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My regular gaming group has been working their way through Legacy of Fire. We put it on a back burner a couple times for various reasons, but I'm thinking about dusting it off and wrapping it up. When we last left off, the PCs were near the end of "The Impossible Eye". Things took a twist and I feel like I need a way to get things back on track.

The PCs decided to team up with Eber against Aberzjerax. I didn't expect that to go so well for them. Because they've been arming up to fight against fire-users, they handled the fight relatively easily. So this leaves two things in my mind as issues...

#1 - Killing Aberzjerax, and allying with Eber doesn't give them an out from Bayt al-Bazan. They're still trapped there. It doesn't make sense for the Grand Vizer to just let them go anyway.

#2 - If they can kill Aberzjerax so easily now, isn't Jhavhul going to be too easy at the end? I feel like there won't be a challenge in the fight that's supposed to be the climax of the Path.

When I view the page that has that item listed in the catalog, it say's at the bottom of the page "PDF: Will be added to your downloads immediately upon purchase." I thought that meant if I bought it, I'd get access to the PDF. Now that I look at the way that is phrased, I can see how you could mean that. I wish I would have known that when I ordered it though because if I would have known that, I would have bought it from my "Friendly Neighborhood Gaming Shop", saved 20% (plus shipping) and just bought the PDF separately.
There might be a way to state that more clearly.

I ordered a copy of the Inner Sea Guide on the 18th and received it, but I still don't have access to the PDF version.

Help please.

Thanks,
Rich

I like the design of the Valeros shirt, but I'm not much of a "Fighter" fan. If there were a "Kyra" tee, I'd be all about that. I'm a big fan of Clerics... Hopefully the next batch may go this way?...

Things went well. I didn't have to beat any players over the head with any blunt instruments. My wife spoke up at the beginning of the game before I got a chance to say anything. I didn't prep her or anything, she just mentioned that they need to have open minds when trying things. It helps that she plays with 2 different groups, and I think that introduces her to more ideas. In any case...

They got the mentor back (Ketil). He was beat up pretty bad, but still alive. They were also made to feel pretty guilty for their treatment of Kaye (from the Pixie's Kitten). It didn't take much and they seem to have had a change of heart. I think they had a chance to think about what they had done, and decided to go back to being heroes. It made them far more popular in town.
They're even back at Thistletop, about to begin "negotiating" with Ripnugget. They decided to try to talk for a change. Go figure that the module basically says that Ripnugget will allow the PCs to think he's willing to talk, but isn't really interested. I hate to make their best attempt (so far) at diplomacy, turn into yet another combat. I'll let them get more talking in before instigating a fight. It should be noted that Gogmurt (the goblin druid) led them into Ripnugget's throne room, after taking a sound trouncing from the PCs.

Oh, I should also note that the PCs are currently worried that the Sczarni might show up and give them trouble, and they're also worried about the Sheriff's reaction to the whole ordeal with the Pixie's Kitten. He just returned back to town as they were heading out to Thistletop. They said a quick hello, and headed out without giving any details. When they get back to town, I'll certainly have more fun in store for them. For now, they've got some Gobbies to slay, and some NPCs (Nualia and Crew) to deal with. They should finally have some treasure after Thistletop too. (They haven't been looting anything so far, so the only pay they've gotten was from Aldern Foxglove. They're pretty broke, and only have a little better than starting equipment.)

Just want to chime in that a wish list would be great. I typically get a half dozen things off my Amazon wish list each year for Christmas. My family knows its a great resource for knowing what to get me. It does also help me track what I want to get in the future.

Looking forward to this!

Thanks.

Wow. More good advice. I like some of the ideas I'm getting here.

I am going to chat with the players and make some points more obvious. One point I really want to get across is that if they "mobilize the townsfolk" to combat the goblins, they'll have a horde of low-level commoners on their hands, who aren't proficient in any "real" weapons (DMG says they're proficient in ONE weapon, I say it's knives or their primary tool for those who work with tools), have no armour, low hit points, and average stats to back them up. This seems to be one of the bigger sticking points. They really think the town would have an excellent chance of defending itself from the goblins. I've tried to point out that the town would take HEAVY losses and then they wouldn't have jobs (no more need for heroes).
Another point I need to make is that I need more fleshed out backgrounds for the characters, and they really need to work in some connection between their characters and Sandpoint. From what I've read, the entire adventure path keeps coming back to Sandpoint at some point in time. Without some connection to Sandpoint, the story just doesn't wash.

Then, to avoid having to do a "reset" or TPK to bring in new characters, I'm going to use some of the ideas above. Kettil (the mentor) will be set free, with a bit of information (blindfolded and all, but what he's overheard, and a message from the Sczarni). I like the idea of having the party manipulated by the Sczarni. There's some other ideas that have been offered that I like as well. Revenge against Nualia would be a good motivator (although they dispatched Tsuto already). I guess I have options and I can even offer them to the PCs as such. See which they take, which they refuse, mess with them some.

One last note, I guess I've overstated how nasty the PCs have been. I don't believe they're deliberately trying to undermine the adventures. I really don't think this is a case of players against the GM. I have been playing a bit of the hard-line, but that's mostly because I don't want to give them the feeling of being able to take on whatever they try (they should not be attacking great wyrms, thinking I'll let them win).

All in all, thanks for the great advice and ideas!

I will keep everyone informed how things go.

I do appreciate the great advice.

