noblejohn's page

So what is the big Saturday night PFS event this year at Gencon - last year's event was incredible. Setting up all those bomb traps was really a 'blast'! The True Dragons of Absalom it was called.

I searched through the events but I guess I keep missing it. All I can find for PF Society is PF Society Academy events.

Thanks for the help.

This is not a new question, but I am hoping the forum can provide some advice on this.

My party is getting ready to enter a large and maybe challenging dungeon crawl of sorts. If they get to a point where they need to rest, how do I handle this?

1 - If they decide to leave the dungeon do I roll for random encounters on the way out?
2 - if they decide to stay do I roll from random encounters while they try to sleep, thus denying them the chance to recover spells?

How tough do you guys generally make resting when the party is working a dungeon? Can you add some kind of penalty of sorts for resting, like some rooms re-spawn?

I don't feel like just letting the PCs rest with no consequence would be very fun. What is a fun a fair way to liven up resting without being to much of a jerk as the GM?

Thanks!

I loved going through we be kobolds at gencon, what a blast. Is this product available? I want to run it for my friends at home.

Hey guys - Can you let me know if they Kobolds adventure that was run at Gencon on Saturday night is available for sale? It was like We Be Goblins - but with Kobolds.

I wanted to run it for my guys - I had a blast playing in that adventure!!

Thanks,
John

Does anyone have any advice on how I can get a full sized map of Ordu-Aganhei from Jade Regent?

What is the best way to print out maps and mount them so I have something a little better than a hand drawn map? Sticker paper? What is the best source?

I would rather just buy a pre-printed map if they are available.

Thanks for the advice.

So my PCs are heading to a town next adventure. There they will encounter a location they have never been and meet a prince/ruler who may or may not be their friend. While they are figuring this all out there are some feasts they can attend where there will be some competitions - pretty standard fair I believe.

How do I make the visiting of the town and attending of the feasts more interesting? The Adventure path does provide for what will be served and how the events will work. But besides just reading off the menu and then declaring that the events are about to begin, who would like to participate...how do I add flair to the whole thing so we don't just rush through the feasts.

Ok, its the next day. Do you go to the feast? Yes, ok they are serving goose stomach today. Would you like to participate in the horse race?

As you notice, this is kind of blah, not many choices for the PCs, just kind of going through the motions. I can liven up the events a little as roles are made...but other than that....not sure how to make this more intriguing.

Thanks for any advice....

I am prepping a CR 6 level 7 ninja who has a potion of displacement. How many rounds does it last - the rules say 1 round per level.

Thanks.

So I am prepping Forest of the Spirits from the Jade Regent line and I noticed that there is a huge dungeon crawl to tackle at one point. So I am looking for some generic or AP specific challenges I can add to make a meat grinder more fun and interesting.

Some not so good ideas I have is

Having to guard a weak NPC through the grinder and get them to a specific point.
Having to find certain items throught the dungeon.
Having to keep certain bad guys alive for some reason.
Having to find certain weapons to use agains the big bad or he can't be defeated.

Thanks for any ideas guys and gals....

Last night, I had a CR10 Nymph, Katiyana from Jade Regent, square off vs 5 8th level party members. Katiyana was slaughtered.

The main problem was a Ninja who could invisibly walk 150 feet in two turns and get 3 sneak attacks in on the Nymph doing almost 80 points of damage.

Once the Ninja was visible, Kat attempted Gale Aura to keep the bastard away, but the Ninja had a bat cloak allowing him to fly above the evil boss and drop down on her for an attack.

The rest of the party used their summoned beasts to take her out......it was anti climatic.

How do I keep up with my super powerful party members and make combats more interesting?? Help!!!

Anyone playing Witcher III? I have really enjoyed it so far, about 4 to 6 hours in. I also impulse purchased the hardback walkthrough book with the bestiary, maps and characters.

Has anyone used a video game walkthrough as a tool for a campaign? There is so much information in there I was thinking if my guys had not played Witcher 3, I could run them through a PF adventure using all the material in the book.

I would have be flexible depending on the choices the players made. But my guys don't necessarily need to have infinite choices when they are playing.

I may try it .... what do you guys think?

