Paladin wouldn't work, for obvious RP reasons. Unless you don't mind playing a fallen paladin after a session or two, of course.
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Hello, if you are not happy with this situation as a player/if this situation put you in a spot you don't want to be in ... talk about it with the others players first. Tell them clearly that roleplaying romance with another player don't interest you and that you expect they understand. Every player has is own sensibility, and shouldn't have to explain in detail why he don't want to roleplay this or that if he's not feeling it on a personnal level. (when i launch a campaign as a GM, i review with my players what the strong themes of the campaign are going to be, and ask them (in private) what kind of content they don't want to see popping up in game. It's quick to do and is a great way to dodge touchy situations in advance).
So ... a child. A child whose going to kill, maim and murder monsters for a living.
I'm not sure if i'm ok with a little girl looking around 10 blasting highwaymen and goblins to pieces with magic. I know Golarion is a rough world. And i've already complained once or twice how i was not a fan of how things were toned down in PF2. But ... yeah, no, not a fan of the 10 years old loli killing people/monsters with an innocent smile on her face. Not to mention it would be very creepy to have her in the more horror oriented modules/AP (Rise of the runelord, book 3, Graul farm segment. Yeah, have nice nightmares too, no need to thank me).
You can always use the PF1 "deluxe" adventures, like Dragons Demand, Tears at bitter manor, and so on. You can also use the darkmoon vale serie : Falcon's Hollow last hope, Crown of the kobold king, Return of the kobold king, Hungry are the dead and Carnival of tears. You can also add Tower of the last baron and treasure of chimera cove. Lots of dungeon crawl, but also a well made "base town" with lots of interisting NPCs. With that, you have a mini-campaign who goes from level 1 to 8 at least. There is also the "price of immortality" mini-campaign : Crypt of the everflame, Mask of the living god and City of golden death. The first module is a dungeon crawl, the second one as a lot of RP potential with the PC infiltrating the Razmir cult, and the last one is a wilderness/dungeon crawl adventure.
Well, Return of the runelords kinda assume that Karzoug has died in Rise ... (and it's part of the plot).
1/Honestly, if your PCs just want to get close to the NPCs, don't bother using the romance rules. Just do it with RP - much better that way, and it avoid the "romance video game" feeling ("yes ! Just three more gifts, two compliments and a "sharing my feelings" scene, and Shalelu will be mine !"). If a PC want to end up with an NPC and see it as the love of his character's life, just play around it and use it as opportunity to have your PC invest himself in the campaign. As long as the PC isn't acting like an idiot or like a swine, let him have his prize. (just my advice, but romance in RPG should never have a set of rules attached to it. It make things really, really strange and gross at some moments and block imaginative and spontaneous roleplay, since the PCs have to act according to a set of "do" and "don't"). 2/Yes, Ameiko is important, and the ultimate goal is to escort her to Minkaï. So it's important to make her likeable and nice to the PCs. But ultimatly, she should stay in the background like all other NPCs and don't steal the spotlight from them. She should be a support character, and act based on how the PCs are acting with her. In my campaign, I had her ask to the PC wich path she should follow, between combat and magic. They told her "magic", so I have advanced her as a bard build with a focus on spellcasting. It's not a lot, but to have your PCs realize that they are the one making her evolve, the one who shape her way to think, well ... it make her a lot more likeable. And off course, be sure to tie Ameiko to your PCs background. In no way she should be seen as a boss. More like a friend or family member. If you don't like to have an NPC essential to the plot, then make one of the PC the heir instead, or have Ameiko die on the way and rule that, since they are Amatetsu scions now, the PCs are a valid replacement for the Minkaï throne. There are quite a lot of topic about that on this forum. 3/Caravane rules : be warn that they are quite cluncky - the PCs caravane can end up destroyed really fast. Also, in my campaign, I had to change the cargo rules on the fly during book 3 : even with a 9 wagons caravan (including 3 supply wagons) and not leaving any town without being filled to the brim with food, my PCs had not enough place at all to stock enough food to survive some roads between two villages. 4/Have fun ! it's a nice campaign, and I like it a lot (we are in the middle of the fifth book right now - waiting for the pendemic to end before playing again).
