keren_man's page

Thank youuuu very much for making this!!!! This will really help me to guide new players.

Thanks! Will do~

I am running this as a PBP elsewhere. 2 characters died before they even got into the dungeon. Your character build isn't as important as playing smart, being defensive, retreating when you need to, HAVING a retreat plan. Things in here are not balanced here. Encounters 3+ over your EPL are COMMON. Treasure can kill you when you least expect it.

Luck isn't a factor. You most likely will die. Have fun.

One of my fear in this session is not because of my character died, but not able to enjoy the overall experience from Rappan Athuk.

Nevertheless, I really look forward for this adventure, and yes, hopefully we will have fun :)

Feats:

Human: Combat Reflexes
1: Improved Initiative
3: Power Attack
5: Weapon Focus, Great Fortitude or Stand Still (Pick something)

Thank you so much for the suggestion! I will use this bard build for the session~

Also! ...Bring at least one backup character. The OP said he was only playing a session at a Convention, so he doesn't need to worry about having a bunch of them, but there's a reason it's called the "Dungeon of Graves". XD Having a backup is important.

(If it's run right, you may feel like your GM is actively trying to kill your character. However, Rappan Athuk is basically a fair place. Extremely murderous, yes, but fundamentally fair.)

Yep, I think I will bring the Bard and Rogue just for backup in case anything goes wrong (which probably will sooner or later XD)

By the way, the session is just around the corner, and so far our party is consisted with: Fighter, Monk, Ranger, and Bard (my character), and probably 1-2 more player in the convention day.

Wish me luck in venturing one of the deadliest dungeon ;)

Sweet! I would love to try the Longspear Bard, although I feel it is quite MAD? STR for the damage, CHA for spellcasting, CON as well as INT? How you'll distribute the ability scores?

Either melee or lots of spells. A Magus is pretty good, Paladins, and so on.

Yes, I would love to play Paladin, as it's also a viable option I think. Although because there's already Fighter and Monk in the party, I consider it again.

Whatever you pick make sure you can do several roles when someone goes down so that you always have someone who can deal with healing/traps, ect.

Thanks for the insight! Bard and Cleric is good for me, although since I already played Cleric last week in PFS session, now I'm considering Bard, though not sure how (spell, feat, race, etc.)

I'd talk to the other players if there was any way I could, and get everything balanced out so the party had good diversity. My alternative to a Rogue probably would be a Paladin, though, built as a solid tank with a good chance of making saving throws and generally surviving things. (I've never really had the chance to play one the way I've wanted, so it would be a good chance. I mean, hey, what's the point of playing a character unless you think it's fun?)

Totally agree with you sir, and I do believe that playing Paladin is one of my preferred option :)

I won't lie, nothing I've ever heard about RA makes me want to play it. It sounds like it's trying so friggin' hard to be deadly that it just doesn't sound fun.

Strictly second-hand impressions, mind you.

In my place, Tabletop RPG session is pretty much a luxurious thing, so I would gladly accept anything offered, including the Rappan Athuk :)

Rappan Athuk has more monsters than traps, but usually all the traps you WANT to spot/disable. They are much more deadly than the standard adventure path kind of traps. I'm not a big fan of Rogues, but if you want to disable traps, Slayers get that option as a Slayer Talent, and Investigators have it as a class skill. Both options are much more viable than Rogues, I feel. I think Investigators are exactly the kind of thing you want for Rappan Athuk: great at Knowledges, great at melee (if you build him Strength-based, rather than something else), and self-buffing monsters.

Thanks for the insight! I'll consider it.

I'd say come with a wizard and cleric built. In case the 4th person makes one or the other.

Cleric is one of my other plan for the session, although I feel reluctant because last week I've also played cleric in PFS adventure, but still, what kind of cleric do you think will fit in RA?

I'd suggest bringing two characters. You absolutely want someone in the party who's good at finding traps, and if nobody else brought such a character, you should be ready to do it yourself.

Thanks for the advice! Pretty curious here, if you need to bring 2 character in my condition, what kind of character will you bring?

Rogue is decent for Rappan Athuk. Stealth and the ability to disarm traps matter more here than in a lot of the sorts of theorycrafting that usually leads to Rogue. I wouldn't take in vanilla Rogue though, Unchained or bust. And yeah, slapping trapfinding onto another class is probably preferable, but that requires very specific builds or a trait that is not necessarily going to be allowed. Rappan Athuk was clearly made with Rogues in mind, so it's not the end of the world to play one.