I am very experienced with Pathfinder playing home games but want to try my hand at a Gencon game.

What do you recommend?
What is normal mode vs core mode?

Thanks!
jwf

I am working on an indulgent and contrived puzzle for my players - hey, I know this idea can be criticized, but I am enjoying it and I am the GM! :-) Seriously I am just trying to shake things up a bit and have some fun - then we will get back to the adventure path encounters that make more sense...can you help?

* Central room has a door requiring 6 ghost keys to advance....
* Every room is 30' x 30'
* There are six rooms surrounding that have a key that must be obtained through some challenge....
* Once any one of the keys are touched, the timer starts - they have 2 rounds to meet in the central room and open the door or keys disappear and they have to try again.
* Party = 5 PCs level 8 with one flying familiar...ninja, barbarian, monk , wizard and gnome bard.

What could the six short challenges/puzzles be? - not sure if they can be themed or not?

My ideas so far - Can you help me with better ideas?
- One room requires PC to draw a chase card and beat it
- Room is full of poison, PC must pass DC 20 FORT save or paralyzed
- Key is in a small cage that can be either broken or someone can slip through the bars (escape artist)
- Skeleton is in room holding key - (should be simple combat - one hit and Skeleton is dead)
- Key is hanging 100 ft in the air
- I have one set of four rooms where a CR 8 creature must be killed for one key, then the other 3 must be obtained quickly. So when the CR 8 creature is near death the party will have to plan out to move to the other rooms and be ready to grab the keys.

Thanks for your help pathfinder nation!!

PCs enter a large castle dungeony thing and have to make it through a minor puzzle thing to get to the boss of the castle. Here is what I was thinking.

I am going to have a few rooms that have one door but rotate around if they PCs find the device that drives the room. But that is not what I need help with. Once they are past the first room they will be basically heading down a long and wide hallway with a series of locked doors. To unlock the doors, they will need to collect gems before a timer runs out.

For door one, only one gem is required (slow build up to PCs can get the idea of what is going on). The gem will be in a room to the left, but to get it, some kind of skill check is needed. Once the gem is retrieved, the clock starts ticking. If they get to the door in time, it opens, otherwise a consequence - monster or trap or something.

For door two, 2 gems will be required which are located one to a room on the right and one in a room on the left. Once again, once one of the gems is touched, the timer starts before the gem disappears. This will be setup so that the party will have to split up and get the gems simultaneously.

The next door will require 4 gems (in four adjacent rooms), then 6 will be required for the final door. All of these will require the PC to go to their own room - pass some kind of test and then meet back at the door at the same time.

I wanted the challenges the PCs face to be somewhat random, but also categorized. So to get on gem, you will need to use a skill that a thief might have. To get another gem you need some kind of knowledge. But the check required (skill, save or other) will be random within the category.

I can do this, but it will be kind of meta gameish unless I can come up with a good story or good background. Does this make sense?

So one of the doors might have a 40% chance for an acrobatics check, 20% chance for a disable device check a 20% chance for a climb check, but a 10% chance for a strength check (just as a wild card). So the PCs will find these challenges for each gem, then they will plan who will go to which puzzle based on the odds. This will get them to do some team work.

What do you guys think? How can I make this work?

Help me think of Level 8 appropriate encounters that PCs might face in searching for a Dragon’s Lair at the Cap of the World (North Pole).

Here is my idea so far which has evolved from something Dudemeister suggested to me in another thread on how jazz up a hunt for a Frost Drake.

1 – Dragon is attacking town once every 2 days

2 – Party is offered reward of 6 gems worth 5000 gold each upon returning with the Dragon’s head

3 – Party will face 6 short encounters on the way to find the Dragon – if the encounter is successful the party moves on, but if the encounter fails – the trip is delayed and the dragon attacks destroying one of the 5000 gems.

4 – The encounter should include as many of the party members as possible and be pretty short, but be more than just a skill check. Alternatively, there can be one encounter that focuses on each of them. Also, any team work related encounters would be cool.
Party – Level 8, Barbarian, Wizard, Bard, Ninja, & Monk – all are well equipped with magic items

I want the encounter to be challenging but not impossible. I am hoping they lose at least 1 or 2 of them so it doesn’t seem like a cake walk. But I would hate for them to lose all of them.

