punchinpaper's page

I am also doing a Campaign in Westeros using the flavor of the game world in a background sense. It is pretty much straight Pathfinder with a few changes.
- First since I as the DM control the game and the players understand that this is a low magic world and have accepted that I really need change very little.

Magic weapons and armor do exist but the plus bonus refers to "Craftsman Bonus" not "magic" i.e. a Valryian Steel blade might have a craftsman bonus of +2 or more whereas a Dragon glass weapon might have a special property as well as craftsman bonus such as fire.
In order to account for the armored warrior flavor of Westeros I allow armor not to slow speed however encumbrance still does. Its a simple change and with the absence of much protection magic PCs gravitate to armor as the flavor of the world dictates. There are no restrictions to armor for class and this is vetted out by a PC's strength score as classes with lower strength in armor are pretty slow. Magical protection, if found, is considered Armor and does not "stack". Rules for Partial Armor apply and those with out means typically cannot simply afford protection.
- Second No PC classes for Arcane Spell Casters, this leaves me options to introduce the Magosi later on ( I intend to morph the Githyanki into this race. Also Bloodmages, Stormsingers, Shadowbinders, warlocks, maegi, etc… can be introduced as "monsters / npc's".
- Third With regard to Divine classes. Clerics are of any new faith but Druids may only follow the old gods of the Drowned one.
- Healing kits can be employed by anyone with heal ranks and heal 4hp/lvl per 8hr rest and full days rest is times two. This was done to make non healers capable of surviving. Also I hate it when the PC's stop to rest in the middle of a game just to boost HP's.

In addition to these rules I have tailored Westeros with the following racial changes;
- Aerendal - Westerlanders such as the Lannisters - Pathfinder Elves.
- Durvoki - The Vale of Arryn - Pathfinder Dwarves but slightly taller favoring bald heads and facial hair, Tattoos mark a Durvokians status the more tattooed the older or favored the Durvokian is.
- Mountain Tribes are Bugbear, Goblin, Ettin, Hill Giant, etc. pushed to the mountains by the Durvokian conquest. (not necessarily evil and Durvoki are not necessarily good)
- Andal - Pathfinder human.
- Dothraki - Pathfinder Orcs - horsemen plains riders - think Mongol Orc.
- Dornish - Pathfinder Halfling, Gnomes - with darker skin and desert flavor. These will be some of the most notable Cavaliers as north of Dorne Knights and Paladins are more common.

Other things of note;
Ghoul is a template and can be transmitted similarly to Pathfinder Lycanthropy. The Starks and some of their bannermen are werewolves but this is hereditary not Lycanthropy.
Barbarians are found north of the wall.
Knightnood, Cavalier, Paladin, are all prestige classes. Rules are the same for Cavalier and Paladin but they are simply not called such until knighted or similarly ordained.

There are three moons - Anake the white moon, Ceres the red moon, and Belior the dark moon. each moon orbits on different cycles with two concordances per year. This keeps time moving for the commoner and allows the seasonal swings to follow the long cycle. In addition each moon hold sway over different magics.
Months are 30 days and the moon cycles are 30, 20, and 45 days. Month names are; Maiden, Secundis, Trine, Quaterna, Quint, Hexad, Septenarius, Octanid, Enead, Decadus, Ellefne, and Terminus. probably lame but keeps player from asking "what month is it like in real world time".
Days of the week are: Smith's day, Warrior's day, Old Crone's Day, Day of the Mother, Day of the Father, Maiden's day, and All Saints Day. The Stranger has no day named.

Other monsters - well since your in Westeros Andals are the most significant "monster" but in addition to what I listed above there are;
- fey (children of the forest) extremely rare.
- Goblinkind and Barghest
- Dire wolves, lycanthropes
- Vampire (the Brotherhood) Think good aligned vampire. very different indeed.
- Valaryians might come back as vampire bad aligned I haven't decided yet.
- Ghoul-touched, undead (white walkers)
- dragons come back
- githyanki (magosi)
- pretty much any other race of creature that you can fit in logically.