That said, Fighter and Monk have very limited usefulness here, and seeing both makes me sweat. This is my big worry. It'll be fine if there are more than 4 players (as long as the other players don't show up with martials). Still, I'd be considering Archaelogist Bard or Eldritch Scoundrel here, just to bring as much to the group as possible.

Ultimately, Rappan Athuk is more about playing intelligently than minmaxing or putting together the perfect party. A well optimized party will die almost as quickly as a less optimized party if they make bad life choices, and a less optimized party has a chance, if they're really really careful, of making it the whole way. That said... spellcasting really, really helps.

Neat! Thank you very much for your recommendation sir! Somehow I feel more confident to create rogue for the session, although I also think to create one more character, just in case anything goes wrong, and yes, Bard looks like could fit in well!

it does not matter what you create. You will die 17 horrible deaths, and then be brought back to join Orcus' horde.

Interesting, can't wait for my character afterlife experience ;)

I play in Carla's Rappan Athuk game. I'd agree that some form of magic really helps a character out. I'm the only character in the party without any spellcasting and I feel like I'm lagging behind.

Pretty much any kind of Paladin will do. Try to crit-fish, you're going to need it. Smite often.
Rappan Athuk is fan of throwing overwhelming numbers of enemies at you. Crowd-control is really, really useful.

Wow, thanks for the insight. Truth is, right now I'm more concern about the role of discovering and disabling the trap, that's why Rogue is the one that comes up first in my mind.

So, in terms of monster and trap, do this adventure has more combat encounter rather than trap encounter?

“Rappan Athuk? Bah! No one ever gets out of that place alive"

Really, with all of the comment of this adventure, I can't wait for Sunday now XD

Fighter Monk and Rogue are certainly not the first classes I would consider when attempting to take on Rappan Athuk of all places. Much less a party of ONLY those 3 classes.

Rappan Athuk doesn't mess around. You go hard or you go home...in a bodybag. Spellcasters are necessary. Well rounded classes are necessary. Fighter, Monk & Rogue leave a lot of holes in the party, and none of them (save perhaps the monk) have decent personal defenses.

Agree with you, but this is convention after all, we don't have much time to assemble the party well enough, everyone just randomly come. Hopefully before the session we could talk it out, and not leaving early in the convention because of TPK :) (or at least getting TPK-ed near the end of the convention time)

Personally, I fill the rogue position in RA with a bladebound kensai. He uses the Seeker and Trap Finder traits to get perception and disable device as class skills. Dexterity build, so high modifiers to disable device and stealth. All around good saves and AC. Uses his spells for utility and defense instead of trying to nova a handful of opponents per day with Shocking Grasp.

Lovely, quite curious with the detail of your rogue build, care to share?

Also, what kind of equipment (Armor, Scroll, etc.) you use to support the character?

Interesting, so are you saying that the Paladin has a better chance to survive rather than rogue? Or the Rappan Athuk itself is very deadly that my chance to survive is very low XD

Without spoiling the story, care to share what kind of Paladin is suitable for the RA adventure?

Hello guys, this weekend I'm intending to visit a convention where I will play a session of Rappan Athuk there. I have heard that the adventure is very deadly with all of the traps and monsters, therefore I would like some hint/advice so my character could survive until the end of the convention ;)

This is the condition,
a.) Starting Level: 5
b.) Starting wealth: 10,500 gold pieces
c.) Current party: Fighter, Monk (more to come, but not yet decided)
d.) Available Rulebook: Core

I was planning to create some Rogue, and I would really appreciate if I could now the good combination of Race/Feat/Equipment, etc. for the session.

If you got any other recommendation of class, I would love to hear it, too.

Thanks,

Happy gaming~

Wow, I'm pretty surprised most of your group ran this adventure quite well.

I ran this adventure once last week, and I almost TPKed the group. I guess the acid breath damage is pretty bad, and my players Reflex save aren't pretty good. My group were able to escape this situation with a good RP (intimidating Black Fang with the Dragon Bane sword) and we're quite lucky to have a Sarenrae cleric in the group.

Still, this is the first time I play again Pathfinder after several time away with it, and this adventure remind me how Pathfinder could be deadly with a few bad rolls.

I plan to continue the adventure with focus on Goblin clan around the Sandpoint. Maybe they're trying to do something crazy after the Black Fang's gone.