They know from a letter stolen from the area in the blighted fey dungeon (Thornkeep), that he is recruiting allies for "a coming doom he cannot name." They have also seen pissed off letters from the necromancer (whose name is Ixion, btw) that say, "She" is the real danger.

They acquired a powerful artifact called the Steel of St. Sofamel, which is a hymn that has increasingly powerful effects when a sufficiently high Perform (Sing) check is passed. One of them (DC 45) would basically remove the end of Kingmaker. To my delight, since all these bad people want the Steel, there has been talk of burning it. Mwa, ha, ha, ha. Ixion wants the Steel because he wants to stop whatever it is that is fraying the edges of the First World and the Prime Material. He won't tell the PCs that. He just says bad things are coming, and he has approached them (in the form of a tapestry actually made from thousands of blooming and dying flowers) in the Thornkeep and asked that they surrender the Steel in exchange for his never bothering their kingdom again.

He would, of course, not keep his word. He's a crazy, CE necromancer, after all.

Actual stuff:
He's out of his gourd, and, like you've said, has these flashes of memory that indicate who N is and that the real problem might be N. But he doesn't know. He's atrophied, like Vordakai. He SHOULD be a 17+ necromancer, which is why the Eldest put him away in the Phantom Zone... I mean the Shadow plane.

Book 4 seed:
They have found barbarian corpses and boggard corpses on the western side of the Narlmarches. If they don't finish off the blight, they will have to fight barbarians with the Plant Creature template. (They've already battled numerous druids and rangers with said template.) They have also found the bodies of Drelev's men and noted that they were decidedly not up to the challenges of the blighted Narlmarches.

Book 5 seed:
They do regular business with Pitax, and during their annual festival, performers come from all around to challenge the party's bard. None have succeeded. They have received kind letters from Ivoretti, and they have no idea that he is a threat.

Necromancer tactics:
Yeah, Ixion SHOULD be smart, and he will definitely teleport and dimension door away if the chips turn down, but he also is a b%%*@@% crazy megalomaniac who honestly thinks that turning Golarion into a corrupted forest is a sound plan to defeat N, just like he thought it was a great idea to try to turn the entire First World into a blight millennia ago.

I mean, Vordakai could have bailed, but he was cocky and thus, "fights to the death." As an added incentive, Ixion is actively courting allies whenever the PCs arrive. He WANTS to look tough. I'm not looking to make him the BBEG. I still want them to meet with N. I just don't want that to be inevitable, so I am giving them other avenues of adventure. Word? Help?

@Spatula
Precisely.
When I came up with the blight, I just knew I wanted it to bring Nyrissa into the game earlier and to make FEY a more decisive presence in my players' minds. I was inspired for the "fugitive" angle by Daily Bestiary's "blighted fey" entry.

I am using Vordakai's spells almost exactly for this encounter, albeit with a bit more dispel magic at hand, since the PCs are using magic to avoid the poison in the air. When my PCs encountered the lich in module 3, they destroyed him handily because, as Lee Hanna noted, single boss encounters don't mix well with Pathfinder's action economy.

I actually commissioned a rad picture of their battle:
http://i.imgur.com/hjaH72Q.jpg

I felt like my party deserved a fight against a necromancer that felt a bit more epic, so I am going to make them fight three brute (probably a nuckelevee and a svraltalfar), the necromancer, and some mooks (the drow liaisons). If I didn't feel so cheesy making them fight another underpowered lich, I'd have thrown one at them on their way back from Varnhold.

This way I have a justifiably underpowered magic user (he's been in torpor in the Shadow plane for millennia) who's using a problematic artifact (an artifact pitcher that corrupts plants, animals, and fey when water is poured from it) and it protected from the action economy by his minions.

The thing is, they're level 10. I've learned to make all serious encounter CRs @ APL+3, and I predict they will triumph handily, even if a couple of them die.

@Lee Hanna
The original encounters from module 2 happened, but they were all murdered by a group of druids/rangers who were using any means necessary to stop the blight at the source. The leader of that group turned out to be the man who trained the druid PC in the art of fighting as a bear; he also killed her entire druidic circle. They took him down and stole the artifact he was going to use to send the blighted fey satyr back to wherever he came from. Said artifact can also be used to stop Nyrissa's plans, for which I have a political plot scandal from Brevoy ready to roll out.