I did this for the 3.5 Forgotten Realms map. I had to get a special permission letter(Kinko's would not reproduce the map without the letter,)from WoTC which actually didn't take very long to get. Once I got the letter I have a laminated 5'X7' wall map. I still have it hanging in my office and my wife still wonders why she married me at times.
I used the little map from the 3.5 Forgotten Realms hardcover and it held a pretty good image once it was blown up to 5X7, so that being said the center map from the Varisia booklet is a pretty neat looking candidate. The colors are more of a green tone that won't look too much like a sesame street wall hanging once you enlarge it.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v685/nevadadave/th_DSC00792.jpg[/IMG]

DOT

Eidolon Modalawn

mini me

In one campaign I gave the players a basic overview of the lands and kingdoms within that we would be playing in. I then asked them to craft their backstories, each player should write at least 250 words with no requirements as to how they met or where they were currently at as those details I would in fill at first game. From those words of each player the campaign was born.
It was really challenging but quite rewarding to run a game based solely on somebodies backstory idea.

Now, as far as to how the game started, well I had just read a list of ten things to never do and starting a campaign with "roll initiative…." was on that list. I thought what an interesting way to start a campaign, and with that I knew how it would start.
They rolled, giggling and joking around as they mostly thought it a jest until I described the first scene. The sorcerer of the group on his back in a full grapple fighting to keep the assassin from finding his throat with his blade. The room got quite silent as everyone immediately realized that this was no joke. As the turns went on I interjected little bits of the missing backstory chronologically working forward. By battles end the party was completely read in and the campaign kicked off with a furious start.

It worked out to be a very memorable game.

Punchinpaper:

- Gauss

Thanks for the review Gauss. I will edit the post here shortly.

My archer friend says "the females look just like the males, only difference is you don't lead-em as much"

inverted canoe or small boat.
Bright side is that it nonmagically doubles as a walk on water device.
no hinderance to your ranged character as you simply drop when not needed.

- sorry I couldn't help myself.

punchinpaper wrote:

Improved Sunder as an option would suit you well and its hard to fight when your weapon is lying on the ground broken in half.

If the opponent sticks around after that fine, cut-em up, if not move to the next target, repeat.

Hmmmm...very interesting indeed!

Have I seen a rule somewhere that in order to sunder a magical weapon you need a weapon of at least similar enchantment?

I may be incorrect but sundering a magical item is pretty basic with the difference being its number of hit points and hardness increased because its magical.

Smashing an Object
Smashing a weapon or shield with a slashing or bludgeoning weapon is accomplished with the sunder combat maneuver. Smashing an object is like sundering a weapon or shield, except that your combat maneuver check is opposed by the object's AC. Generally, you can smash an object only with a bludgeoning or slashing weapon.
Magic item sundering
Magic items take damage as nonmagical items of the same sort. A damaged magic item continues to function, but if it is destroyed, all its magical power is lost. Magic items that take damage in excess of half their total hit points, but not more than their total hit points, gain the Broken condition, and might not function properly.

Long sword normal = 10hardness/ 5hp
Your weapon = +1 Great sword = 12 hardness/ 20 hp
So a opponents +2 long sword =14hardness/25hp

Sunder is CMB attack so look at your Barbarian stat block.
Probably a +12 CMB = +5(BAB) +6(STR) -2(Power Attack) +2(Improved Sunder) +1(Weapon Focus)
Add this to your die roll vs opponents CMD probably around a 22. Decent odds to hit. Roll 11 or have someone aid you and roll a 9.

Once you do hit damage is good 2d6(great sword) +12(STR doubled for two hands and Raging) +1(magic) +2(Improved Sunder) +4(Power Attack) average damage 26.
Normal weapon = 0 hp left Broken/Destroyed
+1 weapon = 6 hp left Broken
+2 weapon = 13 hp left (1 hp away from broken)

I think I have the details correct but I am sure someone will chime in if not.
Here is a thought for you though. If the sword looks too tough, sunder the armor so others can help, its easier to sunder soft materials like leather straps or wood (staves). Sunder a saddle of a mounted foe (That might be questionable but if allowed its REALLY effective).

