The stats for Nindinzego (the advanced half-fiend decapus in V-10) make absolutely no sense. It's as if the numbers were just picked out of a hat.
First off, it has 2 more hit dice than a regular decapus. (8d8+ instead of 6d8+)
Secondly, its ability scores make absolutely no sense when one takes into account its two templates (Advanced and Half-Fiend). Together, those two templates add either +6 or +8 to all its ability scores.
Does anyone have any insight into this stat block?
I apologize for the thread necromancy, but this thread seems prone to it.
I'm hoping for a bit of feedback on my Brinewall treasures. Since my campaign has taken forever to actually get started, I’ve had a lot of time to work on them, and I (may) have gone a bit overboard. I apologize in advance for the length of my post.
The party will find four journals, each accompanied by another item linked to the writer of the journal. Each journal was written by someone associated with the Amatatsu family centuries or even millennia ago. They provide a number of benefits to an appropriate character who studies them at the right time:
1. At 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th levels, they provide a permanent bonus of some sort. The four bonuses are knowledge of a language, two feats, and a special ability. For the feats, I’ve tried to make sure one of them is a “feat tax” type feat and the other is a feat that the character wouldn’t normally have access to. I’ve tried to keep the special abilities useful but relatively minor.
2. They provide instructions for upgrading their associated items three times (at 8th, 10th, and 12th levels), without the need for crafting feats. The cost to upgrade the items is normal (half the difference in price), but each also specifies certain talismanic components that, if included, halve the cost of the upgrade. By GM fiat, these components must be collected personally by the crafter to be effective.
The non-journal items are intended to represent the treasurers the AP calls for, and I’m removing the +1 returning starknife to allow for a higher value. Additionally, each of the non-journal items provides a social benefit and a social drawback at a certain point in the AP. I have not attempted to value the journals, and am just accepting that they’re worth more than the party should actually be getting. I have a feeling that may result in me needing to increase the challenge of the encounters they face, but I can deal with that. I’m more concerned that the value and power of the items each character receives is loosely comparable.
The Journal of Amatatsu Sanoha (for a human paladin of Sarenrae):
This well-used, thick, leather-bound book’s cover is marked only with Shizuru’s holy symbol. It is hand-written in Minkaian and includes various rough sketches. It is the personal journal of a samurai who lived over a thousand years ago. Any paladin, even without knowledge of the Minkaian language, will find himself able to understand its text.
The earliest entries describe Sanoha’s training in the samurai arts, including many notes and skteches discussing weapon techniques. Upon completion of his training, Sanoha faithfully served his uncle, a powerful daimyo and head of the Amatatsu family, in the twilight of the Teikoku Shogunate. He traveled widely in his uncle’s service and witnessed first-hand the Shogun’s atrocities. After witnessing a particularly heinous act, Sanoha prayed to Shizuru for the Shogun to be stopped. She responded rather more directly than anticipated and offered to aid him should he choose to take up that cause himself. He accepted her charge, after being allowed to leave his uncle’s service, and began to serve her as a paladin. Among his quests as a paladin, Sanoha accompanied a scholar to an oni stronghold in the Forest of Spirits in search of lost knowledge. After fighting their way inside, he managed to hold the entrance to the library for hours, while the scholar did her research. Shortly after this quest, Sanoha joined up with Setsuna Kuga’s revolution seeking to overthrow the Shogun. In Uddo, he met and swiftly fell in love with a geisha by the name of Ayaki, whom he married just before the climactic battle. The journal abruptly ends before the battle.
Abilities granted:
4th level: Exotic Weapon Proficiency in the katana and wakizashi
6th level: Minkaian language
8th level: when using the smite evil ability, double the damage bonus on the first attack against outsiders with the oni subtype instead of against evil-aligned dragons
This +1 champion tatami-do has distinctive enameling of small holy symbols of various good deities (mostly Tien ones: Shizuru, Tsukiyo, Qi Zhong, Shelyn, Desna, and Kofusachi but also here and there Avistani ones like Erastil, Torag, Sarenrae, Cayden Cailean) scattered over the armor. (See description of righteous armor ability.) When found, this tatami-do has large holy symbol of Shizuru in center of chest-piece, but when put on by good character, changes to holy symbol of that character’s deity.