All the blighted fey monsters are... well... blighted fey. The only modification I made was to give all the blighted fey the blighted dryads' tree stride ability, which the PCs found a homebrew alchemical solution for-- basically what are effectively hand grenades of 1d4 rounds of dimensional anchor. Typical enemy parties include at least one satyr (their pan pipes are annoying) and as many redcaps as I can throw. I'd love to use more powerful base fey, but it seems absurd to send legions of svartalfar or nuckalevees after the PCs, since I don't think the base creature would be around in any large number for the bad guy to blight. I go back and forth about what satyr necromancer will have accompanying him into battle, but it will probably be a nuckelevee (who they have seen but haven't been able to catch) and some Drow liaison (because he's looking for any sort of evil help he can get) who will basically be at the wrong place at the wrong time when the PCs barge in.

Sadly, even though I was happy with the idea of the blighted fey, I am displeased with my execution. Only after doing a lot of research in the past couple months have I really begun to grok what the fey are like-- and even then I felt compelled to ask J. Jacobs where he would turn for inspiration. They have too often just seemed like monsters with stupidly difficult DR-- they might as well have been Super Orcs. I would really play up their whimsy if I could do it all over again. On the bright side, I feel like I'm well prepared for First World sessions when the sixth module comes around.

No slugs.

Anyway... yes... any ideas for further follow-through in the storyline as I've designed it would be helpful. Glad you two liked it.

I added a fun subplot to my Kingmaker campaign involving blighted fey.
Essentially, I didn't want Nyrissa to come out of nowhere, so in addition to the trolls and the owlbear and the issues with Count Drelev and whatnot, I had a fungal blight grow in the Narlmarches to the west of the PCs' kingdom.

It turns out the blight is being caused by a blighted fey (satyr) necromancer who was released from his prison in the plane of Shadow by our favorite crazy nymph. Her idea that if she can't find Briar, this fugitive fey will cause enough destabilization to allow her plan to come to fruition. He wields an artifact, a magical pitcher, that allows him to blight existing fey and reanimate humanoids as plant monsters, as well as to grow the Narlmarches and thus expand the blight.

The blighted fey satyr has no idea why he was released from his prison, but since the PCs didn't attend to him over the course of three modules, this is their in-between for Varnhold and the adventures with Drelev and Armag. Since the fugitive fey knows he is part of some kind of power game, he is trying to make alliances with any group who won't stop him from spreading his blight around. In the meantime, he has essentially turned the Narlmarches into his personal poison paradise, and the good+cold iron DR of blighted fey has been a hugely obnoxious (and thus fun for me) obstacle for the PCs, along with the need to resist poison since the entire place is now a toxic environment.

Now, the PCs are about to have the final showdown. Honestly, I don't think it's going to go very well because even if they "win," he will almost certainly teleport away. The blight won't end until they destroy his artifact.

Now that you have the gist, can any of you think of any additions to this plotline with your preexisting knowledge of Kingmaker? I intended this to be a challenge for around this level, but it has ended up being the de facto Bad Thing That's Happening to the PCs' kingdom, and I want to make sure it doesn't just end with a meek little slugfest.

What are your models for role-playing fey as a DM?

With drow, orcs, intelligent undead, fiends, creatures from the dark tapestry, giants, trolls, dragons, and, of course, humanoid bastards, I feel like I have a handle on their mentality, but for some reason I can't quite wrap my head around how an evil fey is still... fey.

Is it just mean-spirited pranks? That seems a little beneath the higher end fey as written up in the 6th Kingmaker volume, right?

I feel like my evil fey are just generic douches with magic powers. I have a lot of trouble coming up with a way to merge their total indifference to consequences, their immortality, and an alignment that ends with E. It is particularly problematic right now since I have homebrewed a blighted fey incursion into the Narlmarches into Kingmaker, and I feel like they are simply menacing without any differentiating qualities.

Books? Movies? Plays? Video games?

lololol

Okay, guys. Cast aside thy worst case scenarios!

The player is NOT just blasting commoners with his fire. As I said, he got a lot better when the damage just became too much to casually use.