My ideas so far:
1 - They start sliding down a cliff face due to an avalanche. During their decent, they have to dodge things? Fight things attacking them? Actually not sure on this one – this idea was rightfully criticized in another thread.
2 – The barbarian runs into a creature or magic item that turns his alignment to evil. The party has to recognize this and quickly remove curse before he kills someone.
3 – The Wizard prides himself on having lots of knowledge, so I was trying to think of something interesting that used knowledge.

Thanks for your help!!

I want to generate some skill checks for some encounters I am running for my party that is at level 8. How do I generate (perhaps randomly or specifically chosen) skill checks, knowledge checks and save checks that are level appropriate?

For example, I am going to have my party start sliding down a hill. They have to make 2 or 3 checks to make it down safely. Obviously some of the checks will be agility or acrobatics. But I was thinking that I would allow maybe knowledge geography for the wizard to figure out how to smartly roll his body to safely get down the hill. I might also allow a survival check. But what should the DCs be for these checks?

Thanks for any advice.

Fireballs, electric attacks, magic swords and charm spells all cannot effect a spiritual ally is that correct?

If someone attempts to grapple or trap a spiritual ally that has no effect, correct?

What are some clever ways to use Spiritual Allies vs my party?

Thanks,
John

I am looking for a fantastic magic ability to add to a crown that would be given to a Bard. Is a basic Charisma boost of +3 or 4 what they look for? The other guys in the party have pretty good magic items and the Bard has a tough time making much impact in battles (not that battles are all we do). But the Bard is due for some cool loot so I am looking for what most any Bard would really like to have at Level 7 or 8.

Thanks everyone....

My party has been requested to gather the horns, claws, teeth etc. of 4 different creatures. They have obtained 3 of these items but still need the venom or scales of a Frost Drake. These items will be given to a town to help them create a protective magical barier about their town in the north. In exchange the party will receive a crown of Charisma.

How do I jazz up a hunt for a Frost drake. My party is level 7 and can probably take it out pretty easily. There is a Bard in the party that I believe is the one who will get the crown. The crown belongs to the Hearthmistress of the town. What can the crown be that would be cool for a bard? It has to have something to do with Charisma.

Thanks for any brainstomr ideas Pathfinder fans!!!

So the background for the Hungry Storm says that Sithhud lost his power to the demonic armies of the demon lord Kostchtchie. Sithhud has someone helping him regain this power.

What happened to Kastchtchie. Are his demon armies still roaming the crown? If no, why doesn't Sithhud just come in and claim the land?

Thanks.

How do you subscribe to a thread so you can see the replies on your phone?

I tried using Pocket and Feedly to subcribe to message threads but was unable to make it work. I can get the message to show up on my phone, but any updates do not come through. I used to use Google RSS reader long ago.

I guess I need an idiot proof APP. Any advice?

I am running Jade Regent and the party is ready to travel over the cap of the world. As I prepare, I was thinking about some things I enjoy when playing RPGs and one thing that came to mind is achievements.

I usually encounter achievements in computer games. If you find 5 items, you unlock and achievement. If you kill 10 skeletons, you unlock an achievement.

Do you think this achievement idea would work in RPG? Find the horn of 5 different beasts, bring them to the town and unlock your reward.

These achievements would be side things, not part of the main story line probably. But there may be a quest to get so many of a certain item in order to enter a Tower or something.

Any thoughts on achievements?

I am looking for some creative ideas if anyone out there can help.

This Encounter doesn't need to tie into my campaign necessarily. The PCs are at 7th level. I like encounters that are more than just battles. I need some puzzly things and/or some other objectives besides killing the enemy and/or something that just makes the encounter interesting or memorable.

The parties encounter an area where Frost Giants used to dwell. There are only 1 or 2 remaining now and they live and guard the area as it serves as a graveyard or memorial for their once great tribe. One of the Giants remaining will have casting abilities.

I am trying to generate some ideas:

- maybe the PCs can only get past to continue their adventure if they solve something?
- maybe the Giants have hostages?

I am open to any ideas - thanks in advance for the help.