Amatatsu Onoko (in the Imperial Shrine) recognizes this armor and grants the party a +2 bonus to its diplomacy check. Teikoku Sokai also recognizes this armor and becomes enraged when he sees it, focusing his attacks on its wearer, gaining a +1 to attacks, but taking a -1 to AC.
Upgrades to the tatami-do of Shizuru’s blessing:
1. Enhancement bonus +2 – requires 8 ranks in craft (armor), cost halved with a piece of a creature of living stone or metal
2. Enhancement bonus +3 & continuous longstrider – requires 10 ranks in craft (armor), cost halved with a scale from a creature with heavy natural armor and the sandal of a hostile monk
3. Righteous and advancing abilities – requires 12 ranks in craft (armor), cost halved with a feather or scale from a celestial’s wing, the blood of a giant, a piece of a construct, and the blessing of a grateful kami
Value: 5,150 gp (as found), 10,150 gp (upgraded to +2), 20,150 gp (upgraded to +3 longstriding), 56,150 gp (upgraded to +3 advancing longstriding righteous)
Questions:
I’m not entirely sold on the name of the armor. Anyone have a better suggestion?
The Journal of Onana Roiat (for a halfling druid):
This small book is bound in wood with a carved wolf’s paw on the cover. Hand-written in Druidic, it also includes small, skillful sketches. It is the journal of a halfling druid who lived over 3000 years ago.
The journal begins with Onana returning to Kalsgard for supplies after having explored among the Varki. In the Stormspear Mountains, she encounters a caravan of strange looking humans who speak no language she’s familiar with. Starving and lost, she feeds them and manages to guide them to the pass south into the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Amid much bowing, which she takes for thanks, she leads them to Kalsgard. Along the way, they begin puzzling out each other’s language. Once they're communicating better, the leader of the caravan introduces himself as Amatatsu Aganhei, a trader from the distant land of Minkai, looking to establish a new trade route with these exotic lands they find themselves in. Onana and Aganhei quickly became friends, and Onana largely stayed with the caravan, even when it finally arrived in Kalsgard. There, the caravan spent the winter trading, repairing, restocking, and resting. In the spring, Aganhei invited Onana to join the caravan for its trip back to Minkai. Full of wanderlust, she agreed. She quickly proved her worth, often summoning animals to help defend the caravan. After a long trek across the tundra, they arrive at an Erutaki village on the edge of the High Ice by the name of Unaimo. Under siege by a pair of Ijiraat (evil shapeshifters that can take the forms of ravens, wolves, bears, and humans), they're starving because the monsters are preying on the village's hunters, but the hunters’ spears hardly hurt them. Onana shifts into a massive tiger and tracks down the beasts, and with the help of the caravan guards and village hunters takes them down. In thanks, the villagers give her a beautiful, magical fur vest. After making the long trek across the Crown of the World and through the Wall of Heaven, they finally make it to Tian Xia. In thanks for all her help, Aganhei commissions a gorgeous dragonhide tatami-do for Onana.
Abilities granted:
4th level: Tien language
6th level: Spell Focus (conjuration)
8th level: uncanny dodge
10th level: Heavy Armor Proficiency
Associated item: vest of the ijiraat
This vest is made from sealskin/seal fur in a distinctive but traditional Erutaki style. It has three buttons on the front, each representing a different animal: a raven, a bear, and a wolf. The vest of the ijiraat grants a constant endure elements effect to the wearer. Additionally, when this item is worn by a character with the wild shape ability, the character can use that ability one additional time each day.
The residents of Iqaliat recognize this vest as an ancient gift from their people, granting the party a +2 bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate checks in Iqaliat. Vegundsavaag also recognizes it as a symbol of the hated Erutaki and becomes enraged when she sees it, focusing her attacks on its wearer, gaining a +1 to attacks, but taking a -1 to AC.