Incapacitation is an extremely effective way to win a battle with a little party teamwork and you have the gift to make the armored tanks open targets to the rest of your team.

I like to also work in as much environmental details as I can beyond time of day. So I will often give a short narrative of the temperature, weather, season, and maybe link that with some past memories of that time of year or upcoming festival days. I will drop those in often and use them to build depth of the world around the party.
Another good sideline after and encounter is the time spent repairing/ refitting gear and equipment especially if in a town. I don't spend much time on NPCs for this as other than short descriptions, a name, and general motivations adlib it. RP with the group. Much of the time their discussions with an off hand NPC develop the game for you and you can build on those hooks later on. In town they could meet other NPC's with information on the next town over or info from a far away kingdom. I don't worry too much about getting side tracked because I generally adlib much of my game. There is always an encounter later on that will get them back on track.
That being said I have found that I cannot run a prepackaged game for crap. I always feel boxed in. I still use a lot of material from them though and that way they are still a good purchase option much of the time.

What level are you anticipating they fight him at? The base stats and even traits lose their impact as the levels go. Personally I just pick the stats I want for my BBEG's, and they are usually tougher than the PC's. I also don't adjust the CR. That being said I like to push my PC's and let them risk the chance of death regularly.

+1 I like the idea the a group of characters has the chance to meet just about anyone in the realm of play. that encounter could be lowly level fodder or crushing might of the realm. What they choose to do during that encounter is entirely up to them. This mentality has all but stopped the hack and slash approach from the players. Kinda gives them pause to think "should I be swingin a sword or running for the hills" it also forces narrative from them while they try to answer that question.

That being said I really do not have much use in CR's other than to ballpark the level of the encounter. Half the time I improve the encounter anyways. The important thing is that I always have a way out for them if they decide to play it that way. In other words I never sit the group in an unwinnable situation with out at least one way out. They do not always take that way though and this can really open up some new role play channels. "now that you have surrendered to the bandit leader you attacked, you find your selves stripped of weapons and gear and have your hands tied behind you, a heavy rope noosed around your necks links you all together in a line. From the way the bandits expertly assembled you as captives it would appear that they are slavers not mere bandits." Hopefully this is near the end of a session to leave the players stewing about it for a week. (evil grin)

I've a similar (but smaller) problem. My group usually has 5~6 players.

And that's about as many as I'm willing to DM to. Better have only 5 guys having fun than all 8 getting bored.

In addition to Charlies's advice, I suggest you pre-roll your NPC/monsters' initiatives. And make the player roll 4~5 initiatives as they arrive. This saves a lot of time.

Make similar enemies share Initiative. (e.g.: All goblins' initiative is 3, all wolves' is 16, etc.).

If they are still allowed, make animal companions/eidolon/familiar/summons act in the same initiave as the PC controlling them.

The big problem is that not only bigger parties have more members, but they require more monsters per encounter.
In the end, the best solution would still be splitting the group in two.

In our group we handle initiatives once per encounter and as you have suggested I make all mooks go in initiatives by type or group. we then track everything on a tracker board and this has all but eliminated the "ok who's turn is it" This also helps you to enforce the you have 6 seconds make-em count rule.

Also, while I do agree with permanantly splitting the group, I didn't suggest splitting the group in two because it has been well covered by all, however this may not really be an option for you if your players want to game with each other or if you only have time to run one group.

I use these table rules to help keep things moving quickly and smoothly. If everybody is not on the ball in combat it will be 30 minutes in between a player's turn and his next turn.

Initiative: Know what you are doing before your turn comes up in the initiative order. That implies paying attention to the fight when it’s not your turn so you know what is going on. Declare your action at the beginning of your turn. A combat round is only 6 seconds, so if you take too long to declare an action, I will start counting down. If you haven’t declared an action before the countdown ends, you delay by default and can reenter the initiative order after anyone else's turn. Think fast! I will be more lenient if you are the first one to act in combat.