Well, given how hags usually end up eating their lovers, i think its safe to assume this one is a good one. (that, or she prefer elven or dwarven meat - who knows ?) More seriously, the thing that bother me lately with PF2 is ... well, i don't know how to tell it without looking offensive (and english is not my native langage), but here goes : it seems to me that Paizo is trying damn hard to be super inclusive. And it's a good thing, most of the time. But when i see all those stories about monsters being good/nice, or things like that, now, creatures who where locked in a specific gender (like harpies or changeling) can be both sex, well ... I can understand the reason why : maybe someone wants to play a male changeling, or is fed up with the "evil woman" trope convoyed by harpies. Maybe someone wants is LG paladin to have a troll as best buddy. But its becoming so strong that it starts to force all creatures in the same mold. By erasing those things who used to be part of the creatures identity, by trying to have some sort of "equality" between all creatures, well ... they are making the setting a bit more bland : what's the point of having that creature or another if they all share the same traits and "normality" ? (to me, at least - i'm not forcing my views on anyone). I like to have my stupids, evil trolls. I like to have my scheming, vicious hag. I like my crazy, dog-killers, fire-worshipping goblins. Each of those traits makes them all uniques in lots of way. But if they all can be good, nice people, with nothing too edgy or problematic, what make them different from one another ? At this rate, Goblin might be as well some sort of green halflings. (A short who comic to explain it in two panels : https://www.nerfnow.com/comic/2852) And again, i'm not trying to fight everyone and try to prove i'm right and you're wrong. It's just my feelings.
I've runed it and here are my toughts as a GM : -Concerning the upper levels, my players decided to fly to the roof and start the dungeon upside down. They had a very hard time against the gossamer, and retreated after killing 4 of them. When they came back the next day, they killed the remaining one and the aranea sorcerer whose name i don't remember with ease. The rest of the upper levels was a cakewalk. -Concerning the floor with the morgs and a bazillion traps : it can upset players. That's what happened with mine, to the point that they used spells/potions to fly around and not touch that "g~**%~n killing floor !" -Once you start to run the underground part, Your PCs are going to spend 90 % of their time fighting the same ennemy type again and again (Withered blossom warrior and Sisters of the broken path). My players put up with it, but i can see how it can upset some players to continuously have to deal with the same ennemy types. (Wasn't there a dungeon like this in shattered star, filled to the brim with the same ennemy type over and over again ? I believe this dungeon wasn't very loved). -If you want to provide a challenge to your players, your better twtik those two ennemy types a bit. In my campaign, i remade the sisters into unchained monks, and made the warriors go full fighter instead of fighter/rogue. I didn't change their stats though, and they ended up as a nice challenge, nor too easy, nor too hard.
-You can use the numerous prisonners to have RP opportunity, and show how this place is meant to break people's mind. -I tried to made the dungeon interesting by playing with the different generals and lieutenants having a very strong personnality (my players loved the swine shogun a lot). I also tried to do my best to do "environnemental storytelling" and tried to make the dungeon to look alive. My players even started to feel uneasy in some places down there. I also tried to show them how twisted the place was, and how the hobgobelins were fanaticaly devoted to their "goddess". Funny thing : my players ended up feeling a bit bad for the ogre mage generals, feeling how they were trapped under the command of someone who clearly had lost her mind, and how they were aware of it. It was to the point that they ended up trying to recruit the last one (Ochyo). And since the Kitsune oracle rolled something like 41 in diplomacy ... well, they have an Ogre mage follower now, one they are actively trying to turn to the good side (wich is not that hard, given the decades of abuse she suffered at Munasukaru's hands - i also decided that her unease and pain was a source of "food" for the kytons present in her room, so they were trying to have her in a constant state of mental breakdown). -Munasukaru will probably need a boost too. When my player faced her, i did add two sisters to protect her but she was still killed in the second round - she barely managed to hit once before dying.
Maybe you should discuss with the players and the GM first, to see if you are all on the same page. Most RPG problems tends to solve better when you discuss outside the game.
concerning the troll trying to be monk, if i remember right, the story being with him fighting Sajan, like it's your average "PC versus monster fight", until it is revealed that they are doing a sparring match in some monastery. (and yes, some monster/class combo can be dirty ... my players remember Mokmurian well from Rise : "so, what ? It's a wizard without any of the wizard weaknesses ? That's nasty !")
(for the record, when i say "doggy boys", i was refering to their cartoonish look. The Rougarou doesn't look as goofy as those ... errr ... things ... in PF2). I guess my problem is that most of PF2 tales seems to go with the "look, this usually evil monster is good !" route, to the point it seems its the norm. I remember reading a tale about a troll trying to be monk, a few months back. The whole thing seemed so idiotic to me ... but maybe it's just me. (and before someone says it, yes i know, there are neutral troll in kaer maga, they are oracle, etc ... but a troll becoming a monk ? Meaning, he has the capability to focus, to have a mental state stable enough to be one and the will to train, learn a martial art and so on ? Without being tempted to eat his fellow disciples when hunger hit ? That's a bit too much for me).