Upgrades to the vest of the ijiraat:
1. Allow wearer to speak while wild shaped – requires 8 ranks in profession (herbalist), cost halved with a hair/feather/scale/etc. of an awakened animal
2. Add a polymorphic pouch – requires 10 ranks in profession (herbalist), cost halved with a hair/feather/scale/etc. of a shapechanger
3. +3 enhancement bonus to attack and damage with natural weapons – requires 12 ranks in profession (herbalist), cost halved with a claw or talon from each of three different hostile creatures larger than a large man, and the blessing of a grateful kami
Value: 5,250 gp (as found), 7,250 gp (upgraded to allow speaking while wild shaped), 14,750 gp (upgraded to add polymorphic pouch), 50,750 gp (upgraded to add bonus with natural weapons)
Questions:
1. I’m not sure if it’s important that, for favor reasons, I changed this from the body slot to the chest slot. Does anyone think this makes a big difference?
2. The druid in the party was the only one who didn’t pick a craft skill as a background skill. I’m thinking of treating profession (herbalist) sort of like craft (alchemy) and flavoring the upgrades as him creating special inks/dyes and applying them to the vest. Does anyone have a better idea?
3. I’m really hesitant to have the 10th level ability granted by the journal be Heavy Armor Proficiency, but I haven’t been able to come up with a fitting feat that isn’t otherwise accessible to the character. Any suggestions? He's designed around wild-shaped melee.
The Journal of Jininsiel Talathlon (for an elf ranger):
This book is bound in darkleaf cloth with a bow embroidered on the cover. It is hand-written in neat, but cramped, Elven and contains precise but spare diagrams. It is the journal of an elven ranger who lived a thousand years ago.
The beginning of this journal describes Talathlon’s youth and training. A young, distant cousin of the leader of Jinin, he chose to become one of the defenders of the land and dedicated himself to the study of archery. During one of Talathlon’s first shifts on patrol, a stranger by the name of Amatatsu Shokuro arrives, along with a small entourage. Among that entourage was a beautiful young samurai named Amatatsu Kasuri, with whom Talathlon instantly became smitten. Over the weeks and months the strangers remained in Ayajinbo, the elves of Jinin became equally smitten with the code of honor described and lived by the visiting samurai. Eventually, they became so impressed with the samurai’s way of life that they decided to adapt the code to their own use and remake Jinin into a shogunate. In the meantime, Talathlon spent as much time with Kasuri as he could. He discovered that their infatuation was mutual, and by the time the shogunate was established, they had fallen deeply in love. Shortly thereafter, Shokuro and his party were preparing to depart and return to Minkai. Talathlon, not wanting to be separated from Kasuri, begged leave to join them and represent Jinin as an ambassador to the Minkaian emperor’s court. His cousin granted leave, and Talathlon departed with Shokuro and his companions. During the long trip to Minkai, Talathlon and Kasuri were inseparable, he with the excuse of sharing archery tricks, and she with teaching him the language. After their arrival in Minkai, Talathlon quickly settled in. He and Kasuri quickly married. Several years later, he sent to his cousin for materials to enchant a bow he had crafted for her. Unfortunately, before he could complete the process, Kasuri was killed in a skirmish with oni. Heartbroken, Talathlon requested that he be replaced as ambassador. After his replacement arrives, he makes plans to return to Jinin, but the journal ends before he actually leaves.
Abilities granted:
4th level: Point-Blank Shot (or Deadly Aim if he already has PBS)
6th level: Honor in All Things as a samurai of the ranger’s level, if he abides by the Order of the Warrior’s edicts
Associated item: Kasuri’s vengeance
This Minkaian-style (asymmetric) +1 adaptive darkwood composite longbow is carved in a clearly elven style, but the motifs are not those common among Avistani elves. Stained nearly black, it is inlaid with mithral in the shape of a many-limbed leafless tree that almost seems to glow.