My party is adventuring in a cold weather environment. There is something that they can get called Bonechill if they take lethal damage. They can also get frostbite and hypothermia.

THe problem is, to get rid of these ailments, all the PCs have to do is make a couple of saves and it is gone. It almost makes the condition irrelevant.

How can I make these ailments more challenging? Should I only allow a save once per day?

Thanks

We are coming to the end of a module in an AP and I am taking creative license and trying to add a non-combat encounter with an unbeatable foe, such as a dragon.

Here is the setup - the party is looking for the princess, who was kidnapped by the evil Tian group. The princess is held captive in the final room of the dungeon. The party has made it this far, but they now must face the ?dragon? who is here guarding the princess. Almost like Shrek.

The dragon is going to be unbeatable, I am looking for the party to come up with a creative solution here. So some of my ideas are...

1. The dragon doesn't want to be here, but is held by some magic. Maybe the party could be forced to solve some puzzle or riddles or soething to figure out how to release the magic.

2. Maybe the dragon is lazy and can be influenced by some diplomatic PCs? Initially this idea doesn't seem as cool as the first one.

3. Maybe the dragon is asleep and will wake up and chace the PCs.

I need some help with some fun ideas on how to get past this last encounter...non combat!

Thanks everyone.

I am looking to join a roll20 game that meets on Mon, Tue or Wed evenings after 8pm. I am an experienced PF player and GM but new to roll 20. I am 45, have kids and early morning job, so I can stay up till around 11:30 or 12. Some of us old guys tire out quickly.

I want to get a feel for RPG online and maybe meet some new online friends.

Thanks,
John

Can someone help me with this question? It is probably answered in the module, but I either forgot or completely missed it.

Thanks for the help.

I am looking for some outstanding adventures or adventure paths that are from any other system (AD&D, Descent, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, etc..) that I could use with my group.

My guys are really up on all of the Paizo product and I want to surprise them with something different and fun.

There is a site, Banners on the Cheap that allows you to make a custom vinyl map/banner to be used for Pathfinder.

I am also starting to see more mousepad mats - Deadzone uses a 2' x 2' mousepad grid for their box miniatures game that just came out.

Has anyone done this? Have you seen many examples of this? Where would you get a custom mousepad mat?

Thanks for the ideas.

Hello all,

I am prepping the second module in Jade Regent and as you may know there is a big investigation that takes place in a certain city. I am looking for ways to make the whole encounter here more interesting ... so any ideas long this line are appreciated..... but specifically I was thinking of adding achievements for the PCs as a group or individually try to achieve in each quarter. If they get all of the achievements, there is some kind of reward.

Obviously this is what you do in many video games, such as assassins creed black flag. I am not sure this would translate to RPG, but I find it fun to complete a set of mini missions when gaming.

Do you guys think this could work? What are some ideas for a set of missions?

I have 4th level Barbarian, Monk, Wizard, Bard and Ninja.

Thanks for the ideas.
John

I am prepping a city encounter which could last two sessions for Jade Regent. It is decent as written, but I am looking for ways to jazz it up a bit.

I was toying with the idea of adding achievements - like in Assassins creed Black Flag. Maybe there are various challenges each of the PCs or the group as a whole can beat in each of the quarters or city districts. If they pass all of them, there is a bonus.

Thoughts on this? Anyone every try something like this?

Thanks,
John

I am trying to think about a quickling and how to maximize his use of the sneak attack and stealth.

Turn 1 combat - the quickling attacks using sneak attack on anyone that he had initiative over, then moves to another spot (spring attack).

Turn 2 combat - the quickling remains still becoming invisible. Is the quickling not considered invisible then until turn 3? If the party strikes the quickling in turn 2 does it still become invisible in turn 3?

Alternate turn 1 combat - what if the quickling ran out of the room and around the corner out of site on turn 1 after striking someone. Could it then use stealth to become hidden for turn 2 of perception checks fail?

Any advice on how to run a quickling in general to maximize its abilities?

Besides PF, what RPG do you enjoy playing?

PF is my favorite system due to the support, user community, theme, adventures, nestalgia, the list goes on.