He is actually playing a CG servant of Lythertida, and he's doing it well. He only became the inquisitor after he DIDN'T use his power on a council member NPC (Kingmaker, again) betrayed the kingdom. That rattled the PC and player, so he took up the role of spymaster. I'm sorry for my wording above, but he is not capricious with that power. He most certainly remembers he has it, though, and it is definitely the party's go-to for detecting evil.

They are getting to be big kids, though-- level 9-- and as DM_Blake said, their enemies are going to be walking into their kingdom fully prepared for interrogations by the angelic spymaster.

My purpose in asking was to ask what those preparations ought to be. I mean, I DO want the sneaks to be discovered eventually. My goal isn't to screw over my players, just to thwart some of their conventions and scare them a little.

At ease, guys. He's playing a CG character, and he's doing it well.

First, everyone, thanks for your lightning-fast replies.

People with Evil alignment not always are "evil"

it depends on many factors

PlentaX,

The spell corruption resistance gives resistance to alignment-based damage. It's a 2nd-level anti-paladin and inquisitor spell, so fairly easy to get even as a potion (although it should probably be CL 7 at least to get to resist 10 points of damage).

Perfect. Thanks for showing me this.

Lots of great stuff.

I'm thinking along the same lines. I want there to be serious politial and civil repercussions if he just answers his suspicions with heavenly fire.

More than that, though, I hadn't done the logical leap you did, but it makes sense. I was treating the fire as the divining resource, but the fire itself has no knowledge; it has to ping some divine server and say, "Is this evil?" and when it gets a "yes" reply, it hurts. If the server request to Heaven times out, I guess it would just fizzle. That makes sense.

RAW, RainyDayNinja's solution is probably the best, but I think I'll invoke my deific authority and decide that if the critter doesn't register as evil, the fire does nothing.

Thanks so much for the ideas, guys.

One of my players has the celestial bloodline for his sorcerer, and from level 1 he has used his Heavenly Fire ability as a means of detecting evil, and I find myself in a bit of a pickle.

1.) I house-ruled that the damage isn't fire because it makes no sense for devils to be immune to his celestial powers. The damage is now "holy" damage. We agreed on this, and in our Golarion that's how it is.

2.) He stopped using the fire as much when the damage picked up. It used to be a flesh wound when he only had 1d4+1 damage. Now his minimum damage will kill a commoner, so he has to be more careful.

Truth be told, it's actually pretty cool. He's really grown into this role as the inquisitor for the kingdom (we're playing Kingmaker), and it's pretty badass when he folds his arms and says something like, "If you're who you say you are, submit to my flame. If you are pure of heart, it will actually make you feel better."

Awesome, right?

Except if I want to do something cool with a rakshasha, succubus, doppelganger, etc., I am out of luck.

I'm looking for solutions to this issue outside of the plot. Obviously I can have a heavenly fire blast have dire political ramifications. Obviously I can have the aggrieved evil being have powerful friends, or the good being be insulted at the sorcerer's lack of faith. I CAN do that.

But it would be easier to just add a magic item or something.

Is there something like the helm of undetectable alignment that would protect the suspect from the sorcerer's blazing inquiry? Is there a feat or spell I'm missing?

Thanks.

Barry,
I am really picking up what you're putting down. I spend hours agonizing over stuff like this.

"How do I make this cool for my players?"

"How can I describe this in a way that makes them feel like they are there... yet not descend into purple prose that takes this from a game into a monologue?"

I describe as much as I can, I act, do voices, all that. I'm particularly proud of the art I had commissioned to commemorate their defeating the boss of the 3rd Kingmaker module.

All because my players could be playing a video game or watching a movie, so this game and I need to act in the stead of those things.

Did you see that video of Matt Mercer DMing at the table with Vin Diesel? Did you see Vin's face when Matt first described the energy blast class skill Matt had designed for the session? That's joy.

I want that every time I describe something! From every player! During every cool action! I'm a total slut for my players' sense of wonder.

But since this is a game, and I get to control the texture/lethality of my game and my Golarion by attaching d20 rolls and d100 rolls to all kinds of outcomes, I am obliged to do that. It is, after all, a wonder machine powered by a mighty fine combat engine.