Noburo (in the Forest of Spirits) recognizes bow as being from Jinin (i.e. good guardians of nature) and grants the party a +2 bonus to its diplomacy check. Buto Futotsu, the Swine Shogun, also recognizes it as a symbol of hated Jinin and becomes enraged when he sees it, focusing his attacks on the wielder, gaining a +1 to attacks, but taking a -1 to AC.
Upgrades to Kasuri’s vengeance:
1. Enhancement bonus +2 – requires 8 ranks in craft (bows), cost halved with a dragon’s fang
2. Seeking and impervious abilities – requires 10 ranks in craft (bows), cost halved with a hair/feather/scale/etc. from a hostile creature with the scent ability and a hair/feather/scale/etc. from a hostile creature that can regenerate
3. Enhancement bonus +3 and oni bane ability – requires 12 ranks in craft (bows), cost halved with a tusk, fang, or horn from each of two different hostile creatures larger than a large man, the blood of an oni, and the blessing of a grateful kami
Value: 3,430 gp (as found), 9,430 gp (upgraded to +2), 22,430 gp (upgraded to +2 impervious seeking), 54,430 gp (upgraded to +3 impervious oni bane seeking)
Questions:
1. I’m not entirely sold on the name of the bow. Does anyone have a better suggestion?
2. I’m not thrilled with the social benefit & drawback I came up with. Can anyone suggest anything better?
3. I’m not really happy with the talismanic components for the first and third upgrades. Does anyone have a better suggestion? The first component needs to be something that can be found after leaving Brinewall and before getting to the Storm Tower. The third needs to be something that can be found by the end of Munasukaru’s Penance.
The Journal of Ayaki (for an elf bard):
This book is bound in pink silk with a samisen painted on the cover. It is hand-written in careful, elegant Senzar. It is the journal of a kitsune geisha who lived over a thousand years ago. Any bard of good alignment, even without knowledge of the Senzar language will find herself able to understand its text.
The earliest part of this journal recounts Ayaki’s early childhood as an orphan on the streets of Uddo. Raised by local thieves, they quickly noticed how things just seemed to go better when she was around, and she quickly became their good luck charm. She adamantly maintained, though, that she was going marry a handsome samurai and be the wisest, most beautiful woman in the imperial court. “It’s my destiny!” she would insist. After her mentor let his vulpine form be seen and was killed, Ayaki ended up in an orphanage, where she hid in her human form. There, she found herself fascinated by the geisha at the neighboring teahouse, and they eventually accepted her as a maiko (apprentice geisha). She was a gifted dancer and singer, but as she grew into a beautiful woman, she became known for her silver tongue, easily picking up the languages of the many foreigners visiting the capital. One day, a favorite client, Higashiyama Kousei, heir to the Higashiyama daimyo, was imprisoned for daring to suggest marriage to a member of a disfavored family, while his intended was exiled from Uddo. The sheer cruelty of the Shogun’s actions convinced Ayaki to secretly join with Kousei and the war against the Shogun. By day she used her access as a popular and influential geisha both to obtain information and to plant seeds of dissent in the Shogun’s court. By night, she began using her long-neglected street skills to sabotage the Shogun’s forces wherever she could, and passed along the information she obtained. She soon met another ally, Amatatsu Sanoha, and they swiftly fell in love. On the eve of the climactic Battle of Eight Bridges, Ayaki and Sanoha married, not wanting to tempt fate by waiting until their victory. Their decision was prescient, as the fallout of the battle was far more terrible than they could have imagined. While the revolution had succeeded in eliminating the Shogun, and Kousei was crowned emperor, Ayaki’s losses, on a personal level, were staggering. Sanoha, though he struck the blow that killed the Shogun, took a mortal blow himself. Ayaki went from bride to widow in less than a week. Uddo, the city she’d grown up in and never left, had been razed. Emperor Kousei, not one to forget a friend and ally, offered Ayaki a place in his new court at Kasai as an honored advisor. She accepted his offer, fulfilling the destiny she’d claimed as a child, but her position didn’t last long, as she succumbed to a plague the following year.