But for a change of pace, what is another fun RPG that I could throw in.

I need something to run when my full party can't make it for my Jade Regent capaign.

Thanks!

I may have a combat situation for my PCs that includesa quickling that does not have a ranged attack. This quickling has a short sword, sneak attack and poison.

How do I effectively use the speed of the quickling? With the AOO rule it will be impossible for the quickling to avoid getting hit if she has any desire to injure the PCs.

On the other hand, I suppose I could have the quickling take something and use its speed run away with the desired item.

thoughts? The fey only has 18 HP and vs the 4 level 3 PCs I am afraid she will not last more than one or two AOOs. Does not seem like a CR 3 to me.

As my party travels back to town as part of a caravan with one wagon loaded with 1,000 gp in goods, I plan 4 encounters for them. The rest of the caravan is abstracted and the encounters focus mainly on the party and usually put their wagon and some of the goods at risk (but doesn't have to).

I am looking for some non combat encounter ideas. Maybe something that requires a series of skill checks that if not succeeded in some way puts some or all of the wagaon goods at risk? Maybe something that doesn't seem threatening at first.

I already used the wagon getting stuck in the mud requiring str checks in time before a dragon came down and ate most of the wagon.

Let me know if there are some good ideas you can offer. I thank you in advance.

A while back Scavion suggested I use Grippli's to make an interesting encounter for my PCs who are traveling with a caravan. Basically, in a mostly swamp infested area of the Varisia, some Grippli's attacked the caravan and got away with just a few goods. I liked the encounter because it used the Grippli's swampstride and wall climbing abilities.

Now the PCs who have moved from level 1 to level 3 are heading back to their home town again with their caravan. I would like to have them face the Grippli's again, but this time the Grippli's will be more prepared.

I was thinking maybe they could have some kind of trick or trap set for them that causes them to stop the caravan and investigate. And while the PCs are investigating, the Grippli's once again try to make off caravan goods.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to make this a cool caravan encounter?

Thanks,
John

Does Nindinzego get 8 tentacle attacks, 2 claw attacks and 1 bite in a full round of combat?

Does anyone know if a reason I should not allow my wizard summon a Grig in the Jade Regent game I am running?

Can someone please tell me where to find a listing of the defensive abilities listed on a Monster stat sheet...

Just to confirm, if the player fails the DC 20 perception check (hidden check rolled before the game starts of course), then the trap makes a +15 grapple check against the player that does not provide an attack of opportunity.

If the grapple roll beats the CMD, then the player is grappled in a noose and can still use one hand to do stuff. But the only way to escape is to make a DC 20 Escape artist check.

Is that right? Can the player try to cut themselves out of the noose? I assume it takes one full round for another player to help them out of the noose.

Thanks for the help.

3 Humans and an Elf walk into a unlit room with a lantern pointed forward. Combat ensues.

Does it take a move action to set the lantern down without it tipping over?

I assume we would need to be careful to determine which way the cone of light immited from the lantern is pointing?

What are the chances the lantern gets knocked over?

Does this mess with the Elf's darkvision at all?

How do you guys handle this?

How strict are you on light rules?

If your party is in a dark place, do you ask them which way their lantern is pointed?

Do you always make sure are are aware what their light source is?

Do you ever have a creature try to sunder a light source?

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/additionalRules.html#vision-and-light
On this link of light sources what does normal and increased mean?

What is your overall advice for dealing with light rules?

Thanks,
John

In one or two sessions, my 4 PCs will reach Brinewall Castle. At this point, I have all the creature stat blocks printed out and the rooms all drawn up and cut out. But what I need to do know is think about the tactics and how the creatures will respond to the PCs. Also need to be sure I am up on all the rules.

So what advice can I get?
- How do you decide when creatures from other rooms or other areas of the castle will respond to noise and create a giant melee against the party?

- What are some key tactics you used with the Dire Corbies and other creatures? I see the Dire Corbies have Blind-Fight and Leap. Am I to assume the castle is mostly dark? How did you handle?

- Are there any key battles you think I need to pay the most attention to?

- Are there any key special rules I should bone up on?

Thanks for any help and advice you can give me to prepare for Brinewall Castle.

Thanks,
John