This is all very good advice. Taking things out of game may be the solution. I don't think we can do a "re-do", but I think I can get things back under control if I do that.

I'm not used to running pre-written stuff, so this is a first for me. I've been GMing for more than a decade now, but it's always been my own stuff. I picked up the Pathfinder adventures to fill in my Dragon subscription, and was impressed with the writing. They worked out better than planned because my group has been busy lately with no one really having the time to put together a campaign, so we decided we'd try something published. This is kind of new to all of us. I think a conversation may clear things up. There's hope for us yet.

Thanks. I'll keep you guys posted.

btw Watcher - The advice to make certain characters fit the setting was good advice, even if a bit late. When new characters come in, I will make certain that they have good ties to Sandpoint and that the players help write in story to make their characters a better fit.

Ok, I started running Burnt Offerings. My party has been giving me grief, but after this last sessions, I'm more perplexed than usual.

The first part of the problem lies in the fact that most of the players have avoided making characters with ties to Sandpoint. They've begun threatening to leave the town to never return. At this point, my reaction would be to tell them that those characters go on to have adventures elsewhere and they need to roll up new characters with ties to Sandpoint and I'll work them back into the game with the player that does have a character with ties to town.

The next problem came as the PCs began crossing the rope bridge to Thistletop. Despite my descriptions of a rickety old rope bridge, they went across in 2 groups of 3 (with a small person in the 1st group). The second group took the plunge to the sea below. 2 character died, having been injured just shortly before, by the goblin dogs nearby.

So, the next session, I worked out a story to work in the next two characters. One of the new characters being a rogue, she had run into some problems with the Sczarni (sp?). One of the other PC's mentors asked the party to find her and off they went. Eventually the mentor got involved in the rescue, but to add another hook to keep the PCs tied to things, he was abducted by the Sczarni.
Now last night, they decided to see what happened to the mentor. They decided they would take on the entire Sczarni guild by themselves (they're 3rd level now). They seem to have the idea that they should be able to take out an entire thieves' guild. They went to the Pixie's Kitten (a place they had come to associate (incorrectly) with the Sczarni) and started a big fight. One of the PCs ended up dead from the fight with the 3 Barbarian bouncers at the Kitten, but all three Barbarians ended up dead. They ran the Madame out of town basically (who is in a relationship with Sheriff Belor). The Sheriff is of course in Magnimar at the moment, but they went back to the mayor and demanded that she give them the right to arrest everyone in the Pixie's Kitten, arrest Kaye herself, and basically go on a witch hunt in town. It should be noted, the only one of the original PCs left that was declared a local hero, is a Dwarven Druid with a 6 Charisma.
At this point in time, my gut instinct is: the mayor takes away the parties "unofficial deputy" privileges they had been given by the sheriff. She then reprimands them for their actions at the Kitten. I don't want the Sczarni to give up the mentor, as that's a strong tie that holds one of the PCs to Sandpoint (making it 2 PCs tied to town, instead of just 1). I also want the PCs to have a healthy respect for the Sczarni. If they can just march in and wipe out the guild, they'll have the false sense that I'll let them accomplish anything they decide to attempt.

The party refuses to hunt any more goblins until the mentor is returned to them. They act like it's the town's fault that he was kidnapped. It should be mentioned that they continually make comments that they think they should just be able to distribute swords to the townsfolk, who could then defend themselves against any goblin horde that could be unleashed against them. It should also be mentioned that the character who had been mentored by the mentor in question is now dead. However, one of the new characters (brought in after the rope bridge incident) is the mentor's sister.

There's probably other complications that I haven't mentioned that muddy up the situation for me. Don't feel bad if I have to nix ideas because of this. I really am looking for some advice.

In case it helps, here's what I have for characters currently:
Wanda - CG/NG Human Rogue Female (15 year old street urchin who only knows Sandpoint; has an affinity for Aud, as Aud helped save her life and seems to be the only person who really cares about her; strongest tie to Sandpoint currently)
Aud - NG Dwarven Cleric Female (Priestess of Pharasma; midwife and undertaker; younger sister of Kettil ("The Mentor" and gladiator of the local arena))
Thraknar - N/LN Dwarven Druid Male (elemental druid (small elemental instead of animal companion, as per Complete Mage); grumpy, feels like humans have no sense of community, ready to "leave Sandpoint to the goblins"; last remaining "hero" of the goblin invasion that started off the Burnt Offerings adventure)
Llwellyn - CG/CN Elven Warmage Male (Has continually made a point of not having any loyalty to anything; looking to PrC into Wild Mage)
Zenovia - NG Human Fighter Female (now deceased, was Kettil's "apprentice"; likely to be replaced by either a Barbarian or Paladin; was one of the surviving heroes from the beginning of the adventure)

We've started switching the characters in my Rise of the Runelords campaign over to PFRPG and there's been 3 complaints so far. The biggest was the switch away from skill points, so we just stayed with skill points...

The second was rolling Sense Motive into Bluff. Both my Paladin and Cleric have issues with this. Both are honest characters, and neither gets to use their high Wis to work with this. It's also not a class skill for either anymore.
Keep them separate.

(3rd complaint is too many hit points giving people the bonus racial hit points as suggested in PFRPG.)

My group is already starting to switch to PathfinderRPG. I'm running the Rise of the Runelords.

We all agreed that we vastly prefer the old skill points system to the newer way of having them maxed as soon as you know the skill. I would rather have skills that I know a bit about, and other skills that I'm an expert at, than being an expert in everything I do.