Abilities granted:
4th level: touch of destiny twice per day as a sorcerer (of the bard’s level) with the destined bloodline
Associated item: kanzashi of inspired greatness
This pair of golden hairsticks is topped with large rose quartz carved into elaborate peony flowers. Whenever its wearer begins an inspire courage bardic performance, it automatically casts a modified moment of greatness: instead of doubling any morale bonus, it doubles any bonus from inspire courage. Its wearer can also cast saving finale on command and allegro once per day.
Higashiyama Shigure recognizes this kanzashi as belonging to a key supporter of his ancestor, the first emperor of Mikai, in the fight to overthrow Teikoku Sokai, and grants the party a +2 bonus on diplomacy checks while questioning him. Sikutsu Sennaka recognizes it as a symbol of the “traitorous” geisha and becomes enraged when he sees it, focusing his attacks on its wearer, gaining a +1 to attacks, but taking a -1 to AC.
Upgrades to the kanzashi of inspired greatness:
1. +3 competence bonus to charisma-based checks – requires 8 ranks in craft (jewelry), cost halved with a hair/feather/scale/etc. of a creature that fascinates, enchants, or charms enemies
2. Add a ring of spell knowledge III – requires 10 ranks in craft (jewelry), cost halved with a page from a wizard’s spellbook or a hair/feather/scale/etc. from a witch’s familiar
3. Add a 3rd level runestone of power – requires 12 ranks in craft (jewelry), cost halved with a hair/feather/scale/etc. from each of three different hostile arcane spellcasters, and the blessing of a grateful kami
Value: 4,676 gp (as found), 11,426 gp (upgraded with bonus to charisma-based checks), 31,676 gp (upgraded to add ring of spell knowledge), 58,676 gp (upgraded to add runestone of power)
Questions:
Are my value calculations reasonable here?
Moment of greatness: use activated – 1 x 1 x 2,000 gp less 30% for bard use only = 1,400 gp
Saving finale: command word – 1 x 1 x 1,800 gp less 30% for bard use only = 1,260 gp
Allegro: command word – 2 x 4 x 1,800 gp less 30% for bard use only, divided by 5 for single-charge = 2,016 gp
Total: 1,400 gp + 1,260 gp + 2,016 gp = 4,676 gp
Thanks for reading this far and for any feedback. Thanks also to the previous posters who inspired some of these ideas.
Bodhizen, thanks for your excellent guide! I'm helping a newbie player put together his paladin, and this has been an invaluable resource. I especially like the role-playing advice and your warning against power-turtling. (I'll be the GM, so there's no need to worry about table variation here, as that's exactly how I plan to run the monsters.)
That said, there are a few things I've noted that you may want to address:
You describe the weapon of awe spell as "A modest damage bonus to your weapon, plus a shaken effect on a critical hit, which would be really good, except that a simple Will save can negate the shaken effect. Go for Inheritor’s Smite instead." The text of the spell, though, explicitly says that there isn't a save.
You describe the shield companion spell in a way that seems (at least to me) to imply that it can work on any ally: "Modest protective effects, but if your goal is to completely protect someone from hit point damage, this is the spell to take. This spell is excellent for a combat medic." The spell is explicitly limited, however, to functioning on your own mount/animal companion/familiar/eidolon. This may be a case of me misreading your language, though, rather than an actual oversight on your part.
Finally, have you considered adding material from Champions of Purity to the guide? Some of the spells look promising. Accept affliction certainly fits with the stand-in-the-way-of-harm strategy. The angelic aspect spells and archon's trumpet also look interesting, although the save on archon's trumpet is less than ideal.
It wouldn't hurt at all to try and convince your last player to play an archer bard though. While not strictly martial, after a round of buffing (at first just inspire courage most of the time, later inspire courage and a spell) they would still be able to deliver quite a bit of regular damage (archery is a powerful style) and have some extra utility spells for weird situations. With a ranger, a paladin, possibly a druid animal companion and possibly a druid in combat and/or summoned creatures inspire courage would be quite the force multiplier.
SmiloDan wrote:
Oh yeah, definitely try to guide your sister towards bard for the force multiplication.