I admit, i've not bought any PF2 material, but i've read the preview, review about them, and followed the "world" evolution as much as i could. I can admit when one monster among many turn good (and yes, there are a few exemples here and there, the most incredible one being arueshalae from Wrath of the righteous in PF1). But the general feeling i have with PF2 and its "lore" is that it seems less "rough" and more "nice" than before. And it doesn't help it when we can now play doggy boys and kawaï plant things (leshy) - those things are too cartoonish for me (and yes, i know, Leshys were here in PF1 as well, but not as a playable race).
Remove Disease, obviously. I hate being sick, and i could do a lot of good around me with this spell. Or baring that,Teleportation. Never late to work again.
I've twinked the base bandits a bit, to give them better attack rolls (so they can at least be a moderate threat) and changed Gangasum into a black blood bloodrager. I also changed his figting style, giving him a falchion, so he's gonna do "ok" damages. That will have to do ...
Hello, i'm about to run the start of this book for my players this saturday, and i'm a bit worried about the difficulty (or lack, thereoff) of retaking the Seinaru Heikikko. Barring the golems, and maybe the evil druid, i think my players are going to run over the ennemies like they are nothing.Even the bandit boss is pretty weak with his base damage of 1D6+8 ... And it doesn't seem a great idea to me to throw level 6 ennemies to a level 12 party. For the record, my party is as follow :
Both the bloodrager and ratfolk can easily do 100+ damage on a full round attack, do i don't think any ennemy is going to last more than two rounds. As anyone any idea to make this less of a case of "Attilla in the kindergarten" form the players point of view, and more of an "epic battle to retake a bandit-filled forteress" ?
Hello, my PCs just add their first hostile run-in with the gray maidens, and i was wondering about something. Is it ok for the PCs to sell gray maiden armors in Korvosa ? I mean, they have a specific look about them, so i think any merchant is gonna realise quickly where does those armors come from. So i doubt they would be willing to buy them. I don't want to take loot away from my PCs, though. Thoses armors are full plate, and worth 750 gp a piece, wich is quite a big deal for level 6 PCs. So what have you people done in your Cotct campaign about that ?
I've recently finished GMing this AP, and my PC faced the last encounter with only 2 mythic tiers (I gave them one at the end of book 1, and one after the fight with the chimera in book 2). I've balanced that a bit by removing about half of the "boss" lackeys, but otherwise, didn't adjust the "boss" sheet. The combat went on for about 5 rounds. It was difficult, yes, but they managed to win in the end. And I think I need to point out that, barring the last 2 fights of the AP, my PCs totaly wrecked the opposition from the middle of book 2 to the 1st half of book 6 with only 2 mythic tiers (taking into acount that i've heavily beefed said opposition). Honestly, the only use I see for the mythic rules are the mythic monsters : they are way less broken than PCs/NPCs with mythic tiers and can be used as tough - but still beatable - opposition.
Thanks, I'll check that too.
Thanks, that's gonna be a good start.
Hello, my PCs are actually in Kalsgard, and since I've told them there's à Pathfinder lodge there, they have contemplated the idea to apply and join the society. Problem is, I haven't been able to find any information about this lodge. I have no idea of who's in charge there, what the lodge actually is (a mansion ? an old fort ? something more exotic ?) and so on. If someone could point me to some source of information, it would be really nice ! Thanks by advance.
I've GM-ed this AP for a while now, and we're near the end (only 2-3 sessions to go). I've stopped giving them mythic tiers after the end of book 2. Meaning they're actually level 19/mythic tier 2. And they're litteraly reaping appart their ennemies, to the point that I've handwaved a lot of meaningless combats starting book 6 (basically, every fight who doesn't present a CR of 21 at least). I mean, the Bloodrager and paladin usually scores 50 or more on their "to hit" score, and can do around 200 damages with a full round attack. The cleric can cast so many healing spells that they are assured to never die, and the wizard take cares of everything else. So ... yeah. Don't hesitate to pump up your monsters with max HP, advanced template and such. Also, don't hesitate to rewrite some encounters : there's way too much boss fights in this AP where the boss is alone against the PCs, and we all know how such fights play. You should also be very carefull with the loot. There's way too much treasures and artefact thrown at the PCs. Starting book 5, I had the financial value of the loot cut by half, and honestly, I should have started to do this earlier. (as for the last book, well, it's not really a problem : PCs are in a hurry, and they don't really have the time to go shopping, so the vast amount of gold and gems is gonna be useless to them).