The ability to seamlessly merge the two, the creative expression and the rules (attached as they are to the dice's lack of bias), is what always astounds me when I hear or watch a DM like Chris Perkins (from Acquisitions, Inc.) or Matt Mercer.

In my game, I would try to describe how it feels for the PC to have his body dematerialize, then to see the world get smaller and smaller, then what it feels like to have the birds actually pass through his body harmlessly. Stuff like that.

Whatever die roll you assign it-- and it should be just one for all the balance reasons above, i.e. don't make it a poor man's teleport-- just understand how tough you want it to be, and be consistent about it

**Dear players of mine who might be reading this: spoil the story for yourself if you want, but you know good and well that you shouldn't be here.**

I'm already starting to worry about TCT as my PCs close on the end of Fires of Creation. While reading through the campaign, *I* was annoyed by both the dungeons in the 3rd module acting as red herrings, and I feel like it would really exhaust my players' good will to go through an occasionally lethal crawl like the Choking Tower only to walk/fly-atop-a-space-moth away without the goody in question. Some of that is my own thing; I HATE red herrings in D&D. In real life, the game takes 4 hours of my nice players' weekends. It seems mean to tally up 20-28 hours of real world time to pull their narrative chair out from under them.

(Never mind that we do so to eventually equip the PCs with an NPC who can't shoulder her load in combat unless you break the rules when it comes to aggregates.)

So I'm here with you guys trying to re-do the whole thing. I like the idea of combining the android area and the Choking Tower into one dungeon under Iadenveigh.

I figure the best way to eradicate the red herring angle is to have something or someone very important at the bottom of Xoud's dungeon.

Ideas:

* a brain-dead Dominion agent who Xoud is trying to prod for information re: Casandalee.

* same, but with an android, possibly one of her followers from her time in the Silver Mount. (I am leaning toward this one)

* A locate object artifact/item. (As a PLAYER, I like this the best. As a DM, screw that!)

* A customizable aggregate that can track back to Casandalee in the Scar.

* A mi-go or intellect devourer who needs to be bargained with.

* Alternatively, the intellect devourer/mi-go/ could be a new addition to the dungeon after trespassing and being collected for interrogation.

* 90 degree turn: new Iron God, burgeoning Rovagug, went bonkers without Unity, android agents have been kidnapping and killing from Choking Tower. It's another red herring, kind of, except it stays on theme with the AP because a.) it' an Iron God, b.) it is one of TWO siblings referenced by Hellion or in Kulgara's notes. Xoud is just as anxious to get rid of new monster god as PCs would be. Star moth BEGS the PCs to help to stop the nightmares from within the tower. The PCs learn the same info re: Casandalee at the end, but at the end of the slog they feel like they've taken one useless option off the table.

Ideas?

For the main topic, I'm in total agreement. Knowledge skills are what PCs know, etc. Good show.

As far as a Heal/Perception check to identify the troll regenerating, are you sure that's necessary? The DR rules say that the character knows he's done less damage than he should have, so from that I extrapolate that PCs are aware of the visual cues of HP damage or lack thereof. I always just announce that the wounds are closing up or the metal is knitting back together or whatever.

Thoughts?

OH, GOD, IS MY FUN WRONG?!?!

One of the concepts I've loved seeing in various properties is the idea of objects that are both high-tech and magical, and I was disappointed to find that the only example in the Technology Guide or the various Iron Gods books seems to be the Technic League's coveted null blades.

Does anyone have any suggestions or homebrew items like that they've used in their Iron Gods campaigns? Obviously it doesn't have to be confined to Iron Gods-- any world with magic and technology would suffice. I don't own any Shadowrun source material, but I suspect there's something there.

If anyone expresses any interest, I'll use this thread to post the items I've been putting together for my own Iron Gods group in order to fill what I perceive as a void in the published material.

Bumping. It looks like our esteemed iron priest will be unable to make it. And then there were two. Three if we can coordinate with scarletrose.

Ha ha ha. I kid, I kid. It's up to the rest of the group, scarletrose. What is your gmail? Now that we have a full group, you guys should all talk about how your backgrounds intersect.