I'd love to be able to convince my sister to play a bard or something like that, but I doubt it'd fly. In the MMO we play, she always plays tanks, and in the Beginner Box campaign, she played Merisiel and was always getting herself knocked out by running into melee too quickly. Once she decided that wasn't the best strategy, it killed her to hang back and use ranged weapons.
Mysterious Stranger wrote:
Are you using only the core rule book? The reason I am asking is that all three of your characters so far are prepared divine casters so have access to their entire spell list. While this may be a little much to throw at a beginner, especially a pre-teen, maybe you can cherry pick some spells that will be useful from the other books. The druid spell list is actually one of the most versatile in the game. It has a little bit of everything and as previously mentioned do very well at battle field control and summoning. They also have a decent amount of blast spells even if they are mostly fire spells.
If you expanded the books available your sister would have more options to play a pseudo martial character. A Magus or Skald would actually work well for her.
I've limited them to the CRB only for race and class (though we're using Unchained Barbarians and Rogues if anyone decides to play one) so as not to overwhelm anyone right at the beginning during character creation. (That anyone includes me, btw, since the only classes I know reasonably well are those in the CRB.) I've told them that they can use feats, spells, and equipment from APG, ISWG, UE, and a few player's companions we have access to, and gave them lists of what from those sources is not allowed. I'm also allowing a few class-specific rules from the APG and UM (e.g. cleric subdomains, ranger combat styles, and sorcerer bloodlines). Other sources I'll allow on a case-by-case basis. All that said, I figure they'll stick with the CRB to start out and branch out as they get more comfortable.
I'll have to take a look at the Magus and Skald and decide if I want to broaden their options.
SmiloDan wrote:
Druids can be very complex. I strongly recommend you pre-stat out all summoned nature allies (including any buffs from spells and feats like Augment Summoning), wild shape forms, and variant buffed versions of the animal companion.
Absolutely. It's especially key since we're using Roll20. (I'm in Chicago. They're in Florida.) That particular nephew has a talent for making character choices that complicate my life. Fortunately, I shouldn't have to worry too much about buffs, as Roll20 makes that comparatively simple.
SmiloDan wrote:
Status removal is probably going to be the job of the paladin, so select its Mercies wisely.
I'll be sure to keep that in mind.
DalmarWolf wrote:
This group looks almost exactly like one I'm running for;
Dwarf Druid
Human Paladin
Elf Ranger
Human Witch
They do very well (they also have a npc URouge / Shadow Dancer) they have run into some problems (missing conditional removal and ways to deal with a Will'o'Wisp) but they found ways to overcome and that can be more fun than having the right tool for everything.
Good to know, although I'm not very familiar with the Witch spell list. I'll have to check it out.
Druids can do battlefield control and summoning pretty well, though not quite as well as an arcane caster. However, several of the best buffs and debuffs are not available to them. (Druids are relatively limited at buffing relative to other 9 level casters, either arcane or divine.)
They also don't have as many utility spells as arcane casters do.
Dave Justus wrote:
jbusnengo wrote:
My main purpose in posting was to make sure I could give accurate information about what not having an arcane caster means in practice.
Basically nothing. Arcane caster by itself doesn't really tell you anything at all. The question is, what spells are on what spell list. Wizard/Sorcer and Cleric are the biggest lists in the game, so if you have both of those you pretty much have everything. See Invisible, for example, is both an arcane and divine spell, but the only divine list it is on is the inquisitor.
Even if you don't have an a specific spell, there are often other ways around the problem. For example, a druid who has scent (either from a spell or wild shape) can detect (and even pinpoint at close range) an invisible creature, and faerie fire can then let everyone see it. There are many other ways to achieve similar results, and of course many magic items that duplicate spell effects. Usually the biggest problem of magic access isn't from the Wizard list (which while it has some great spells, doesn't have all that many effects that can't be lived without, haste and teleport are awesome, for example, but not make or break usually) rather it is the Cleric list, and particularly condition removal, that you want to make sure you are covered on. Druids have a few of those spells, and Paladin's have many on their list, so even if the Paladin can't cast the spell, a few scrolls can ease that problem.