One can also use the troop subtype for those weak undeads. That should make them a little more useful (they should at least be able to do some damages before being obliterated to ashes by the PCs).
I'm quite surprised. From a GM point of view, I always thought that Scarwall wasn't that tough. Sure, there's a few rooms with some really nasty critters (especially in the anniversary edition), but aside from that, most of the creatures in the castle are around CR 8-10 or below, a.k.a "not really a challenge for a level 12 party". and I don't even mention the hordes of skeleton/zombies/gouls that are totally useless against such high level PCs.
Thanks for the idea, I like the idea of the "not so courageous" adventurers getting lost who decide to botch the whole quest of stopping the goblins !
Hello, I'm gonna start the jade regent campaign very soon (in 2 days, actually), and I was wondering ... Concerning the goblins : it is said at the very beginning of the brinestump chapter that Sandpoint officials have sent an adventuring party in the swamp to deal with the goblins, 3 days before the start of the AP. They have not returned yet. Did someone tried to expand this plot hook ? The only idea i've had so far was to dispatch thoses adventurers corpses somewhere in the swamp, as victims of the sin spawn (or near megus shack, as victims of the ratling). They could be used as a warning about the swamp dangers, and they even could rise as zombies (or some other low level undead). I don't think the few items they gonna have on them will break the WBL. If someone as an idea to do something better with them, well ... I'm all ears. Thanks by advance.
I'm actually running the middle of book 5. I've only gave 2 mythics tiers to my players since the beginning (one at the end of book 1, and one at the end of book 2), and I'm constantly beefing up the opposition. They still steamroll the ennemies most of the time. So ... play without mythic if you can. Or use hero points instead of mythic points. Much more manageable. One other thing you might want to look at is the loot. The PC are gaining so much money/items in this AP, it's absolutely crazy. Since the beginning of book 4, I've cut the loot in alf, and they're still geared like christmas trees.
Thanks a lot, that's exactly the kind of tweak I was looking for !
Hello everybody, I'm very close to launch a Jade regent campaign, and all of my players have expressed their will to have a craft skill. Namely : -Alchemy (to craft single use items like alchemist fire and the like) -Cooking (to ... well ... cook. At least, that Pc is gonna have a lot of friends, I suppose ?) -Leatherworking and by extent the ability to skin dead animals (to craft a wide range of things, from an armor for his animal companion, to more mundane things like bagpacks, cape, ... Not to mention that tanned hides can sometimes sells quite well) -Woodworking (in order to repair & enhance the caravan, mostly) And the thing that bothers me a lot is how long it take to craft something as simple as, say, an acid vial. So, is there some tweak to speed up the creation process of such mundane items ? Is there some alternate rules made by someone that fix this, without having to beat ridiculously high skill checks ? thanks by advance.
0 I came to Pathfinder for 2 reasons : the well-writen APs and the fact that it was a continuation from the 3.5 rule set. I would have prefered the new edition to be a "Pathfinder 1.5" : a version who correct the broken options, take into considerations things like the advanced players guide and so forth. Cause let's face it : even with a conversion guide between 1st and 2nd edition, it's gonna be a tedious chore to convert 2nd editions APs to the 1st edition rules. And GMing an AP is quite a difficult task by itself already. And that second edition seems way too different from the Pathfinder me and my players loves. Finally, I think that second edtion is comming out for bad reasons. Namely : to counter the growing success of DD5. Pathfinder V2 seems to me a little too keen on using lots of DD5 ideas, and since I have no love wathsoever for DD5, well ... it's a 0 for me. (all I'm saying here is MY advice, I don't speak for everyone other than me)
Hello, it's not a PFS module, but as a prequel to the campaign, I have ran the module "The demon within" to my players (it's a level 11 module, so they had to create characters specifically for this). It gave them the opportunity to have a bit of background about Kenabres and its outskirsts. And it was funny to introduce younger selve of some Wrath of the Righteous NPCs in the church scene (like a younger Irabeth with her parents, or lord Ulrun). (if I recall correctly, this module is supposed to happen some 10 years before the campaign, if you look at the chronology in the worlwound sourcebook)
@Magnuskn : I see what you mean, but isn't every AP full of this type of situations ? (By the way, that's what decided me to GM Pathfinder APs in the first place : a good balance between action and RP, and an extensive explanation as to why the dungeon was made/what it used to be, or why there are goblins in room number 3 - other than "because we need monsters in there". Oh, and the fact that every encounter doesn't need to end in a fight.) I'm just saying that, compared to most of the others APs, Shattered Star is very "dungeon heavy" and is naturally less inclined toward diplomatics situations. To give an exemple, I have GMed Curse of the Crimson Throne when it was in 3.5, and I remembered having a few sessions without anyone shooting "Initiative !". I doubt the same can be done with Shattered Star. Anyway ... I guess, depending on the GM, a dungeon heavy campaign could turn into a RP heavy campaign, and vice-versa ...