That's up to the rest of the group. As someone who has seen Metallica live 8 times, let me assure you that no oracle of METAL shall be harmed in my game until at LEAST level 6! \m/

I messaged her, but I didn't hear back. Anyone checking this for the first time, we have a spot open!

@Rhea
Roll it here, with the eyes of Brigh looking down on you. Assume Rhea the archaeologist won't be a cleric, n'est-ce pas? What's your gmail (or tell me on Skype with this username if you don't feel comfortable sharing it with the forums). I'll add you to the group chat.

@Scarletrose
I will come calling if there's a spot. I hope you find another awesome group in the mean time.

Just bumping so potential players might see it.

Also, Tark and Izzeth, since both of you seem better at using the Paizo boards for this sort of thing, would you mind linking me to a primer? I can't find anything, and I've been looking since I posted.

@Webb
Sorry to hear that. If you decide to send your kids off to sea, let us know.

@Izzeth
We are all in gChat.

I am on Fantasy Grounds and gChat right now. Tark, I invited you to a Hangout. Let me know what's up.

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Pretty good. I like that one is low as hell. :-)

Cool. I'm nealok DOT g AT GEE-mail DOT com

Maybe you'll get as much of a kick from it as I did at the time of playing through this hilarious misadventure.

Anyway, it was my first session of my very first campaign, I believe it was the one that started out in Sandpoint. We had a party of five: A half-orc sorcerer of the undead bloodline, a high charisma rogue who was very good at slipping out of fights. As well as a straight up fighter with a habit of throwing caltrops behind him whenever it was most inconvenient and myself, a heavy armor donning battle cleric.

To start things off we had the most wonky party cooperation I have yet to match in the last two years and we had somehow lucked out enough to not get gutted by the townsfolk for our sheer annoyingness. Between the rogue's constant hitting on the town girl's, the sorcerer talking to gravestones and the fighter ruining every road he traversed with his and I quote, "tiny spikes of personal protection." I was far from perfect myself but my worst flaw was my zealous attempts at making sure the local church was bloody damn well clean.

Not too long after we were collected in the town square and introduced to one another a gang of loud, rude, vicious goblins came to harass and burn the poor townsfolk. Ironically enough the horde was slowed down immensely by the scatterings of caltrops piercing their stubby little feet. With their impeded progress it was simple work for me to go up to them one by one and bash their heads in with my mace. I however was not alone in my conflict as naturally the fighter took great pains to hack and slash as many as he could physically reach while the sorcerer went head to head against the goblin boss, a wolf riding beast with a serious case of littleman syndrome, (the rogue went to town on one of them with his rapier simply because he couldn't escape it.)

Stunningly enough the most memorable moment from the fight came from the sorcerer who was proficient with a falchion with a whopping strength of 16. He used every point of it to slice up the wolf and then literally punch the boss to death after he was disarmed by a lucky shot. To prove his point that he was something not to be messed with he then proceeded to grab another goblin and scorch his crotch away with a shocking grasp before disposing of the its twitching carcass in a tidy trashbin.

But we were far from over. In that same session we were tasked with going down into the Sandpoint dungeon and dispelling any evil we happened across. To make this very long post a little bit shorter the party came across some Sin Spawns (we were all level 1) and then happened across a small unassuming door. Being the geniuses we were we rushed through the door to stumble upon a couple more Sin Spawns with, and this was inspiring, a cross-dressing quasit. Well apparently we were meant to explore the rest of the dungeon rather than taking every left turn possible because hiding behind this distinctly not "boss room" door was the dungeon's boss. Unfortunately we didn't figure this out until the fighter struck the first blow and realized much to his horror that between the thing's DR and fast healing that he couldn't put a scratch in it. After a couple of rounds of getting our collective arses whooped we decided it was every man for himself and made a run for the exit.

Well unfortunately the very thing that was of such a blessing in our scuffle at the town was our very undoing. Care to guess what it was? The caltrops. THE CALTROPS! Those satanic little spikes slowed us down so much that we were forced to push our fighter down and leave him as bait. And we did it just so we had another round to flee before the quasit (who could fly and therefor avoid the blasted hellspikes) could catch back up and end us all. This lead our sorcerer to thinking that we needed another body to keep the beast at bay and took a swipe at our rogue but much to his despair he rolled a natural 1 and tripped over to the ground, becoming the very bait he so desperately didn't want to be. This left just me and the rogue who jumped up ahead of me when I fell into a deep pit of water and almost drowned before crawling back out only to be blasted by the quasit just 5 feet from the exit.