So it sounds like what I need to tell them is that (1) they'll have less of a selection of buff/debuff spells, but that there are ways to duplicate some of them if they get creative, and (2) they won't be able to cast a lot of the utility spells, but they're more a convenience than a necessity, anyways.
I'm not too worried about the cleric spells, as this AP has an NPC cleric who travels with the party and could cast such spells when they get back to the caravan if the paladin or druid hasn't already taken care of it.
In Pathfinder, many classes seem focused toward one specific role, while some can equally handle any. Even the most focused class can, if desired usually be built toward a different role.
Basically, all that means that having any specific class is not necessary, and just knowing what classes are being played doesn't tell you what roles are covered.
There is no reason that the party you have described can't be built to handle all of those roles, and it is equally possible that a Figher, Wizard, Cleric and Rogue can leave a role uncovered.
That's very true, but we're not dealing with experienced players here who know all of the options and how to make a class fill a role it's not focused on. Honestly, I'm not enough more experienced than them that I could do it very well, either. They're making a lot of use of the Strategy Guide, and I think it's fairly safe to say that they'll be playing characters fairly close to those archetypes (animal friend, archer, and crusader, for those familiar with the book). I'll certainly make suggestions and encourage them to look beyond the Strategy Guide for options, but that seems to be where they're finding their inspiration.
Dave Justus wrote:
If I were you I would certainly point out anything you think the party might be missing, but I would leave it entirely up to them as to if they want to change any builds or find other ways to cover gaps.
This is exactly my plan. My main purpose in posting was to make sure I could give accurate information about what not having an arcane caster means in practice. I'm still not really sure what to tell them. Folks have mentioned buffing, debuffing, battlefield control, and summoning, but all those are things that other classes seem to be able to do fairly easily. Am I missing something? What is it that's unique to arcane casters? All that being said, I will certainly pass along that several presumably more experienced players thought that it sounded like a good group.
While I'll certainly keep the possibility of having one of the NPCs join them to round out the party, that wouldn't be my first choice. In addition to the risk of overshadowing the players, I'm a new enough GM that the last thing I need is one more NPC to manage.
Dave Justus wrote:
I also don't think you should change your adventure to cover for missing elements, doing that invalidates their choices.
To a certain extent, I agree, but the primary goal is for them to have fun. If they're repeatedly banging their heads against a wall, I'm going to make changes. I'm most inclined to either suggest alternate strategies or provide magical items that could be useful and let them puzzle out how to get the best use out of them.
While I've been playing RPGs on and off since the early '90s, my last campaign that got past the lowest levels was also in the early '90s using 2e. Now I'm GM-ing for my sister, brother-in-law, and pre-teen nephews. Their only experience is the Beginner Box campaign I just ran them through.
We're getting ready to start a Jade Regent campaign, and due to their inexperience, I'm somewhat micro-managing the character creation process. I've told each of them to come up with the race, class, alignment, and campaign trait they'd like to play (limited to CRB races & classes). Then we'll discuss their choices as a group, and I'll go over any gaps or conflicts that I see in their party and potential methods of dealing with them. Finally, they'll decide if or how to cover those gaps or avoid those conflicts.
They seem to have decided to throw me a curveball, however, and my youngest nephew (who I was sure would play a sorcerer, wizard, or bard) decided he wanted an animal companion and is planning on playing a druid. That leaves the party as a dwarf druid, an elf ranger, a half-elf paladin, and whatever my sister decides on (which will almost certainly be a martial character of some sort).
There are a lot of other gaps that I know how to describe to them, but I'm not sure exactly what the lack of an arcane caster would mean for the party. What issues is a party lacking an arcane caster likely to run into? I'm thinking they won't be able to do much blasting, and they'll miss out on some utility spells (like See Inivisibility, but what else?). Is that it? I'm also assuming that the way to cover those kinds of gaps is with magic items (and UMD where necessary).
