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Korthis wrote:

I guess my question is, is this common?

Yes. Some players need to be dragged by their lapels into the setting and given reasons - clear and direct reasons - to interact with anything at all (other than kill, snog or avoid).

I know how you feel.

My groups party had just finished book 2 of S* yet the boss teleported out of that section of the dungeon rather than die. it is my first campaign as DM so i am trying my hand at some type of sidequest for 2-3 sessions to help bring the party together and provide many RP opportunities as practice between books. so to bring this bigbaddie back in i decided to come up with a gladiator style tournament in Magnimar (which part of one characters backstory was he used to fight there) however i told them that they wanted it to be some the best fighters around so they needed a sponsor. sheila heidmarch was an easy choice, and I created other fighters and ways for other PCs to get a sponsor so it isnt a one man show. yet somehow they wouldnt take the hint not so subtle to go find a different sponsor. so after a quick PvP between just two characters for shiela's sponsorship they all basically sat back and said "so we are skipping the next two weeks for crafting and this right?" and the one who won the PvP fight didnt even fight for the chance to play it out. now it should be said that of the four players two of them no longer play with us because of quite a few reasons, which at this point boiled my frustration over and i answered "why of course!" I however would like to point out that the other two players still with me are new to pathfinder but love RPGs and are great at acting on player knowledge only. yet i was severely disappointed in them during that session. and one of those two was the pitfighter for which i was counting on being hell bent on attending this since it would be in his backyard basically.

Normally i am very patient with them as i am by no means an "experienced" DM but they seem to have fun and are forgiving of the little lapses and things that come with still learning massive amounts of information, or where to easily find it. Yet hard work is still hard work when it comes to preparing all of the sessions and everything with it. most of the encounter is wasted though.

I have already adjusted and will bring the boss back in later and with a couple of levels. Yet i was wondering if anyone thought i happened to be out of line acting in that manner?

As i said i usually wouldnt do these spiteful types of things but the other two players were definetly a regret after giving them 3 months and they probably didnt crack open a single book to learn the game.

if you want to maximize a combat rogue you should go with something like this
Half elf
S 10
D 18
Co 16
I 12
W 16
Ch 10
these stats are for someone who doesnt wish to be a party face. still have the highest skill points in your party probably.
take the rogue talents finesse rogue and combat training early to save feats. take TWF, combat reflexes, dodge, and mobility.
if there is a crafter around 9 or 10th level have them make your daggers both +1 keen agile, this way you will be doing something around 1d4+6+5d6 will crit %20 and the 2x on the crit will mean something with the agile poperty on your weapon.
Beware pirahna strike! you do not wat the extra 2 or 3 points it gives you because you are less likely to hit. just allow your dex to be a good modifier and make sure to land that sneak attack.
the combat rogue my friend made had the highest DPS in ROTRL for us. and there was even a shoanti battle oracle totally set up as a giant killer.

a LG dwarf stone oracle with a couple of levels in barbarian. you can move through stone, see through it so you can prepare and buff out in the hallway, and wielding a dwarven dorn dergar in heavy armor you with be able to heal to save a life in combat, use wands out, it comes with a large amount of spells, can swing on something and if need be rage to put some extra umph! behind it. the dorn dergar is like a cannonball attached to a chain and with a feat you could change it from a reach weapon to a % foot range weapon if backed into a corner. its different, and can be effective in both a divine caster or front line combat.

a CG half elf cleric of Desna with decent martial prowess then around 7 go into Holy Vindicator and get a phylactory of positive energy to add 2d6 to channels. go extra channel one at the same level as your first HV. at 1st HV you can channel a bonus into your shield (by level 11 a regular buckler has as much of an armor bonus as full plate) equal to the number of die you channel and it lasts for 24 hours or until hit. Most of the time your AC will be so high only the boss or a lucky crit will hit you. that way your a very proficient healer both in and out of combat, you will be able to sit back and cast buffs or deal with debuffs on the paty, and you will be able to step up and hit something if all else fails, and later you will be almost impossible to hit through most encounters.

both are unique and fill the same roll.

or if you wanted o have a Gish character with arcane spells you could go for Dragon Disciple. you lose the emergency healing but can a list full of battlefield contol spells.

if you have a little money to spare and a laptop you can use for every week pick up Hero Lab (around $30 for the CRB wiith tons more to download). while it is imperative to still have characters built on pen and paper, with this software you can easily plug them in and print off PDFs as well as picking up Combat Manager (Free) this way with a little home work before hand you can build and save the characters for the session that week and in seconds have all of the things you"ll need or want just a couple clicks away.

and it is 100% true "the best ideas sometimes come from your players"

the adventure path, much like the CRB and other rule books are more like guidlines. yes 80% of what is written should be word for word, but a good DM will allow a consitant set of house rules, as well as incorporate ideas or even offhand comments players make if it will enhance and or progress the story.

i played and would recommend half elf cleric of Desna with decent martial prowess then around 7 go into Holy Vindicator and get a phylactory of positive energy to add 2d6 to channels. go extra channel one at the same level as your first HV. at 1st HV you can channel a bonus into your shield equal to the number of die you channel and it lasts for 24 hours or until hit. Most of the time your AC will be so high only the boss or a lucky crit will hit you. that way your a very proficient healer both in and out of combat, you will be able to sit back and cast buffs or deal with debuffs on the paty, and you will be able to step up and hit something if all else fails, and later you will be almost impossible to hit through most encounters. it can also give the party a face depending on the ninja. and the only character for knowledge planes and religion.