The worst part, the rogue actually got away, but he returned soon after with a rescue crew consisting of an npc healer class and a psuedo wizard. The intent was to rescue us from the terror that was the elegantly dressed demon thing... The result was all three of them being mercilessly ripped apart to the song "Do You Believe In Magic" which the sorcerer started to play from his laptop in the background.

Alright I for one find these stories immensely ammusing so I'll contribute one too, (please forgive my lack of avatar I'm new :P)

Anyway, it was my first session of my very first campaign, I believe it was the one that started out in Sandpoint. We had a party of five: A half-orc undead sorcerer of the undead bloodline, a high charisma rogue who was very good at slipping out of fights. As well as a straight up fighter with a habit of throwing caltrops behind him whenever it was most inconvienient and myself, a heavy armor donning battle cleric.

To start things off we had the most wonky party cooperation I have yet to match in the last two years and we had somehow lucked out enough to not get gutted by the townsfolk for our sheer annoyingness. Between the rogue's constant hitting on the town girl's, the sorcerer talking to gravestones and the fighter ruining every road he traversed with his and I quote, "tiny spikes of personal protection." I was far from perfect myself but my worst flaw was my zealous attempts at making sure the local church was bloody damn well clean.

Not too long after we were collected in the town square and introduced to one another a gang of loud, rude, viscious goblins came to harrass and burn the poor townsfolk. Ironically enough the horde was slowed down immensely by the scatterings of caltrops piercing their stubby little feet. With their impeded progress it was simple work for me to go up to them one by one and bash their heads in with my mace. I however was not alone in my conflict as naturally the fighter took great pains to hack and slash as many as he could physically reach while the sorcerer went head to head against the goblin boss, a wolf riding beast with a serious case of littleman syndrome, (the rogue went to town on one of them with his rapier simply because he couldn't escape it.)

Stunningly enough the most memorable moment from the fight came from the sorcerer who was proficient with a falchion with a whopping strength of 16. He used every point of it to slice up the wolf and then literally punch the boss to death after he was disarmed by a lucky shot. To prove his point that he was something not to be messed with he then proceeded to grab another goblin and scorch his crotch away with a shaocking grasp before disposing of the its twitching carcass in a tidy trashbin.

But we were far from over. In that same session we were tasked with going down into the Sandpoint dungeon and dispelling any evil we happened across. To make this very long post a little bit shorter the party came across some Sin Spawns (we were all level 1) and then hapened across a small unassuming door. Being the geniuses we were we rushed through the door to stumble upon a couple more Sin Spawns with, and this was inspiring, a cross-dressing quasit. Well apparently we were meant to explore the rest of the dungeon rather than taking every left turn possible because hiding behind this distinctly not "boss room" door was the dungeon's boss. Unfortunately we didn't figure this out until the fighter struck the first blow and realized much to his horror that between the thing's DR and fast healing that he couldn't put a scratch in it. After a couple of rounds of getting our collective arses whooped we decided it was every man for himself and made a run for the exit.

Well unfortunately the very thing that was of such a blessing in our scuffle at the town was our very undoing. Care to guess what it was? The caltrops. THE CALTROPS. Those satanic little spikes slowed us down so much that we were forced to push our fighter down and leave him as bait. And we did it just so we had another round to flee before the quasit (who could fly and therefor avoid the blasted hellspikes)could catch back up and end us all. This lead our sorcerer to thinking that we needed another body to keep the beast at bay and took a swipe at our rogue but much to his dispair he rolled a natural 1 and tripped over to the ground, becoming the very bait he so desperately didn't want to be. This left just me and the rogue who jumped up ahead of me when I fell into a deep pit of water and almost drowned before crawling back out only to be blasted by the quasit just 5 feet from the exit.

The worst part, the rogue actually got away, but he returned soon after with a rescue screw consisting of an npc healer class and a psuedo wizard. All three of them were mercilessly ripped apart to the backdrop of "Do You Believe In Magic" which the sorcerer started to play from his laptop.