Attack and Damage Rolls: To speed combats, please roll your attack and damage dice together, using same colored dice for each attack. If you have multiple attacks due to a feat or high base attack bonus, indicate beforehand which attack bonus applies to which color dice, then roll them all at once.

Spells, Special Attacks, Special Abilities: If you are casting a spell, using a special ability, performing a combat maneuver, or doing some other special attack or action, please have the rulebook open to the relevant page (or have the rule pulled up on d20pfsrd.com) when your turn comes up in the initiative order. Again, I will be more lenient if you are the first one to act in combat.

Talking in Combat: Speaking is a free action. Free actions can only be taken when it is your turn. That means that in combat, you can only talk to your fellow party members when it is your turn—no instantly formulating ten minutes’ worth of tactics in 6 seconds worth of combat. I enforce this rule strictly. However, you are permitted and encouraged to help other players with rules questions, etc. The telepathy special ability and spells such as telepathic bond allow instantaneous communication, even when it is not your turn, and can therefore be used to...

These are really good rules to follow. +1

I have had groups as large as 11 players. First and foremost it can be exhausting. Some additional things to do that help alot.
- Have one player track everyone on the table including mooks with an initiative tracker.
- Use minis so there needs to be much less tactical descriptive discussion.
- I have used a player as an assistant DM. A good way to do this is when the group is split. I let the waiting players run some of the NPCs in combat against the players. I generally give the player/dm assistant a short narrative of the mooks intent such as "Attack joes character first by whatever means necessary in order to incapicatiate him before you move on the freds character. If you become too wounded say 25% hp then perform a fighting retreat." This can really backfire so you have to pay attention to how its going but since I have issued the order of attack the player is harmless from party blame.
Another way for assistant DM is simply research assistant, prep rule pages, look up questions, things like that.
Another is to have a trusted player/dm run the satellite groups encounter as you run the main encounter. (I never discourage splitting the party, in fact I rather enjoy the tension it can build) This approach really requires you to have a semi permanant assistant that you can "read in" to the part of the game that he/she is assisting with. This works well in an ongoing campaign where a pc dies and the party is in no way near any sort of area where a new pc can feasably be introduced.
- In larger groups i tend to use alot more fudge factor than in smaller games. The reason is more suited to the flow of the story than anything else.
I am sure there are more good ideas for larger games but the best thing I can think of is be ready to adlib, alot.

Improved Sunder as an option would suit you well and its hard to fight when your weapon is lying on the ground broken in half.
If the opponent sticks around after that fine, cut-em up, if not move to the next target, repeat.

I wouldn't rule against the smart tactics of the player beside this gives you something to build on as a GM. Sure the archer has partial cover and an excellent field of view. you know this tactic is coming as the party makes camp so set yourself up with the terrain working to your advantage too. here are a couple of thoughts that I would look into.
- the advancing enemy also has partial cover from the other trees in the neighborhood.
- the rolling hills that the party thought would make a good concealed campsite also gives the rest of the party blocked line of sight from the enemy.
- maybe the visual advantage of the enemy may allow for them to spot the warm blooded archer up in the trees well before the archer spots them.
- magic missiles. it would be awful fun to have the enemy spot the archer and start the combat with one or two casters saying hello in a mannor that would encourage him to una@# his spot in the tree for the relative safety the ground would offer vs being a prickly piniata hanging in the tree.
- I am sure there are other interesting spells to use like "Grease" cast from and "invisible" caster.
- How about once the archer sees the emeny and properly warns the party (player rewarded for good tactics) the second round after he fires from the trees the enemy caster launches and entangle spell.
- maybe the non magical approach like the enemy has archers too. If you can see them and give yourself up then they can see you.

There are countless ways you can spin this to make and interesting encounter. Afterall the GM isn't supposed to win, just give the players in the group a great story to remember from the encounter. years later there will be the "do you remember the time when I was camped out in that tree and the entire hobgoblin army decided to move through the area. You guys had to run and all I could do was hide in the tree for two days."