Hahahaha, no. Shattered Star actually is pretty heavy on the diplomacy aspect I don't mean to be disrespectfull, but I don't see where ? Sure, some encounters can be bypassed/avoided with the use of diplomacy. Sure, there's some interesting NPCs here and there, as well as lore and backstory in each dungeon.
But 90 % of the adventure path revolve around dungeon crawling.Smash the door, kill the monsters, grab the loot. Hell, book 2-5 are almost always done the same way : a short 1st part where the PCs travel to the dungeon with a few encounter (good or bad) along the way, and a part 2 where you have to explore the dungeon in order to find the artefact piece. I'm not saying this is a bad AP, but the story can go from start to finish with brutish PCs who murder everything along the way without destroying the plot. Comparatively, if you take an AP like, for instance, Hell's Rebels, trying to kill everything all the time don't work so well and can end the AP very quick. Once again, I'm not trying to be mean, but I fail to see the "heavy roleplay/diplomacy emphasis" of this AP (particularly if the players have not done any of the 1st three APs).
I'd say Shattered Star. Each book as a huge dungeon for the players to delve into, and the story is really simple to follow. Basically, at the start of the campain, the PCs finds a piece of an artifact, and then they must gather the remaining parts. Parts who are always in a gigantic dungeon.
Just a thought but ... what about twiking the scarwall curse so that every living personn entering the castle is effectively stuck inside ? (same restrictions as the spiritual anchors). Off all the denizen of the castle, only Malatrothe (and her mount) would be able to go out as she will, part off her contract with Mithrodar. Maybe the PCs should be warned of what will happened. Nothing more sad than a group of heroes dying from the lack of food/water. Then again ... it's Scarwall, and the place have seen more than one unfair death. (PS : sorry for the awfull english, not my 1st langage)
of course, but it can't hurt to be prepared if someone want her as as cohort - that way, I can say "yes, but not until you reach level 9", instead of "er ... I don't know ? maybe ?" Anyway, thanks for the answers.
Ok, then I gonna go with the "equivalent to a level 6-7 character" angle. That way, my PCs are gonna be able to recruit her when they hit level 9.
well actually she is cr 8 (assuming pc wealth otherwise yes she will be cr 7) She actually has very little wealth - a +1 dagger (the one every lamia from the bestiary get), a a mwk shortbow, a mwk studded leather armor, a few low-level items (holy water and the like) and that's pretty much it. In fact, I didn't knew if I was supposed to give her things like a level 3 character (3 bard level) or a level 6 character (her CR). So, I went for the 1st one. But that may be for the best if it means she can be recruited earlier that way, I suppose.
Hello everybody, and apologies by advance for my terrible english (french is my native tongue, and that's my 1st post on this forum). I'm near the end of my Skull an Shackles campain (we're starting the last book next session). During the course of the campaign, my PCs have recruited lots of unsual allies aboard their ship, including a very special lamia (a CG one, with 3 bard levels -archaeologist archetype). She's a nice person, very shy and different from your usual lamia (due to the fact that she was abandoned by her kin in early childhood, due to her lack of magic powers - more information below). On the top of that, she grew up alone on a solitary island, and was happy to finally meet people who don't see her as a monster to be put down (since she can't shapechange at all). The PCs really took a liking to her, and since she want to be a part of the pathfinder society (she's kind of a bookworm), they have done everything they could to help her (mostly by providing her lots of lore and objets from cyclop ruins they explored, so she could pose as an expert on the Gol-Gan civilisation). And I had my PCs meet with Calisro Bennary while they where on Lilywhite, presenting her to the venture captain. Long story short, i'm planning her to become a member of the pathfinder society once the campaign is finished. And since i'm planning to Gming Jade Regent next, I was thinking to bring her back during book two - it's always fun to have a NPC showing from one campaign to another. Since my PCs tend to take the leadership feat to adventure with the NPCs they like, I was wondering : what level should a PC be to take a lamia with 3 bard levels as a cohort ? I don't know if that's gonna happened, but I prefer to be prepared. She's actually à CR6 : her 3 Bard levels should put her CR7, but since she was born without any of the lamia magical abilities (including the capacity to drain Wisow points), I decided to let her stay CR6.
Sorry for the long rant, and thank you by advance for your responses ! |